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Dublin to Newgrange, Monasterboice Small Group Guided Tours
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From €85 per person
This full-day tour takes you deep into the Boyne Valley, one of Ireland’s most significant prehistoric landscapes, with entrance fees to Newgrange Monument and Brú na Bóinne already covered - so you skip the queues and get straight to exploring.
What sets this tour apart is that it visits both Newgrange and Knowth - the two most important sites in the valley - on the same day. They’re the only operator running this combination. Note: between 1 November and 1 March, Knowth isn’t accessible, so the Brú na Bóinne portion is slightly shorter during that period.
Groups travel in a small mini coach with a maximum of 29 people, and your guide is fully qualified and genuinely enthusiastic about Irish history.
Molly Malone Statue, Suffolk Street - Meeting point - Meet your guide at 09:00am. Please arrive 10 minutes early and look for a white bus with “Hilltoptreks” on the side. From here you head out through the beautiful Boyne Valley. (10 min)
Newgrange - An UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of Ireland’s most impressive ancient monuments. Newgrange is the largest purpose-built burial site and place of ancient worship in Ireland, aligned perfectly with the winter solstice - something the neolithic people who built it around 5,200 years ago clearly understood well. (180 min)
Battle of the Boyne site - The battle of 1690 wasn’t just a turning point for Ireland; it shaped the future of Britain and Europe. It was a contest for the English throne between Catholic King James II and Protestant William of Orange, and its legacy still echoes in Northern Ireland today, celebrated each year on 12 July by the loyalist community. You can do a self-guided tour here - pay at entry. (90 min)
Monasterboice - Mainistir Bhuithe, “the monastery of Buithe,” is a 5th-century monastic site founded by St Buithe. The remains include two 14th-century churches, a 10th-century round tower standing about 28 metres tall (built shortly after 968, damaged by fire in 1098), and three remarkable high crosses from the 10th century. The 5.5-metre Muiredach’s High Cross is regarded as the finest in all of Ireland, carved with scenes from the Old and New Testaments and named after abbot Muiredach mac Domhnaill, who died in 923. (40 min)
Meeting point: Molly Malone statue, Suffolk Street, at 09:00am. Please be 10 minutes early. Look for a white bus with “Hilltoptreks” on it.
Arrive before the crowds at Newgrange. The 09:00am departure from Dublin is timed well - you typically reach the valley before the bulk of the day’s visitors, and entry to Newgrange is managed by timed slots from the Visitor Centre. Your entrance fee is included and the guide handles the booking logistics, so you won’t be queuing at the desk while your slot disappears.
At the Battle of the Boyne site, the self-guided tour is genuinely worth the entry fee. The 1690 battle between James II and William of Orange was fought across this stretch of the river Boyne, and the visitor centre tells the story well - the consequences for Ireland, Britain and the future of Europe are laid out without taking sides. Budget the full 90 minutes if you can; it’s a site that rewards going slowly.
Monasterboice rewards careful looking. The biblical carvings on Muiredach’s High Cross are exceptionally detailed for 10th-century stonework - scenes from Genesis, the Crucifixion, the Last Judgement - all in a site that gets a fraction of the coach traffic that Newgrange does. The round tower beside the crosses was built shortly after 968 and you can stand within metres of it. This is often the stop that surprises people most.
The Boyne Valley is worth a return visit. The 90-kilometre stretch of the River Boyne contains more passage tombs, standing stones and ring forts than almost anywhere in Europe. If this tour opens the door for you, the wider valley repays a slower exploration. Knowth alone - when it’s accessible - has more megalithic art than the whole of Western Europe combined. Drogheda is the best base if you’re coming back - Newgrange is fifteen minutes west, the Battle of the Boyne site is six kilometres up the river, and Monasterboice is twenty minutes north. Collon is the nearest village to Monasterboice itself, four kilometres away on the R168, and from there Old Mellifont Abbey is another stop on the same road if you want the full Boyne Valley sweep.
Slane is nine kilometres from the Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre and worth stopping at on a return visit. The village is four Georgian houses at a crossroads on the River Boyne, with the Hill of Slane above it - where St Patrick is said to have lit the Paschal fire in defiance of the High King in 433 AD. Slane also has the Slane Distillery in the old castle stables, where you can taste Irish whiskey in a building that has hosted U2, the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan on the hillside outside. Conyngham Arms on the main street is the place to eat and sleep if you are using Slane as your Boyne Valley base rather than Drogheda.