Boyne Valley sites

I've been to neither site, though I've been to the Boyne Valley.

However, I have one suggestion. Try to see the Monasterboice High Cross. It's stunning.

I have been to the Hill of Knowth, which is smaller than Newgrange. If you have to choose between the two, I suggest Newgrange.

Also, a lot of tours go to the Hill of Tara, the one-time seat of the High King of Ireland. There really isn't much to see in terms of antiquities, but I'm glad I went to it anyway.

Have a great trip. Cheers.

I took the Mary Gibbons tour and really enjoyed it. Newgrange was great to see and I highly recommend it. The tour overall was very good. The tour guide gives a ton of info throughout the day and bus ride; the tour at Newgrange is done by one of the site's guides. I liked that during the day there was some free time opportunities to explore sites, have some lunch/tea/coffee, or see the gift shops.

Thank you Craig and Stephanie for your replies!

Question for Stephanie: On the Mary Gibbons tour did she stop at the Monasterboice high crosses?

I am looking at her tour vs. daytours unplugged (14 people max). The unplugged tour does go to Newgrange and stops at Monasterboice.

One other tour, Daytours.ie, they don't go to Newgrange, but instead go to Loughcrew. They also go to Monasterboice. Plus, I haven't figured out how many people can go on this tour.

All the tours go to Tara.

I have some time to think about it, but I think I will go with the unplugged tour because of the combination of Newgrange and Monasterboice.

Northwest adventurer:

One more thing, and I'll shut up already. When you go to the Boyne Valley, your bus will probably take you on a route that goes past a workhouse from the 19th Century. The Victorian-era workhouses were terrible, as anyone who's read a Dickens novel knows, but this one has an added bit of tragedy. When I went to the Boyne, our tour guide said thousands died outside that workhouse during the Famine of the late 1840s. Apparently the fields immediately adjacent to it were used as open-air morgues. I've read a book on the Famine. Most people preferred to avoid workhouses and thus wandered the roads in search of food. The reason is that workhouses were essentially prisons. Inmates got food and shelter, but they never left once signing in. Yet, the Famine was so extreme that people were lining up to get in to the workhouse northwest of Dublin but being turned away. It's incredibly tragic.

I found this page, and what's called the Richmond Lunatic Asylum might be the one I saw but am not completely sure: http://www.workhouses.org.uk/DublinNorth/

When you go to the Boyne Valley, ask your guide to point out the workhouse. He or she should know where it's at. While the history of the building is tragic, it's part of Irish history.

One more question on this topic for both Craig and Stephanie,

I think I will try and reserve a spot with Mary Gibbons.
Secondly, I want to see the High Crosses. But, Mary doesn't go there. I found on the Rome2rio.com site that I could take a bus to the site. Any thoughts on that?
Hopng somebody has take the bus there.

Northwest adventurer,

I cannot your question. When I saw the high cross, I was on a one-day tour booked in Dublin. The Rome2rio didn't exist then. If the Rome2rio site says it goes to the high cross, then you're set. Cheers.