Dublin Day Trips Guide 2026
Dublin’s real advantage as an Ireland base is logistics, not sightseeing: six genuine day trips sit within reach of the city, and exactly one of them does not actually fit into a normal day. Howth is a 30 minute DART ride. Glendalough and the Wicklow Mountains run about 80 minutes each way by bus. Newgrange needs a guided slot booked days ahead. Galway and Belfast both clear 2 hours each way by train. The Cliffs of Moher run 3 to 3.5 hours each way by road, so a full day tour eats 12 to 13 hours total, book it as a dedicated day or skip the round trip for an overnight in Galway instead.
Day trips from Dublin, travel time and booking lead
| Day trip | Travel time from Dublin | Booking lead time |
|---|---|---|
| Howth | About 30 min by DART | None, walk up |
| Glendalough and the Wicklow Mountains | About 1h20 by bus or car | Book ahead for summer weekend tours |
| Newgrange and the Boyne Valley | Guided tour only from the visitor centre | 3 to 7 days ahead in peak season (Jun-Aug) |
| Galway | About 2h20 to 2h30 by train | Best as an overnight, book trains ahead |
| Cliffs of Moher | About 3 to 3.5h by road | Book the full day tour ahead, or overnight in Galway or Doolin |
| Belfast and the Giant’s Causeway | About 2h by train, about 3h by road | Book Enterprise seats or a tour ahead, currency switches to GBP |
Getting out of Dublin without renting a car
None of these six require a car. The DART covers Howth on its own tracks, St Kevin’s Bus and half a dozen tour operators run Glendalough daily from St Stephen’s Green, Irish Rail’s InterCity service handles Galway and the Enterprise service handles Belfast, and Newgrange and the Cliffs of Moher are both guided-access or coach-tour destinations regardless of whether you drive. Renting a car only pays off if you want to string together Wicklow’s back roads or the Cliffs and the Burren at your own pace, and Irish rural roads are narrower and slower than they look on a map.
Does the Cliffs of Moher work as a day trip from Dublin?
Only if you commit to a dedicated tour, not a rushed round trip squeezed between other stops. The drive alone runs 3 to 3.5 hours each way, so a full coach tour takes 12 to 13 hours and typically hands you 90 minutes to 2 hours actually at the cliffs. Want more time there? Overnight in Galway or Doolin instead of racing back to Dublin the same night.
Which day trip actually needs the earliest booking?
Newgrange, not the Cliffs of Moher. Access to the passage tomb runs guided-tour-only through the Bru na Boinne Visitor Centre , and peak-season slots (June through August) sell out 3 to 7 days ahead. Lock a slot the moment your Dublin dates are fixed; there is no walk-up option at the monument itself.
Is Galway a day trip or an overnight?
Technically a day trip, honestly better as an overnight. Irish Rail runs Heuston to Galway in about 2h20 to 2h30, so a same-day round trip means roughly 5 hours on trains against a few hours actually in the city. Travelers who specifically want Galway should stay a night; everyone else can treat it as a legitimately long single day.
Book these before you go
- Glendalough and Wicklow half-day tour from St Stephen’s Green: GetYourGuide
- Newgrange and Boyne Valley small-group day tour: Viator
- Cliffs of Moher full-day tour with Galway and the Burren: Viator
Crossing into Northern Ireland changes the currency
The Republic of Ireland runs on the euro, including all of Dublin, but the Belfast and Giant’s Causeway day trip physically crosses into Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom, where it is pounds sterling. Carry euro for the Dublin end of the day and either sterling or a card that handles foreign transactions for the Northern Ireland leg. The Enterprise train covers Dublin Connolly to Belfast in about 2 hours 8 minutes, hourly, with advance fares from EUR 15.99 on the Irish Rail side or GBP 13.50 from Translink on the Northern Ireland side, roughly half the walk-up price.
Where to stay if Dublin is your base
Every trip on this list starts and ends in Dublin, so base yourself centrally rather than near any single day trip. Temple Bar or St Stephen’s Green both put you a short walk from Connolly, Heuston and the St Stephen’s Green bus stop that St Kevin’s Bus uses for Glendalough. Compare rooms on Booking.com , and check where to stay near Dublin’s gateway day trips for options closer to specific routes.
Planning which days go where
The Dublin Day Trips itinerary hub breaks these six out further, and hiking areas and nature spots around Wicklow cover Glendalough in more depth if that is your main draw. For the city itself, not the day trips, see the Dublin travel guide and Temple Bar . For a day-by-day plan built entirely around these routes, start with the 2 day itinerary and add days as your trip grows, or read the flagship Glendalough page first.
One concrete tip: book Newgrange and any Cliffs of Moher or Belfast tour before you book anything in the city itself. Those three have genuine sell-out risk in June through August; Howth and Glendalough by public bus do not.