drchris

We'll be finishing up oiur 16 day Ireland travels with three nights in Dublin and are trying to decide between these day trips. We're too old to rent a car so will be traveling by train and bus and taking day trips from Cork, Killarney, and Dublin. We'll also be spending 2 nights in Kilkenny after we arrive in Dublin.

Day Tour to Wicklow, Glendalough, & Powerscourt from Dublin with Hilltoptreks - 8 hours; small group (16 max); 1.5 hours at Powerscourt Gardens (we could do a guided walk in the area instead); lunch in Enniskerry; drive through the Wicklow Mountains National Park, the Sally Gap, Lough Tay, the Guinness Lake; tour of St Kevin monastic site and time to explore Glendalough valley.
There is also a half day tour with Paddywagon from Dublin to Glendalough for 1.5 hours to explore the park.

Boyne Valley, Newgrange Celts and Castles Tour with Hilltoptreks - Drive through Boyne Valley; 3 hrs at Newgrange and Bru Na Boinne; lunch in Slane and photos of Slane Castle; tour of Trim Castle

Giant's Causeway, Antrim Coast, Belfast with Paddywagon - 13.5 hrs; drive through Glens of Antrim and along Causeway Coast; Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge photo stop; Giant's Causeway (90 minutes); stop at Dark Hedges; Ballintoy; Dunluce Castle photo stop; Belfast City Center (1 hour); return to Dublin.
If anyone has taken this daytrip, we would appreciate feedback about whether the day was just too long and hurried. This may be our only chance to see a bit of Northern Ireland.

Thanks in advance for sharing your knowledge and experience.

bvlenci

I've been to the Giant's Causeway with our rental car, and we stopped at several places along the Antrim coast, including the Bushmills distillery. It's a nice daytrip, and the "causeway" is very impressive, but it's not on my shortlist of favorite places I've ever seen.

Newgrange, on the other hand, is near the top of my "favorite places" list. We visited almost 20 years ago, again with our rental car. Access is only by guided tour. You can't even get close to the outside of the mound without the guided tour. It really is best to reserve a tour with a guide before you go, and I would do it well in advance of the visit. Most of the tours are full day affairs, and sound much like what you're planning. I would reserve this tour as soon as you've made up your mind about which tour to take, as even the private tours fill up pretty quickly. I tried to book a tour, sort of at the last minute, for my daughters the last time I was in Ireland, but couldn't find one with spaces available.

I don't know anything about the Wicklow, Glendalough tour.

Diane

I second the Newgrange tour. I did this in 2019 with my family (husband and two daughter's in their early 20's) and it was a highlight of our Ireland trip! We took Mary Gibbon's tour: https://www.newgrangetours.com/

drchris

Diane - Thanks for the recommendation. I'll explore this tour in more detail.

drchris

bvLenci - Thankks fr your endorsement of the Newgrange tour. It's good to know that it made a lasting impression.