My family will be visiting Dublin in early November. We definitely want to see the Book of Kells, and are interested in the student-led Historic Walking Tour (2-hr @ 11:00 on Sun) & Trinity College Tour (every 30-min on Sun).
We want to avoid lines & waits. What is the most efficient way to do this? I suspect this will be off-season in November. Do we need to purchase tickets in advance to avoid lines/waits?
I’d appreciate your advice.
Thanks! Ron
There are no lines or waits to speak of for the student led tour. Show up one minute before the tour starts, pay and Bob’s your uncle. The only wait will occur afterwards when everyone then lines up for the Book of Kells. Those who bought tickets for the Book of Kells online, in advance for a specific time and in addition to the student tour go in first using a different line. (You don’t have to do the student tour to see the Book of Kells). Those on the student tour wait until the guards decide to let you in. If it’s a sunny day and lots of people are around you wait a long time. If it’s a rainy November morning maybe you don’t wait too long. Or maybe you wait in the rain. Doing the student tour with the Book of Kells is the cheapest way to go. But if you want to do the Book of Kells without having to stand in line it’s best to pay separately for a timed entry.
Just a heads up that the Book of Kells may not quite be the experience you are expecting. I know I found it disappointing. You don’t see much and it is quite crowded.
It was August when I saw it. Arrived early and the line wasn’t too long. Snaked all around the quad when we came out.
That said, IMO it is not worth a long wait. The library upstairs is the best part of the tour.
I agree with Kathy's and Carol's assessments of the tour. I found the Archeological Museum much more interesting.
Thanks everyone. I'll plan to just show up for the 11:00 Historic Walk. It sounds like Book of Kells (BOK) time-entry is a good idea.
I understand the BOK visit is three stages (exhibit, treasury, Old Library). Is the time-entry for admission to all three stages or just the treasury (book) portion? We want to allow buffer time if the Walking History Tour runs longer than 2 hours (Rick indicates it can sometimes be a little longer), and also want to have adequate time to see the exhibit stage before viewing the book.
Assuming we do the BOK after the 2-hour Walking History Tour, what BOK time-entry do you recommend? Perhaps 13:30 or so?
Whether it is taken as part of the student led tour or in advance as a timed entry, the Book of Kells tour includes all three exhibits. As others have mentioned, the Book of Kells room can be very crowded and difficult to see. If you hang back and let others go through first you might have a better viewing experience. Same with the Long Room. You aren’t rushed to go through. And especially with the Long Room you can chat with the guards and move around as much as you like.
I don’t remember how long the walking tour took so I can’t help you there.
