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Best way to get from DUB --> Newgrange --> Belfast

Posted by on

Hello! Been trying to decide between renting a car and hopping from train to bus to taxi and back for the first couple of days a friend and I are staying in Ireland. We're flying into Dublin and then thinking of going to Newgrange first, then going north to Belfast and spending the afternoon/evening, as we have an early tour of Northern Ireland the next day, all day. At first I thought it'd just be easiest to rent a car--thankfully I drive manual and we won't have much luggage--but didn't want to waste the trouble and have the car sit in Belfast all day on the second day, only to return to Dublin that night. Trouble is, can't seem to find an efficient way to go from the Dublin airport to Drogheda, then Newgrange, then up to Belfast (although Belfast --> Dublin by train seems easy enough for the next day). Sorry this is wordy, I'm a writer and tend to over-explain. Any tips would be most helpful, thanks!

Day 1: early morning flying into Dublin, spend midday at Newgrange, evening in Belfast
Day 2: all day tour of north that leaves from Belfast, back to Dublin by evening

Posted by
9371 posts

You don't say when your are traveling, but arriving at Newgrange midday can be too late in peak season. Tour buses often grab most of the available time slots (you take a bus from the visitor center to the site). You need to get there as early as you can if you are not with a tour. Why are you going to Drogheda first? To me, it doesn't make sense to rent a car in this case. You could take a half-day tour to Newgrange, then take the train from Dublin to Belfast later in the day. It won't matter if you get to Belfast a little later, since you will presumably see the city on your tour the next day. You aren't likely to easily find transportation from Newgrange to Belfast (with your luggage). And you can't rent in Dublin and drop off in Belfast without incurring an international drop fee that would be prohibitively expensive.

Posted by
2 posts

Nancy--thanks for responding! This trip is just in a few weeks, so off-season. Initially we were going to go north for a couple of days, spend the weekend in Dublin and then drive around the south of the country the next few days after that. That's why I wanted to somehow go to Newgrange on the way to Belfast, but then seeing how expensive rentals are made me hesitate. However the tour is going to be the castles/sights north of Belfast, not the city itself.

Posted by
9371 posts

Unless you rent a car (which is what I did), you can't easily see Newgrange on the way to Belfast. You could go straight to Belfast on the train, see the city, do your tour the next day, return to Dublin and then take a half-day tour to Newgrange the following day. Then when you are ready to leave the Dublin area, you could rent a car. You haven't given us any idea how long this whole trip is, and we don't know what your priorities are as far as what to do and see, so it's hard to give you a much more specific answer.

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