A Long Weekend in Ireland: The Offbeat Plan

Three days is the 2-day plan plus Glendalough and the Wicklow Mountains, the closest genuine nature day trip Dublin has, and the one with a lake dressed up to look like a pint of stout.

Book these before you go:

Day Focus Travel time from Dublin
1 Dublin city, the odd-facts version City center
2 Howth: cliff loop and fined-for-feeding seals 30-35 min by DART
3 Glendalough and Wicklow: the pint-shaped lake About 1h20 by bus or car

Day 1: Dublin city, the odd-facts version

Book Kilmainham Gaol the moment your dates are set, it’s the cheapest major ticket in the city and, despite that, the single hardest to actually get. Spend the rest of the morning at Trinity College for the Book of Kells, budget about 90 minutes and get a timed slot in advance rather than risk a walk-up queue. Slip into the National Gallery of Ireland on Merrion Square afterward, free admission, a deep collection of Irish and European art, and consistently one of the emptiest major rooms in the city center. For the full city treatment, see our Dublin hidden gems guide and the 3-day Dublin city itinerary ; this page only needs the city sorted enough to launch from.

Day 2: Howth, the easy win

Take the DART from Connolly, Pearse, or Tara Street, roughly 30 to 35 minutes, a train every half hour, a few euro each way or a Leap Card zone fare. Walk the Cliff Path Loop for sea views over Dublin Bay, then drop into the harbour, where a colony of grey seals has been working the fishing boats for scraps for years. Buy the seal-safe fish bits sold at the harbour fish shop instead of feeding them your own chips, doing it yourself can draw a fine reportedly up to EUR 5,000 under local bylaws. Eat at Beshoff Bros for fish and chips at half the price of a sit-down table.

Does Howth need advance planning?

No, and that’s exactly the point. No ticket, no tour bus, no backup plan required if the weather turns, the one day trip in this family you can decide to do the same morning.

Day 3: Glendalough and Wicklow, the pint-shaped lake

About an hour to an hour twenty each way by bus or car, no direct train. St Kevin’s monastic ruins and Round Tower sit free to walk beside two lakes in the Wicklow Mountains, but the odder stop is Lough Tay, nicknamed the Guinness Lake because the Guinness family, who own the surrounding estate, imported white sand to lay along the shore so the dark, peat-stained water looks from above like a pint mid-pour. You can only view it from roadside pull-offs on the R759, the shoreline itself sits on private land. Wicklow also doubled as several locations in the film P.S. I Love You, including Sally Gap and the bridge at Ballysmuttan, worth the detour if that’s your thing. Check nationalparks.ie for current trail conditions inside Wicklow Mountains National Park.

Is Glendalough worth doing without a car?

Yes. St Kevin’s Bus and half-day tours both run the route without one, and the monastic site itself costs nothing to walk once you arrive. A car mainly buys you the Lough Tay viewpoint and the freedom to linger longer in the mountains past the tour’s return time.

Before you go

Buy a Leap Card for the DART to Howth and the city’s Luas or bus; Glendalough runs on a tour bus or a rental car instead, not the city transit card. Pack for rain regardless of month, Dublin doesn’t run a reliably dry season. Dublin Airport has no rail or metro link in 2026, budget the Airlink 747/757 or Aircoach 700 coach into the city. If three days leaves you wanting more, the 4-day plan adds Newgrange and its solstice lottery next.