The best day trips from Dublin are Kilkenny and Belfast by direct train and Glendalough by bus, with Howth as an easy half day on the DART. The Giant's Causeway is the hardest: more than 4 hours each way by public transport, so either sleep in Belfast or accept a 12.5-hour coach tour.
| Destination | Travel time | Transport | Self-guided | Tour | Time needed | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Malahide CastleCastle tour, gardens, seaside village | 20 min | DART | € 21.50 | – | 3.50–5 h | Worth half a day |
 HowthHarbour, cliff walk, seafood | 24 min | DART | € 4 | € 50 | 3–5 h | Worth half a day |
 NewgrangeNeolithic passage tomb, Knowth | 37 min | Train + bus | – | – | 7–9 h | Worth a full day |
 GlendaloughMonastic ruins, two lakes | 1 h 20 | St Kevin's Bus | € 23–28 | € 35 | 7–8 h | Worth a full day |
 KilkennyCastle, cathedral, medieval lanes | 1 h 27 | Direct train | € 25.75–29.75 | € 35 | 8–10.50 h | Worth a full day |
 BelfastTitanic museum, murals, City Hall | 2 h 08 | Enterprise train | € 35 | € 80 | 11–13 h | Worth a full day |
 GalwayHarbour city, pubs, sea promenade | 2 h 20 | Direct train | € 33.30 | € 75 | 12.50–14.50 h | Worth a full day |
 Cork and Blarney CastleBlarney Stone, English Market | 2 h 28 | Train + bus | € 90.40 | € 85 | 13–14 h | Better to sleep there |
 Cliffs of MoherAtlantic cliffs, 214 m high | 4 h | Tour coach only | – | € 75 | 12–13 h | Only with a tour |
 Giant's CausewayBasalt columns, Antrim coast | – | Tour coach, or 2 trains + bus | € 35 | € 80 | 12.50–14 h | Better to sleep there |
No destination from Dublin matches this filter.
Last checked: · Train times from Irish Rail timetables, bus times from St Kevin's Bus; opening days and prices from each attraction's official site.
Three ways to use your free days, from the single trip we would pick to a full set.
With one free day, go to Kilkenny. The direct train from Heuston leaves at 10:15 and the castle is a short walk from the station. See the castle first, then walk the Medieval Mile to St Canice's Cathedral. One warning: from Monday to Saturday no train returns between 15:33 and 19:18, so plan dinner in town or take the 07:20 out.
Put the long day first. Take the 07:40 Enterprise from Connolly to Belfast for Titanic Belfast, City Hall and the murals, and come back on the 18:00. The next morning needs no alarm: the DART to Howth takes 24 minutes, the cliff loop a couple of hours, and you are back by mid afternoon. Avoid a Sunday for Belfast, when the first train arrives at 11:00. Check whether your passport needs a UK ETA before booking.
Three days let you mix a medieval town, a mountain valley and a second capital. Do Kilkenny by train from Heuston, Glendalough on the 11:00 St Kevin's Bus from St Stephen's Green North, and Belfast on the 07:40 Enterprise. Put Glendalough on the day with the driest forecast and keep Belfast off Sunday. If rain settles in, swap Glendalough for a half day at Malahide Castle, where the tour is indoors. Skip the € 35 combined coach: it repeats two of your three days.
What the weather does, how full it gets and which trips work best in each season.
Works bestHowthKilkennyNewgrangeMalahide Castle
Works bestBelfastKilkennyMalahide Castle
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sept | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average high (°C) | 8 | 8.5 | 10.1 | 12.3 | 14.8 | 17.7 | 19.5 | 19.1 | 16.9 | 13.6 | 10.3 | 8.3 |
| Average low (°C) | 2.3 | 2.2 | 3 | 4 | 6.6 | 9 | 11.3 | 11.2 | 9.5 | 7.1 | 4.3 | 2.6 |
| Rainy days | 12.5 | 11 | 10.7 | 11.1 | 10.5 | 9.8 | 11.6 | 11.8 | 10.7 | 11.6 | 12.5 | 13.3 |
Climate averages: Met Éireann, Dublin Airport 1991-2020 averages (via the climate table of Wikipedia's Dublin article)
The cheap trips use local transport: Howth and Malahide cost € 4.00 return on a Leap card. Kilkenny is € 17.75 for a day return at the station, Galway € 33.30 and Belfast € 35, all lower if you book ahead on irishrail.ie. Cork is the costly one at € 66.40, which is why the € 85 coach with entries included wins there. The € 35 coach to Glendalough and Kilkenny also undercuts doing the two separately. Belfast entry fees are in sterling.
Howth is the seafood trip: fish and chips, chowder and Dublin Bay prawns on the West Pier. In Belfast order an Ulster fry with soda and potato bread, or graze St George's Market from Friday to Sunday. Galway means oysters and chowder, Cork the English Market, Kilkenny a pub lunch with a local red ale. Pack a lunch for Glendalough, where the valley has few options, and carry snacks on the long coach days.
The same destinations, sorted by what you want from the day.
Worth half a dayA castle with 800 years of Talbot family history, a walled garden and a butterfly house, a 10-minute walk from Malahide village on the DART north of Dublin.
Worth half a dayA fishing harbour and headland with a cliff path on the north side of Dublin Bay, 24 minutes from Connolly on the DART.
Worth a full dayA Neolithic passage tomb in the Boyne Valley, part of Brú na Bóinne, reached only by shuttle from a visitor centre near Drogheda.
Worth a full dayA 6th-century monastic settlement with a round tower and two lakes in the Wicklow Mountains, 1 h 20 south of Dublin by bus.
Worth a full dayA compact medieval city with a Norman castle and a cathedral round tower, about 1 h 30 south-west of Dublin by direct train.
Worth a full dayThe capital of Northern Ireland, with the Titanic Belfast museum on the old shipyard site, 2 h 08 from Dublin on the hourly Enterprise train.
Worth a full dayA compact harbour city on the west coast, with a pedestrian centre between Eyre Square and the Spanish Arch, about 2 h 30 from Dublin by train.
Better to sleep thereIreland's second city, about 2 h 30 south of Dublin by hourly train, with Blarney Castle and its stone 8 km outside on the 215 bus.
Only with a tourSea cliffs on the Clare coast, on the far side of Ireland from Dublin, about 4 hours away by road each way.
Better to sleep thereAbout 40,000 basalt columns on the north coast of Northern Ireland, past Belfast, at the opposite end of the island from Dublin.
