I took the Mary Gibbons tour of Newgrange/Brú na Bóinne a couple of days ago. As often said in this forum, it was excellent! Mary is a professional archaeologist, knows a lot about a lot of things, and shares it in an easily understood and often witty fashion. She loves archaeology and history, and it shows! I would also recommend, either before or after her tour, a visit to the National Museum to see the amazing archaeological finds there.
Before I took the tour, I was a little unclear about which sites were to be visited and how the day would go, so I’ll describe how our tour went and maybe it will help someone plan their day. Timing is tight. My pickup point was the Shelbourne Hotel at 9:30, be there at 9:15. The tricky bit was that the pickup was actually across the street and up a half block from the Shelbourne, at the bus stop; the doorman at the Shelbourne apparently fields questions every morning.
1) The first stop was the Hill of Tara. Mary began immediately with an introduction at the entrance to the site and then we were given a good amount of free time to wander about; during free time you can also visit the WC and/or the gift shop.
2) The second stop was the Newgrange visitor’s center. We got there at 12:30 and were given color-coded wristbands with “1:45” on them. For that 1:45 park bus (not Mary’s bus), we had to leave the visitor’s center by 1:30 to walk across the river to the bus stop. So you have an hour to take in the exhibits, get lunch in the café downstairs, visit the gift shop, and use the toilet before leaving. I had enough time, but did not read everything in the exhibits and skipped the gift shop. The cafeteria service was pretty quick, but maybe bringing food that could be eaten while waiting for the park bus would save some time. It’s okay to eat outside at the visitor’s center.
3) The 1:45 bus took us first to Knowth. At this point Mary was not present—it’s all run by site personnel and tightly controlled. We were met by a guide and the tour began immediately. After her tour, we had a few minutes free time. Then there was an optional 15-film that started 15 minutes before our next bus. There are WCs, but allow time before or during the film because at least for the ladies there are only two stalls.
4) The next bus took us to Newgrange, and again the guided tour started right away. They divide Mary’s group into two parts, and 15 at a time go into the passage. If you need the WC now, make sure you get in the first group, because once the second group is through it’s right back on the park bus. The WCs are a short walk past the bus stop in the opposite direction from the site entrance. A couple of us hoofed it there before the bus left, and fortunately thought to notify the driver. Despite how quickly we moved, we were last on the bus and it was waiting outside the toilets for us. Surprised we didn’t get applause!
5) The park bus took us back to the visitor’s center and we went immediately back to Mary’s bus. You could probably visit the toilet if you were very quick, but there is not time to go back to the exhibits or the gift shop. We got back to the Shelbourne at 5:30. The other stop is on O’Connell Street: the second pickup in the morning and the first dropoff at the end of the day.