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Dublin City and Howth Excursion - Ship to Shore
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From €96 per person
If your ship is docking in Dublin and you want to make proper use of the day ashore, this 7-9 hour excursion is put together with that in mind. Your bus collects you directly from your ship’s docking point, so there’s no taxi scramble or figuring out transport from the port.
The day covers a lot of ground in a way that actually flows. A guided panoramic tour of the city comes first - the kind where a good guide brings the streets to life rather than just narrating a list of buildings. You’ll pass the GPO on O’Connell Street, which still carries the marks of the 1916 Easter Rising. Then you’ll visit two of the spots that define Dublin’s relationship with what it drinks: the Jameson Whiskey Distillery, for a taste of Irish whiskey and the story behind it, and the Guinness Brewery, founded by Arthur Guinness in 1759 and still the city’s most visited attraction.
After that, the excursion heads north out of the city to Howth, a fishing village perched on a headland on Dublin Bay. You get time here to choose your own pace - a leisurely lunch at one of its award-winning seafood restaurants, or a walk along a portion of the Howth Head Cliff Walk, with views out across to Lambay Island and Ireland’s Eye. Then it’s back into Dublin for a little free time before your driver takes you back to the ship.
Howth is the highlight that surprises people most. Coming from the intensity of the Guinness Brewery and Jameson, arriving into a quiet fishing village where the main street smells of salt and fresh seafood is a genuine reset. The cliff walk - even just a section of it - puts Dublin Bay in front of you in a way that no city attraction can match.
The Howth Head Cliff Walk is well-signposted and doesn’t require hiking boots. The section most groups do in 45 minutes is the easier stretch from the village up toward the lighthouse direction, with good views back over the bay. Wear layers - it can be breezy up there even on a warm day, and the weather on a headland moves faster than you’d expect.
Lunch in Howth is a genuinely good option and worth planning for. The village has several restaurants known for seafood - in particular Octopussy’s and Aqua are regulars on best-of lists, though menus and availability shift seasonally. Book ahead if you can, particularly in summer.
The GPO on O’Connell Street is best understood with a bit of context before you see it. On 24 April 1916, it was seized by 400 men who proclaimed an Irish Republic from its steps. If your guide covers this during the city tour, it makes the building’s facade - still pocked with bullet marks - much more meaningful than it would be otherwise.
Dress in layers and bring a light rain jacket. This excursion runs in all weather, and an Irish summer day can cycle through sunshine, rain, and wind within an hour. Having something waterproof in your bag means none of it will spoil the day.