Guide · Ancient Ireland

A Newgrange day trip from Dublin

Newgrange is a great grass-topped mound from the Stone Age, and you can only enter it on a guided tour. A Newgrange day trip from Dublin with tickets included solves the hardest part of the visit.

Check availabilityfrom $98 · free cancellation

Editorial team, dublindaytrip.comUpdated October 18, 20266-minute read8 sources

The tour that goes with it Dublin: Boyne Valley with Newgrange and Bru Na Boinne Entry 4.8 (1,024 reviews) 8 hours from$98per person Check availabilityFree cancellation up to 24 hrs before

Quick answer

01The tour: 8 hours with Newgrange and Brú na Bóinne entry, from $98.
02At Newgrange: 3 hours, guided, with skip-the-queue entry.
03Also on the day: The Battle of the Boyne centre and Monasterboice.
04How old: The passage tombs were built around 3200 BC.¹
05Book ahead: Tickets go on sale 30 days ahead from April to November.²

What Newgrange is

In a bend of the River Boyne, north of Dublin, lies Brú na Bóinne, a landscape of prehistoric passage tombs. Its great mounds, Knowth, Newgrange and Dowth, were built around 3200 BC.¹ Newgrange is the most famous of them: a round mound faced with white quartz, ringed by carved kerbstones and pierced by a long stone passage that leads to a chamber at its heart. From the outside it looks almost modern in its neatness; inside, the stones feel immeasurably old.

The passage is aligned so that the rising sun at the winter solstice shines into the chamber, a piece of ancient engineering that still fascinates people today. Inside, spiral carvings cover the stones, and standing in the cool dark under the corbelled roof is a moment few visitors forget. Guides explain how the builders read the sky and why the dark chamber mattered to them, and there is time for questions.

That is the reason to go: not just to see an old mound, but to step inside a chamber built around 3200 BC.¹ A Newgrange day trip from Dublin with tickets included is the simplest way to make sure you actually get through the entrance.

The day

Into the Boyne Valley and back

Morning

Molly Malone

Meet 10 minutes early by the small white minibus.
1 hr

To the Boyne

North out of Dublin to Brú na Bóinne.
3 hrs

Newgrange

Guided visit, exhibition and the shuttle to the tombs.
1 hr

Battle of the Boyne

The visitor centre at the site of the 1690 battle.
45 min

Monasterboice

Round tower and Muiredach's High Cross.
5:00 PM

Back in Dublin

Back in Dublin around 5:00 PM.

Why a tour makes sense for Newgrange

You cannot simply walk up to the tombs. Access to Newgrange and Knowth is by guided tour only, and visitors reach the monuments by shuttle bus from the visitor centre.³ ⁴ Pre-booking is essential, and the ticket windows are short: for tours between 1 April and 1 November, tickets are released online 30 days in advance, and from 2 November to 31 December only 7 days in advance.²

That makes independent visits stressful in high season, when slots can be scarce. A day tour with entry included takes care of it. The tour this page recommends includes your entrance fee and skip-the-queue access at Newgrange and Brú na Bóinne. It also spares you the drive, the parking and the worry of arriving late for a fixed shuttle time.

There are rules for families too. Unaccompanied minors under 18 are not admitted, so teenagers must visit with an adult.⁵ And if you dream of the solstice sunrise, know that the centre opens earlier on the solstice mornings of 19 to 23 December and suspends its regular tours then.⁶

Length

Hours away, by Boyne Valley tour

hours

Durations as each GetYourGuide listing states them.

Month by month

Dublin weather and Newgrange ticket windows

Month	Daylight (h)	Darkness (h)	High / low	Wet days	Newgrange tickets
Jan	8	16	8 / 2 °C	8
Feb	9.7	14.3	9 / 2 °C	7
Mar	11.7	12.3	11 / 3 °C	7
Apr	13.9	10.1	13 / 5 °C	7	30 days ahead
May	15.8	8.2	16 / 7 °C	7	30 days ahead
Jun	17	7	19 / 10 °C	6	30 days ahead
Jul	16.5	7.5	20 / 12 °C	7	30 days ahead
Aug	14.8	9.2	20 / 11 °C	7	30 days ahead
Sep	12.6	11.4	18 / 9 °C	7	30 days ahead
Oct	10.4	13.6	14 / 7 °C	8	30 days ahead
Nov	8.5	15.5	11 / 4 °C	9	7 days ahead
Dec	7.5	16.5	9 / 3 °C	9	7 days ahead

Each month shows its mid-month daylight, the typical warmest and coldest point of an average day, and the count of days bringing 2.5 mm or more; the series is NOAA's for 1991 to 2020.⁸ Season according to Heritage Ireland.²

Three Boyne days

Newgrange, Celtic sites or private

Most reviewed

Newgrange tour

Entry and skip-the-queue

Length: 8 hrs
Rating: 4.78
Price: from $98

See dates

Beyond Newgrange

Celtic Boyne Valley

Tara, Trim, Loughcrew, Fore

Length: 10 hrs
Rating: 4.64
Price: from $81

See dates

From Dublin: Newgrange and Boyne Valley Private Day Trip

Your own group

Private Newgrange

Slane, Monasterboice, Mellifont

Length: 8 hrs
Guides: English, French
Price: from $772

See dates

Decision helper

Which Boyne day suits you?

Choose by what you want to stand in front of

Inside the famous tomb Kings, castles and cairns Your own pace Back early

Newgrange tour

Entry included, 3 hours at Newgrange.

Celtic Boyne Valley

Hill of Tara, Trim Castle and Loughcrew.

Private Newgrange

A driver-guide for your group, 8 hours.

Newgrange tour

Return around 5:00 PM.

Brú na Bóinne is famous for the spectacular prehistoric passage tombs of Knowth, Newgrange and Dowth which were built circa 3200BC.

Office of Public Works (Heritage Ireland)Source 1

How the tour day runs

The tour meets at the Molly Malone statue on Suffolk Street, 10 minutes before departure; look for a small white minibus. The drive to the Boyne Valley takes about an hour, and the group then spends 3 hours at Newgrange, with a guided visit, time in the exhibition and the shuttle to the tombs. The visitor centre exhibition is worth a careful look before the shuttle, since it explains what you are about to see.

Next comes an hour at the Battle of the Boyne Visitor Centre, where King James II and William of Orange fought for the crown of England in 1690, a battle still remembered in Northern Ireland today. The last stop is Monasterboice, an early monastic site with a round tower about 28 m tall and Muiredach's High Cross, 5.5 m high and covered in biblical carvings.

You are back in Dublin around 5:00 PM, early enough for a relaxed evening. The whole trip runs 8 hours, starts from $98 and holds 4.78 from 1,024 reviews. Lunch is not part of the price, but there is a café at the Newgrange visitor centre.

Checklist

Before the tombs

Plan

Book early: tickets release 30 days ahead in season²
Under-18s must come with an adult⁵
Solstice mornings 19 to 23 December run differently⁶

Bring

A waterproof jacket
Comfortable shoes
Money for the café at the visitor centre

Cost calculator

The Boyne Valley for your group

See the totals for your group size.

Newgrange tour8 hrsfrom $98 Celtic Boyne Valley10 hrsfrom $81 Private Newgrange8 hrsfrom $772

People 2

Total from$196

per head from $98

Check availabilityfree cancellation

Totals multiply the starting price GetYourGuide lists by your party size, shown in your chosen currency at the ECB rate; checkout confirms the final sum.

Video

Newgrange, the prehistoric tomb, explained

The YouTube player stays switched off until you press play, then streams through youtube-nocookie.

Knowth, Dowth and the seasons

Knowth, a short shuttle ride from Newgrange, is covered in carved stones, but there is no access to its chambers.⁷ You walk on and around the mounds instead and look at the carved kerbstones. Dowth, the third great mound, sits apart and is not part of the guided visits.

The time of year changes what you see. Between 1 November and 1 March, Knowth is not accessible on this tour, so the Brú na Bóinne part of the day is a little shorter. Winter has its own appeal, though: fewer people, low light over the fields and the solstice story in the air. Ask your guide which carvings to look for; some of the finest are on the kerbstones that ring the base of each mound.

Spring and summer bring longer visits and greener landscapes. The table on this page sets out the month-by-month climate in Dublin alongside the Newgrange booking windows, so you can plan both at once.

A deeper Celtic day: Tara, Trim and Loughcrew

If you have already seen Newgrange, or you are curious about the rest of the Boyne country, a different tour goes further into the past. It stops for an hour at the Hill of Tara, which was the crowning site of the high kings of Ireland, then spends 70 minutes each at Trim Castle and the Loughcrew Cairns.

After that comes a 30-minute stop at the Fore distillery and an hour at Fore Abbey, an early monastic site, before 100 minutes on the road back to Dublin. The tour lasts 10 hours, starts from $81 and holds 4.64 from 1,012 reviews.

It is a quieter and more rural day than the Newgrange trip, with time on windy hilltops and among castle walls. Choose it when the landscape and the legends matter more to you than getting inside the famous tomb. The hill views at Tara and Loughcrew are wide and open, so bring a warm layer for the wind.

Going private

A private day trip covers Newgrange and the Boyne Valley with your own driver-guide. It spends 3 hours at Newgrange, then visits the Hill of Slane, Monasterboice for 30 minutes and the ruins of Mellifont Abbey. Guides speak English and French, and the trip lasts 8 hours, from $772 for your group.

Read the ticket note carefully. Newgrange tickets on this private tour are booked separately, up to one month in advance, so the operator advises booking them as early as you can. If the tickets are gone, ask about a nearby passage tomb instead before you commit.

Private trips suit families, photographers and groups who want to linger at the high crosses or skip a stop. For couples on a budget, the group tour with entry included remains the easier and cheaper choice. It is also worth considering if anyone in your party needs a slower pace or extra breaks.

Tips for the day

Dress for the weather in the valley rather than in the city. The shuttle drops you on open ground, and the walk around the mound is exposed to wind and rain. A waterproof jacket and comfortable shoes are enough most of the year, with a warm layer in winter. Bring a small bottle of water and a snack, since the café is the only place to buy food during the visit.

Inside the tomb the passage is narrow and low in places, and you may need to stoop. Anyone uneasy in tight spaces can stay at the entrance and still hear the guide explain the chamber. Ask the guide before raising your phone inside the chamber. Tell children the story of the sunrise in the chamber before you go in; it turns the dark passage into an adventure.

Leave your evening free. The tour is back in Dublin by late afternoon, and after a day among the oldest stones of the trip, a quiet dinner and an early night feel just right before your next trip out of the city.

Plan your west