Please sign in to post.

Newgrange, Battle of the Boyne Visitor Center & Monasterboice guided day trip from Dublin

Posted by on

Hello! Maybe someone has some ideas. My companion and I will be on tour in Ireland in mid-Sept, returning to Dublin the night of the 18th. We had wanted to do the above day trip on, preferably, the 19th, but any day through the 22nd would also work. It seems like every tour company I've tried: GetYourGuide, Viator & Tripadvisor, all offer the exact same itinerary and meeting place, and they're all booked for all those dates. It just seems to me that there must be one overall company that farms out a certain number of spaces on these tours to each company that offers them. Does anyone know of any other companies that run such a trip? We do not want to rent a car!! I'm thinking there have got to be some tour companies on the ground in Dublin that can accommodate us during that time period. (When we went to Athens on our own in 2009, every street had little tour agencies offering the same 3-4 day itinerary around the country that we had pre-booked through some company in the U.S. before leaving home. Just wondered if there's anything like that in Dublin).

Thanks so much!

Posted by
1023 posts

I'll add another vote for Mary Gibbons if you are lucky enough to get it.

None of the companies you mentioned -- Get Your Guide, Viator, Trip Advisor-- are actual tour operators. Rather, they are 3rd party brokers that contract with tour companies and usually charge you a bit more. Usually, you can find the name of the tour operator somewhere on the Viator etc page. You might do better going directly to tour operators. If you google Newgrange tours, you should see Mary Gibbons and other local tour companies in addition to the 3rd party vendors. Also, in case anything goes wrong with your tour reservation, it is usually much easier to deal with the operator rather than a third party.

When I was in Dublin pre-Covid, I was able to book the Mary Gibbons tour through a Dublin tourist information office and I know other people who booked it through their hotels. Nowadays, the tours book up further in advance so that might not work anymore. But if you have reservations at a hotel, you might ask for their recommendation and assistance.

Posted by
2102 posts

There are a few tours through AirBnB Experiences. I didn't see where any specifically mention Monasterboice, but I didn't look closely, either.
https://www.airbnb.com/s/Dublin--Leinster--Ireland/experiences?place_id=ChIJL6wn6oAOZ0gRoHExl6nHAAo&search_type=unknown&refinement_paths%5B%5D=%2Fexperiences&date_picker_type=calendar&query=Dublin%2C%20Leinster%2C%20Ireland&checkin=2026-09-19&checkout=2026-09-22&source=structured_search_input_header
Newgrange has a guided tour, which you can book directly.
The website for the Battle of the Boyne Visitor Centre indicates there are guided tours available, but I couldn't see how to book them. You might contact them. They might also know of a private guide who works in that area.

Posted by
27 posts

Have run into the same issue and contacted Mary Gibbons. There are several days for which they have booked tours for Trinity College history student, whole class which is causing this shortage. I plan to keep an eye on the Newgrange site opening up their reservation. (30 days in advance I think) and hoping to snag a spot. I think you can take a train to Drogheda and then a taxi. It will only cover Newgrange area but that is the main attraction for us.

Add Reply

Please do not reply to violations of our Community Guidelines.