In your educated opinions, which of these should absolutely be booked before we arrive for our 4 nights in Dublin?
Skip the Line at Guiness
two-day hop on hop off bus
Kilmainham Gaol
Book of Kells
Cliffs of Moher or Blarney Castle all day bus tour
If you have a favorite tour of any of these, please include in your answer.
Thank you!
Kilmainham Gaol should be booked several weeks in advance. HOHO and Book of Kells are unlikely to be a problem. Cliffs of Moher and Blarney Castle depend on time of year and whether you want a specific tour operator.
I did a half-day tour with daytoursunplugged through the Wicklow Hills to Glandalough monastery. They also do a full day tour to Newgrange that has an early start to avoid the crowds. Max. 12 on their small bus, so you do need to book.
I would actually book the Book of Kells in advance. They stagger the times so it doesn't get too crowded. We were there in June and when we came out at noon there was already a line to get in.
We took a RailTours Ireland tour to Cork/Blarney/Cobh. It was a great mix of everything, Cobh was an unexpected delight. The ride is 2.5 hours but it went by quickly, left the train station at 7:00am and returned to Dublin 8:00pm.
If Kilmainham Gaol is high on your list, don't take a chance on going without a reservation. Credible work-arounds appear on this Forum from time-to-time, but if you're able to select a day and time now, go for it.
Agree with the previous posters. Book Kilmainham Gaol and the Book of Kells in advance. There is a discount at the Book of Kells for booking earlier tours (can't remember if it is tours before 10 or 11). Those fill more quickly, but there are fewer overall crowds during those times, which is a bonus.
Also, I forgot to mention that being able to see the Cliffs of Moher will depend on the weather. If you can, I'd wait to book that one until you have a better idea of the weather forecast. A downside of doing a Cliffs of Moher tour from Dublin is that it will be a long day, with a fair amount of bus time. You may not have a ton of time at the Cliffs themselves. I did love seeing the Cliffs - they were breathtaking. There was a cliff hiking path as well, which had amazing views.
We already were there the end of August. The weather was iffy so we did a full-day tour of Blarney Castle, Rock if Cashel and Cork. We used Paddy Wagon tours and had a great day. We’re back in hotel about 8 pm.
