2 Days in Dublin: The Day-Trip Itinerary
Two days based in Dublin covers exactly the two easiest real day trips out of the city and nothing else: Howth by DART on Day 1, Glendalough and the Wicklow Mountains by bus on Day 2. Staying longer? The 3 Days itinerary nests this same plan and adds Newgrange and the Boyne Valley.
| Day | Day trip | Travel time from Dublin | Don’t miss |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Howth | About 30 min by DART | The Howth Head cliff walk |
| 2 | Glendalough and the Wicklow Mountains | About 1h20 by bus | The free monastic site by the Lower Lake |
Book these before you go
- Glendalough and Wicklow half-day tour, if you want a guide instead of the public bus: GetYourGuide
- A bed near Temple Bar or St Stephen’s Green for the two nights you are actually in Dublin: compare rooms on Booking.com
Day 1: Howth, the easy warm-up
Morning: Take the DART from Connolly, Pearse or Tara Street, about 25 to 35 minutes to Howth, running every 30 minutes and covered by a Leap Card zone fare. No booking, no tour bus, just a train ticket. Walk the Howth Head cliff path for sea views over the Irish Sea; the full loop takes about 1.5 to 2 hours at a normal pace.
Afternoon: Drop down into Howth harbour for fresh seafood, a bowl of chowder runs about EUR 8 to 12, and browse the weekend market if your day trip lands on a Saturday or Sunday.
Evening: DART back into the city centre and have dinner in Dublin proper; Howth itself goes quiet after dark.
Day 2: Glendalough and the Wicklow Mountains
Morning: St Kevin’s Bus leaves St Stephen’s Green North for Glendalough, about 1 hour 20 minutes each way, EUR 14 one way or EUR 23 return. The monastic site itself, the Round Tower and the ruined churches by the Lower Lake, sits inside Wicklow Mountains National Park and is free to walk; the OPW car park costs EUR 4 a day if you are driving instead of taking the bus.
Afternoon: Walk one of the marked trails into the mountains from the Upper Lake, lake and valley views the whole way, or stick to the flatter monastic-site loop if a hike is not the plan for today.
Evening: Catch the return bus, 18:00 on weekdays or 19:00 on weekends, back to St Stephen’s Green, or stay on a full-day guided tour if that is what you booked, those run closer to 9 hours round trip.
Planning a longer trip
Two days only covers Howth and Glendalough. If you want Newgrange, Galway, the Cliffs of Moher or Belfast, extend to the 3 Days itinerary, check the full Dublin Day Trips guide , or read the flagship Glendalough page. For the city itself, a different trip from this one, see the Dublin travel guide and the 2 Days in Dublin city itinerary.