No availability on Mary Gibbons Newgrange tour — other options?

I would consider Hilltoptreks - we did both the Mary Gibbons and the Hilltoptreks Newgrange tours and found both of them valuable for different reasons. Hilltoptreks used a much smaller bus and we already knew the driver from previous treks to Glendalough, etc. He was colorful and talkative but probably not quite as good as the guy who conducted our Mary Gibbons tour. Frankly we were expecting Mary and were somewhat disappointed.

We were quite happy to travel to Monasterboice on the Hilltoptreks tour. So, actually there are 2 items I preferred about Hilltoptreks. It does book up faster considering the coaches are likely going to be small. Our Hilltoptreks Newgrange/Boyne Valley outing was really a small group - just 16 people.

https://www.hilltoptreks.com/day-tours-from-dublin/day-tour-of-newgrange

Ruth, have you looked at booking your tickets yourself and renting a car for a day if you can’t find another tour availability?

Other than Hilltoptreks, I didn’t see anything except private tours. But if you can get an entry time and can get there, the sites themselves are guided by staff. For everyone equally.

Thank you both!

I had another idea, but am struggling to figure out if I can get it to work. We’ll be spending 3 nights in Belfast at the end of our trip, then returning to Dublin (reservation at an airport area hotel) for the night before an early morning flight. Assuming we can get tickets for Newgrange and Knowth for our final day in Ireland, we could take the train from Belfast, get off at Drogheda, and take a taxi to/from the visitors center. Return to Drogheda and then take a bus to our Dublin airport hotel in the evening. The only (major) problem with this plan is that there doesn’t seem to be anywhere to store luggage at either the train station or the bus station at Drogheda. Any ideas for this?

We could also spend the night in Drogheda and travel by cab or bus to the airport the following morning. But that would mean a very early start (probably 5:30 a.m. for a cab and earlier for a bus) and a lot more stress …versus a quick shuttle ride from the hotel to the airport.

Or take the bus #163 from Drogheda Station to Newgrange at 0900 returning at 1220 or 1540.

Bus #101 runs from Drogheda to Dublin Airport at 2am, 3am, 4am, 5am then every 20 minutes.

I was quite happy with my Hilltoptreks tour in September. I also had contacted Mary months in advance only to find my date was already booked by a group. But I found the guide/driver fine. A great day.

If you go with your latest plan I’d email or call Newgrange to verify the size of bags you can check on site. “Bags are not permitted inside Newgrange. Visitors must leave them in the secure containers provided.“

You could take a train to Droheda, taxi to Newgrange, taxi to Drogheda bus station and bus to DUB. Getting Newgrange timed tickets is key to this plan.

There is a limo service that is located near Drogheda that offers private day tours. We contacted them when we were staying near Drogheda this fall but didn’t end up using them. Their day long customized services were in the 700-900€ price range for a private driver. You can do the Dublin or Belfast to Newgrange by taxi and public transportation for a fraction of this cost but it’s a lot to piece together to target an elusive timed entrance. If you want the private tour company contact info PM me.

Keep in mind you can take the train in 40 minutes for about €20 roundtrip from Dublin to Drogheda. There also are buses. Then from Drogheda, a local bus travels 4 miles to drop you off in Donore which is about 1 mile from the Newgrange Visitor Center. A taxi from Drogheda to the Newgrange Visitor Center costs about €20. Admission to Newgrange—which includes the tour— is about €10.