Dublin Ireland 7 Day Itinerary (Day Trips)

Seven days is our 6-day plan plus Belfast and the Giant’s Causeway, the only trip in this entire family that crosses a border and a currency at the same time. This is the full gateway family: all six day trips plus the city, sequenced in the order they cost you the least time first.

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
4 Newgrange and the Boyne Valley About 45-60 min, guided tour only
5 The Cliffs of Moher 3-3.5 hours each way by coach
6 Galway 2h20-2h30 each way by train
7 Belfast and the Giant’s Causeway About 2 hours by train, further by coach

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.

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. St Kevin’s monastic ruins sit beside two lakes ringed by hills, the closest thing to quiet, green Ireland reachable without giving up a whole day to transport. Book the tour ahead. See heritageireland.ie for the monastic site’s current opening hours.

Day 4: Newgrange and the Boyne Valley

There’s no walk-up option here. Newgrange, a Neolithic passage tomb older than Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids, is accessible only via a guided tour from the Bru na Boinne Visitor Centre. Booking windows open 30 days ahead from April through November and 7 days ahead the rest of the year, and peak-season slots vanish within hours of release. The combined Newgrange and Knowth ticket runs roughly EUR 18 adult. Book the guided tour ahead. See discoverboynevalley.ie for current pricing.

Day 5: The Cliffs of Moher, the long day

Roughly 3 to 3.5 hours each way by road, no direct train. A full-day guided coach tour runs 12 to 13 hours total, departing Dublin around 6:45 to 7am and returning between 8 and 10pm, priced roughly EUR 65-89 per person, usually bundled with the Burren and either Galway City or Bunratty Castle. Strip out the driving and you’re left with roughly 90 minutes to 2 hours actually at the cliffs. Book the coach tour well ahead. See cliffsofmoher.ie for current visitor centre hours.

Does the Cliffs of Moher work as a day trip from Dublin? Technically yes, honestly it’s rough: a 12 to 13 hour day trades roughly 6 hours of driving for 90 minutes to 2 hours at the cliffs themselves. With a spare night, basing overnight in Galway or Doolin turns the same cliffs into a relaxed half day instead of an endurance test.

Day 6: Galway, the one that looks casual and isn’t

Irish Rail runs direct from Heuston Station, roughly 2 hours 20 to 2 hours 30 each way, 9 to 10 trains a day, fares from about EUR 14-22 one way. A same-day round trip means close to 5 hours on trains for maybe 3 to 4 hours actually in the city. If a spare night is on the table, book a Galway hotel and turn Days 5 and 6 into one overnight instead. See irishrail.ie for current Heuston to Galway fares.

Day 7: Belfast and the Giant’s Causeway, a different currency

The Enterprise train runs direct from Dublin Connolly to Belfast, now terminating at the newly opened Belfast Grand Central station, in roughly 2 hours 8 minutes, around 15 weekday departures between 5:50am and 8:50pm. Advance single fares start around EUR 15.99 equivalent; a walk-up single runs closer to EUR 30, roughly double. A full Giant’s Causeway day tour typically runs by direct coach instead, about 3 hours each way via the Antrim Coast Road, Dunluce Castle, and the Dark Hedges, a 12 hour round trip departing around 7am and back by 8pm. Book the coach version ahead if you’d rather not combine the train with a separate local tour. See irishrail.ie for current Enterprise timetables.

The moment you cross into Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom, the currency switches to pounds sterling. Cards work everywhere, but carry or withdraw some sterling before you go; euro will not be accepted once you’re across.

Do I need British pounds for this day? Yes. Both the Enterprise train and any Giant’s Causeway coach tour cross the border into Northern Ireland, where the currency is pounds sterling, not euro. Change some cash or plan to use a card and an ATM once you’re across, and don’t assume euro works the way it does everywhere else on this trip.

Before you go

Buy a Leap Card for the DART to Howth and the Luas or bus in the city center; every other day in this itinerary runs on a tour coach or intercity train instead. Pack for rain regardless of month, and carry both euro and a card that works internationally, since Day 7 is the one day euro alone won’t cover. Book the Cliffs of Moher and the Belfast tour earliest of all; both fill up well before the week you actually travel.