Day Trips from Dublin Newgrange and Boyne Valley

About This Tour

County meath sits just north of Dublin and holds a stretch of land that rewrites your sense of how old “old” really is. The Boyne Valley was at the centre of Neolithic Ireland - farming communities built monuments of extraordinary precision here 5,000 years before St Patrick set foot on the island.

This private 8-hour tour takes you to the Brú na Bóinne complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993, covering the megalithic passage tombs at Newgrange and Knowth. Newgrange dates to around 3,200 BC - older than Stonehenge, older than the Pyramids of Giza. Its 19-metre passage leads to a corbelled chamber that a shaft of winter solstice sunlight illuminates for roughly 17 minutes each year, an alignment its Neolithic builders engineered deliberately. The kerbstones are carved with spirals and lozenges - some of the finest Neolithic rock art in Europe. Knowth is larger, with two separate passages and more megalithic art than any other single site on the continent.

From Brú na Bóinne you head north to Monasterboice, an early Christian monastic site founded by St Buithe in the 6th century. Muiredach’s Cross - named for an abbot who died in 924 AD - stands 5.5 metres tall, its faces covered in carved biblical scenes and two cats at play on the base of the shaft. The West Cross, at over 7 metres, is the tallest high cross in Ireland. Your private driver-guide provides live commentary throughout.

What’s Included

• Private transportation
• Local driver-guide with live commentary on board

What’s Not Included

• Food and drinks
• Gratuities

Itinerary

1. Brú na Bóinne - Newgrange and Knowth - All access is by guided shuttle from the Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre. The guided tour of both tombs takes around three hours and includes the on-site exhibition. (240 min)

2. Monasterboice - An early Christian monastic site in County Louth with two exceptional high crosses, a round tower, and the ruins of two medieval churches. A quiet, open site that rewards a slow circuit rather than a quick photograph. (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

• Arrive early at the Visitor Centre. Brú na Bóinne fills up mid-morning when coach groups arrive from Dublin. An early shuttle means fewer crowds in the passage and more time to read the kerbstone carvings at your own pace.
• The Visitor Centre is the only access point. There’s no road directly to Newgrange or Knowth - every visitor goes by shuttle from the Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre. Your driver-guide builds this into the schedule.
• Walk the full enclosure at Monasterboice. The high crosses photograph best from up close. Give yourself time for the round tower and the smaller grave slabs too - they make more sense once you’ve walked the full circuit rather than stopping at the gate.
• Pack a rain layer. Both sites are open-air and exposed. Even in summer the Boyne Valley can catch Atlantic weather quickly, and the ground around the Newgrange kerbstones is uneven underfoot.
• Slane is four kilometres from the Brú na Bóinne entrance on the Boyne. The Hill of Slane is where St Patrick reportedly lit the Paschal fire in 433 AD in defiance of the High King at Tara, and the Slane Distillery in the old castle stable yards does tours and tastings (book ahead).

Nearby on IrelandMe

• Slane - a village on the Boyne with the Hill of Slane above and a whiskey distillery built into the old castle stables
• meath - the full county, from the Hill of Tara to the Battle of the Boyne at Oldbridge