Ireland Off the Beaten Path: 6 Day Itinerary

Six days is the 5-day plan plus the Cliffs of Moher, the single most over-scheduled day trip Dublin content usually proposes, a 12 to 13 hour coach round trip for roughly 90 minutes actually standing at the edge.

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
4 Newgrange and the Boyne Valley Guided tour only, no walk-up
5 Galway 2h20-2h30 each way by train
6 The Cliffs of Moher 3-3.5 hours each way by coach

Day 1: Dublin city, the odd-facts version

Book Kilmainham Gaol the moment your dates are set, the cheapest major ticket in the city and the single hardest to actually get. Spend the rest of the morning at Trinity College for the Book of Kells, then the National Gallery of Ireland on Merrion Square, free admission 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 6-day Dublin city itinerary .

Day 2: Howth, the easy win

Take the DART from Connolly, Pearse, or Tara Street, roughly 30 to 35 minutes. Walk the Cliff Path Loop, 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.

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

About an hour to an hour twenty each way by bus or car. St Kevin’s monastic ruins sit free to walk beside two lakes, but the odder stop is Lough Tay, nicknamed the Guinness Lake because the Guinness family imported white sand to lay along the shore so the dark, peat-stained water looks like a pint mid-pour, viewable only from roadside pull-offs on the R759. Wicklow also doubled as several P.S. I Love You film locations, including Sally Gap. See nationalparks.ie for current trail conditions.

Day 4: Newgrange and the Boyne Valley, older than the pyramids

There is no walk-up option here. Newgrange, older than Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids, is reachable only by guided tour from the Bru na Boinne Visitor Centre. A spot inside the chamber for the winter solstice isn’t sold, it’s drawn each year by a free public lottery through solsticelottery.ie, entries closing around 30 September.

Day 5: Galway, the day that looks casual and isn’t

Irish Rail runs direct from Heuston Station, roughly 2 hours 20 to 2 hours 30 each way. A same-day round trip burns close to 5 hours on trains for maybe 3 to 4 hours actually in the city. Galway Bay’s traditional sailing boats are genuinely called Galway hookers, most likely named for a 17th-century Dutch fishing boat rather than any English slang, and a small fleet still sails out of the Claddagh.

Should Galway and the Cliffs of Moher become one overnight instead of two round trips?

Often, yes. Booking a Galway or Doolin hotel for the night between Day 5 and Day 6 turns two separate long days into one manageable one, since the Cliffs sit far closer to Galway than to Dublin. It costs one extra hotel night and saves hours of duplicate driving or train time.

Day 6: The Cliffs of Moher, the day everyone books wrong

Roughly 3 to 3.5 hours each way by road, no direct train. A full-day guided coach tour runs 12 to 13 hours total, departing Dublin around 6:45 to 7am and returning between 8 and 10pm, priced roughly EUR 65-89 per person, usually bundled with the Burren and either Galway City or Bunratty Castle. Strip out the driving and you’re left with roughly 90 minutes to 2 hours actually at the cliffs. Self-driving and paying at the visitor centre alone runs about EUR 8 off-peak or EUR 12 during the 11am-4pm peak window. See cliffsofmoher.ie for current visitor centre hours.

Is the Cliffs of Moher day trip actually worth it?

Yes, but go in with the trade already accepted: a 12 to 13 hour day for something like 90 minutes to 2 hours actually at the cliffs. The cliffs themselves earn the visit outright. The single-day round trip from Dublin barely earns itself back, which is exactly why basing overnight in Galway or Doolin the night before turns the same cliffs into a relaxed half day instead of an endurance test.

Before you go

Buy a Leap Card for the DART and the city’s Luas or bus; every day trip from Glendalough onward runs on a tour coach, rental car, or Irish Rail instead. If a spare night is anywhere in this trip, put it here first, pairing Day 5 in Galway with an overnight before Day 6’s cliffs turns two long days into one relaxed one. Dublin Airport has no rail or metro link in 2026, budget the Airlink 747/757 or Aircoach 700 coach into the city. If six days leaves you wanting the full set, the 7-day plan adds Belfast and the Giants Causeway, and its sudden switch to pounds sterling, last.