Hi,
It's our first time in Ireland. I'm a little worried about spending a lot of time in line. We arrive 8:40 am and plan to drop our bags at the Conrad, then start seeing the sights. What's the best way to see the Book of Kells? I planned to buy the Heritage Island Explorer Guide but not sure if there is a way to book ahead of time and apply this discount.
NK Horner
You can book ahead and skip the line. We did this last summer and it worked really well.
https://www.tcd.ie/visitors/book-of-kells/tickets-information/
Frankly I feel it's not worth just seeing the Book of Kells without more Trinity College context. The Trinity College walking tour, which can include Book of Kells entry if you buy that version of the ticket, makes it far more interesting and memorable. Just my opinion.
I agree it's best to take the Trinity College walking tour and include the Book of Kells. We were there about 2 years ago and I think it was about 13 euro. A student guide takes you around and explains different areas of the campus. Our guide was really entertaining. It's not a long tour. Frankly, the Book of Kells is pretty anticlimactic. The history behind it is cool, but there's such a crowd that you just walk around it for a few minutes. They have it open to different pages on different days. It's under glass, of course. I was much more impressed with the Long Room in the Trinity College Library.
Am I correct that choosing to take the student guide led Trinity College tour + Book of Kells means I just buy a ticket day of? I don't see that they offer prepurchase. I was a bit worried about leaving ticket procurement until the day we are there.
Thanks all for your help. Doing a fair bit of ancestry work too so it should be a great trip.
NK Horner
I highly recommend walking by the Famine Statues on the rivers edge..... very graphic representation of what our ancestors went through
We purchased tickets online ahead of time for 9:30 entry. When we got there, about 9:10 am, they let us in. So glad. By 9:45 am (on a Monday) the place was packed.
Agree with Kathy that the Book of Kells can seem anticlimactic. Not too mention overly crowded if you are there at the wrong times. If you are really interested in illuminated texts, go to the Chester Beatty Library which RS recommends. No crowds, but many fine examples of beautifully written and decorated texts from all over the world. A hidden gem in Dublin.
My husband and I thought the Trinity College Tour and Book Of Kells was a real waste of time.
I agree with Kathy H that the long library upstairs from the Book of Kells was more impressive to me.
Agree, agree on skipping Book of Kells! We just returned from the 14 Day Tour, and waiting in that long line was not worth the Book of Kells. However, the library is wonderful and a must-see. We gave the Book a quick glance, and then upstairs to meander in the library. We also walked to the Famine boat and that was worth the trip.
Bought the ticket online the night before. Just walked right in on arrival. Long line waiting to purchase tickets. Long library is pretty awesome.
Visited there in mid October 2010 and walked right up and got a ticket for the walking tour; no line. Maybe I got lucky.
Here is a YouTube of a multi-part documentary on the Book of Kells. It is very informative.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRGQPJIO5CM&list=PLuMxdXhb60Qv1vuSwWFEMQMRWvJjLzOAY
After seeing the series, I decided not to go to see the Book of Kells because you really need a scholar to explain all the details to understand what you at looking at.
I didn't think it would be worth it to just glance at the page for a few minutes. Plus I hate crowds.
I felt I got what I need to know from the documentary.
We have pre-purchased our Book of Kells ticket with a timed entry. (4:30-5 PM)
Plan is to catch the 3:40 Trinity walking tour (35 min) which ends at Book of Kells- with our ticket in hand we should avoid a wait.
The Trinity tour tix can not be prepurchased - if you already have your Kells tickets the cost of Trinity tour is just 3£
Thanks everyone for the great tips. I have a long bucket list but the Book of Kells is on there so we booked tickets online and are skipping the Trinity College tour. I will study up before I go though so thanks for the video link. So helpful!
NK
Closing the loop, we walked right in at 11:30am with our online Book of Kell's tickets for noon. The College was very crowded and there was a big line for the Book that we bypassed. So...this was very successful. I was surprised how crowded it was---hard to even read the exhibit once we were in. There desperately needs to be a viewing system of THE BOOK. People would push and shove to get to it and then camp out. Kind of sad to watch.
