County Meath, just north of Dublin, holds some of Ireland’s most important prehistoric and early Christian sites. The Boyne Valley was the cradle of Irish civilisation - this is a landscape where the story goes back further than almost anywhere else in Europe.
This private 8-hour tour takes you to the Brú na Bóinne complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993, where you’ll visit the megalithic passage tombs at Newgrange and Knowth. These tombs predate the Egyptian pyramids and contain the largest collection of megalithic rock art in Western Europe. After that, you’ll visit Monasterboice, an early Christian monastic site founded by St. Buithe in the 6th century - home to two of the finest sandstone high crosses in Ireland, the ornate Cross of Muiredach and the West Cross, which at over 7 metres is the tallest high cross in the country.
Your driver-guide provides live commentary throughout the day.
What’s Included
Private transportation
Local driver-guide with live commentary on board
What’s Not Included
Food and drinks
Gratuities
Itinerary
Brú na Bóinne - Newgrange and Knowth - Visit the megalithic passage tombs that date back further than the Pyramids of Egypt. The site holds the largest collection of megalithic rock art in Western Europe and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since December 1993. (240 min)
Monasterboice - An early Christian monastic site founded by St. Buithe in the 6th century. The highlight is two extraordinary sandstone high crosses: the Cross of Muiredach, considered the most decorative high cross in Ireland, and the West Cross, which stands over 7 metres tall, making it the tallest high cross in the country. (120 min)
Good to Know
This is a private tour
Suitable for all fitness levels
Specialised infant seats are available
Service animals are welcome
Public transport is available nearby
Tour conducted in English
Local Tips
Brú na Bóinne is busiest mid-morning when coach groups arrive from Dublin. Starting early gives you the chambers with a fraction of the crowd, and the light across the fields is better for it.
The Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre is the only way into Newgrange and Knowth - all access is by guided shuttle from there, so your driver-guide will factor the visitor centre process into the timing.
Monasterboice is a small, open site and often quiet even in high summer. Give yourself time to walk the full enclosure rather than just photographing the high crosses from the gate - the round tower and the smaller stones reward a slow circuit.
Food and drinks aren’t included, so pick up something along the route. Drogheda is 15 minutes east of Newgrange on the M1 and has the full range - Ariosa Coffee is a good early stop before the Visitor Centre, and Stockwell Artisan Foods on Stockwell Street does soup and proper sandwiches for after. Drogheda is also the gateway the guides use for the wider Boyne Valley loop, sitting closer to Newgrange, Knowth, Mellifont and Monasterboice than any other town.
Slane sits four kilometres from the Brú na Bóinne entrance on the Boyne itself, and it’s the village the tour may pass through depending on the route. The Hill of Slane overlooks the valley and is the hill where St Patrick, according to legend, lit the Paschal fire in defiance of the High King in 433 AD. If there’s any flexibility in the day, the Slane Whiskey Distillery in the old castle stable yards does tours and tastings - book ahead, as walk-ins aren’t guaranteed.
Nearby on IrelandMe
Slane - four Georgian houses at a crossroads, the Hill of Slane above the valley, and a whiskey distillery built into the old castle stables where the horses that carried the concert equipment once slept
Drogheda - a walled medieval port on the Boyne with the head of Oliver Plunkett in a glass case on West Street, St Laurence’s Gate (the best-preserved medieval town gate in Ireland), and the Boyne Ramparts walk connecting the town to the Battle of the Boyne site at Oldbridge
