Dublin Ireland 3 Day Itinerary (Day Trips)

Three days is our 2-day plan plus Glendalough and the Wicklow Mountains, the closest real nature to Dublin and about an hour each way. Still building toward the longer trips; see our 4-day plan next for Newgrange, or our Dublin city guide if you’d rather spend all three days in the city itself.

Book these before you go:

Day Focus Travel time from Dublin
1 Dublin city: Trinity, Grafton Street, Temple Bar City center
2 Howth: cliff walk and seafood 30-35 min by DART
3 Glendalough and the Wicklow Mountains About 1 hour by tour or car

Day 1: Dublin city, the short version

Give yourself one full day in the city before you start using it as a launchpad. Start at Trinity College for the Book of Kells and Old Library, budget about 90 minutes and book a timed slot in advance since summer mornings sell out; book ahead rather than risk a walk-up ticket. See visittrinity.ie for the official calendar. From Trinity it’s a short walk to Grafton Street and St Stephen’s Green, then Temple Bar in the evening, one street back from the busiest corner if you want a normal-priced pint.

Day 2: Howth, the easy win

Take the DART from Connolly, Pearse, or Tara Street, roughly 30 to 35 minutes, trains every half hour, a few euro each way or a Leap Card zone fare. No booking, no tour bus. Take the H3 bus up to Howth Summit first, then walk the Cliff Path Loop downhill into the village, the same coastal views with a fraction of the climbing. Eat at the harbour: Beshoff Bros for fish and chips at half the price of a sit-down table, or the Oarhouse if you want to sit and order properly.

Does Howth need advance planning? No, and that’s the point. It’s the one trip in this whole family you can decide to do the morning of: no ticket, no tour, and no backup plan required if the weather turns.

Day 3: Glendalough and the Wicklow Mountains

About an hour each way by road, no direct train, so this is a tour-bus or rental-car day. Half-day tours run 4 to 5 hours round trip; the fuller “Wild Wicklow” style tours run closer to 9 hours and add more mountain scenery. St Kevin’s monastic ruins sit beside two lakes ringed by hills, the closest thing to quiet, green Ireland reachable from Dublin without giving up a whole day to transport. Book ahead, peak-season weekend departures do sell out. See heritageireland.ie for the monastic site’s current opening hours.

Is Glendalough worth a full day? Yes, for anyone who wants green hills and a real monastic ruin without committing to the Cliffs of Moher’s driving time. It’s the shortest of the four longer trips in this family, and the easiest to fit into a 3 or 4 day visit.

Before you go

Buy a Leap Card for the DART to Howth and the Luas or bus in the city center; Glendalough runs on a tour coach or rental car instead. Pack for rain regardless of month, Dublin doesn’t have a reliably dry season. Dublin Airport has no rail or metro link in 2026, so budget the Airlink 747/757 or Aircoach 700 coach into the city, roughly EUR 9-12. If three days leaves you wanting more, the 4-day plan adds Newgrange next.