Fabulous Day trips from Dublin, Ireland, perfect for first time visitors [2026 Edition]
My curated round up of the best day trips from Dublin, to discover the best of Ireland from the capital.
One of the most popular ways to visit Ireland is by renting a car and taking a ‘great Irish road trip‘ road trip around the island.
However, it not the only way to explore this beautiful country!
It is also possible and enjoyable to see many of the most beautiful places in Ireland while staying in Dublin and, sometimes, even without a car at all.
I have been living in Dublin for the last 20 years and I have two children who call Dublin home.
So, as you can imagine, I have significant experience about day trips from here, all the advice on this page is based on my own, very personal experience!
On this page, you find my selection of the best day trips from Dublin so that first time visitors to Ireland can see some of the best places in the country without having to tackle a full on Ireland itinerary by car!
Since this article is aimed at overseas visitors, I have only included places that I believe are of interest to them.
Please note: this post contains affiliate links and, should you make a purchase through them, we may get a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Best family day trips from Dublin TL :DR
| Destination | Duration | Transport |
| Wicklow Mountain and Kilkenny City | Full day | Own car / bus tour |
| Cliffs of Moher, the Burren and Galway | Full Day | Own car / bus tour |
| Giants Causeway, Dark Hedges & Dunluce Castle | Full Day | Own car / bus tour |
| Blarney Castle or Blarney Castle & Rock of Cashel Tour | Full Day | Own car / bus tour |
| Rock of Cashel or Blarney Castle & Rock of Cashel Tour | Full Day | Own car / bus tour |
| Boyne Valley Bus tour (Newgrange) | Full Day | Own car / bus tour |
| Trim Castle and Hill of Tara | Full Day | Own car / bus tour |
| Kilkenny City | Full Day | Own car / bus |
| Belfast | Full Day | Train |
Wicklow Mountains & Glendalough
Less than one hour from Dublin you find the wonderful Wicklow Mountains and the Wicklow National Park.
Less known to international tourism than the famous Connemara (in the West), the Wicklow National park is a place of incredible natural beauty and one of those places where you find the mystical Ireland if your imagination: lake, forests, trees, round towers from ancient monastic times.
If you are coming to Ireland with a romantic idea of the country, Wicklow is very much the place for you! My husband is from Wicklow so you may say I am biased but honestly: this is a real gem of a place and one that makes you feel deep into the natural beauty of Ireland without having to go far from Dublin at all.
There are two main ways to visit the Wicklow Mountains from Dublin:
Self drive: in this case, you have maximum flexibility and you can visit Glendalough (pronounced Gian -dah -lock) monastic site – a wonderful ancient site with a charming cemetery, mysterious round tower, two beautiful lakes and stunning hikes – and take a stop at Lough Tay, the ‘Guinness Lake’ which is one of the most unforgettable places in the country, in my opinion!
On a sunny day, you can easily also take a hike here and for instance go to Lough Dan which is wonderful and remote.
If you don’t have your own vehicle, there are some lovely tours to the area that also stretch to Kilkenny – while, in my opinion, it is not necessary to add Kilkenny to make the day worthwhile, Kilkenny is indeed a lovely place so why not! My fav rote organised bus tour is >>> this one here <<<
Cliffs of Moher, the Burren and Galway City (Full day)
The Cliffs of Moher are so famous that they are almost a symbol of Ireland.
People flock from all over the word to see them and they never fail to impress, eve in the event rain and less the stellar weather. They are that amazing!
They are pretty far from Dublin, all the way out on the Western coast of Ireland (Dublin is in the East) but they are reachable within a day and many day yours from Dublin offer them as a destination.
While I am usually a fan of self driving tours, for this one I highly recommend taking an organised one.
The long journey gets even longer if you are unsure of the road and you run the risk of driving when very tired on the way back, something that is never recommended. The tour I recommend to see the Cliffs of Moher from Dublin is this one.
The tour takes up the whole day, so I recommend to plan some down time the day before and the day after.
What I love the most about a day trip to the area is the opportunity to see the Burren. The Burren is a remote and wild area of Ireland with impressive limestone formations that make it look like a different planet. This is a place you can only explore with a vehicle and very much worth it!
The Cliffs can be safely visited at all ages. Find here >>> our tips for visiting the cliffs with children here
Giant Causeway & Dunce Castle – Northern Ireland (Full day)
Another long day trip and one I recommend tackling with an organised tour, rather than on your own, is a trip to the North.
The area of Northern Ireland around the Giants’ Causeway is simply stunning and, for me, one of the most beautiful in the whole of the island of Ireland.
Several day tours from Dublin bring you here and, as mentioned above, I believe they are the best way to come to the area considering the distance between Dublin and the Antrim coast is significant.
If you have more than one day, on the other hand, you can easily drive here. My favorite organised tour to the area is this one.
This is one of the best family day trips from Dublin for scenery: kids and adults will love it!
Blarney Castle, Co Cork (Full day)
The most famous of all Irish castle, Blarney castle, is in County Cork, in the South West of the country.
It is a long day day tour from Dublin but one that is very popular due to the popularity of the castle itself: if this is your only time in Ireland and want to see it from Dublin, the long drive is worth it! It is one of the best castles in Ireland, or actually: the best of all!
The best way to reach it it to join an organised bus tour from Dublin: the distance is significant and the bus makes it effcient in a way a newcomer may find challenging. The trip to Blarney passes some wonderful places including the stunning Rock of Cashel which I adore and strongly recommend you visit. My favorite tour to this area is this one
The Boyne Valley and Newgrange
The Boyne valley sits to the north of Dublin and is a place of great historical importance.
Here you can visit world famous sites like neolithic Newgrange and the site of the Battle of the Boyne, a cornerstone event in the history of Ireland.
Newgrange is overrun by tourism yet still a place of interest that is worth seeing: access is regulated to getting a tour that includes it like this one is by far the easiest way too go about it.
Trim Castle and the Hill of Tara
Close to Dublin you also find a place well known to movie lovers: Trim Castle, where Braveheart was filmed (yes, you read that right: it was not filmed in Scotland, nor London!)
Trim Castle sits in the centre of the small town of Trim and it is lovely to visit. If you are traveling on your own, I recommend you take the guided tours available: they are cheap and well made, with guides touching on the history of the castle but also of its Hollywood past.
Taking the tour is worth it, both for the information provided and for the chance it gives to climb to the top of the castle, from which you get wonderful views of the country nearby.
If you are coming here with a tour like this one, then you get even more as the tour also brings to other significant spots like the Hill of Tara, passage tombs and Fore Abbey.
Kilkenny
Kilkenny is about an hour and a half from Dublin but is well connected to the city by a motorway, which makes driving there easy and straightforward.
This is one of my favourite day trips from Dublin and one I take regularly with the kids as it s easy and fun.
Kilkenny is wonderfully preserved medieval city (not a town! They are proud of their city status) and one of the nicest towns in Ireland, with cute streets, colourful houses, many restaurants and top landmarks such as St Canice’s Cathedral and Kilkenny Castle.
Kilkenny is easy to visit on your own by car or bus, in which case I recommend you read how to spend a day in Kilkenny here
If you don’t have a car, you can book a tour to Kilkenny and the Wicklow mountains here
Belfast
Belfast is conveniently connected to Dublin by train and is an interesting as well as very pleasant day trip from Dublin.
The city is easy to enjoy on your own, even just strolling around the city center.
However, strongly recommend you take a tour as the history of the Troubles is so significant for Ireland (and not only) it is really worth taking the opportunity to hear about it on location!
There are several tours you can choose from; a good one that allows to also explore in your own time is this by hop on – hop off bus
Depending on your interests and party, you can also consider a visit to the Titanic museum (find tickets here) which is unique to Belfast since this is where the Titanic was built!
I hope you enjoyed this selection of best day trips from Dublin. Safe travels!
The best day trips from Dublin for first time visitors to Ireland – with or without a car. Pin this!
