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Trim Castle, Clonmacnoise & Sean's Bar en route to Galway
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From €850 per person
If you need to get from Dublin to Galway and you’d rather the journey feel like part of the trip than a chore, this private transfer is worth knowing about. Your professional chauffeur picks you up in Dublin City and takes you west, with stops at some genuinely interesting places along the way.
The route takes in Trim Castle in County Meath - one of the largest Anglo-Norman castles in Ireland - before continuing to Clonmacnoise, the early Christian monastic settlement on the banks of the River Shannon. From there it’s a short drive to Athlone and Sean’s Bar, recognised as Ireland’s oldest pub, before the final stretch into Galway.
It’s a practical option for families and groups who want the comfort of a private vehicle with the bonus of arriving in Galway having already seen a good cross-section of Ireland. The car has WiFi, bottled water, and phone chargers, so you can stay connected or simply sit back and watch the midlands roll by.
This is a private tour - just your group, your driver, and the road.
Clonmacnoise is isolated - plan accordingly. The monastery sits on the Shannon 15 km south of Athlone and there is no pub, no restaurant, and nothing nearby. The visitor centre has a small café and that’s it. If you want to eat before or after, Athlone is the answer - the town is only 15 minutes north. Athlone has Thyme on the main street (Michelin Bib Gourmand, held eight consecutive years to 2026) and the Fatted Calf on Church Street, both worth booking ahead if you’re planning dinner. Otherwise, Bastion Kitchen on Bastion Street is a good daytime café for soup and a sandwich before the monastery.
Give yourself at least an hour at Clonmacnoise. It’s an OPW site with admission charged, and the grounds reward slow walking. Seven churches, two round towers, three high crosses - including the Cross of the Scriptures - and over 200 grave slabs. Start at the cathedral, work toward the Round Tower of the Scribes, stand at the high crosses. The grave slabs are in the grass like a conversation in stone. Come early in the morning or after 4pm in summer if you want the place to yourself. Read more about Clonmacnoise before you go.
Sean’s Bar is across the river from the castle side of Athlone. The pub sits on the west bank of the Shannon - technically Connacht - and holds a Guinness World Record as Ireland’s oldest pub, with a claimed founding around 900 AD. When the owner rebuilt in 1970, he found wattle-and-wicker walls and a clutch of 17th-century coins that went to the National Museum. Whether you believe the founding date or not, it’s a proper pub and a pint there on the way to Galway is a good way to break the journey.
Time the stops to land at Clonmacnoise before the summer coaches. The monastery gets busy with coach tours in summer from mid-morning to about 3pm. If you can push the Clonmacnoise stop to mid-afternoon, you’ll have the site in better light and with fewer people. The Shannon callows are at their most dramatic in autumn and winter when the floods come in off the river.