Dublin day trip with a private driver: five routes, how long each takes and what it costs

A Dublin day trip with a private driver works best when the drive is short and the day is long: under two hours each way, with most of the time spent at the places rather than on the motorway. Five routes fit that pattern well. The Wicklow Mountains with Powerscourt and Glendalough, the Boyne Valley with Newgrange and Trim, the medieval city of Kilkenny, the coastal villages of Howth and Malahide, and, for those who want to go further, a long day west or north.

Each of the shorter routes below fits one of Elly8.net's fixed-price packages, so the price is known before you book: from US$340 for a four-hour tour in a Business Sedan to US$1,255 for an eight-hour day in an Executive Sprinter. Drive times are our routed estimates from St Stephen's Green on a clear road.

What is the best day trip from Dublin with a driver?

Which one is best for you depends on what you want from the day. Wicklow is scenery. The Boyne Valley is prehistory and the Normans. Kilkenny is a walkable medieval city with a castle. Howth and Malahide are the sea and a castle without leaving County Dublin.

Rides in Dublin are operated by licensed, commercially insured local chauffeur partners vetted through the Limousine Worldwide network; Elly8.net takes the booking, fixes the price and runs the 24/7 desk.

See Dublin prices and reserve

The five routes at a glance

All five are door to door from your hotel, with the chauffeur waiting at each stop. Prices are fixed, all-in and per vehicle, in US dollars, including the chauffeur, taxes and standard gratuity; entrance tickets, meals, tolls and parking are not included, and tolls and parking are billed at cost.

1. Powerscourt, Glendalough and the Wicklow Mountains

This is the classic Dublin day trip and our signature Dublin package. Powerscourt Estate, with its house and formal gardens near Enniskerry, is about 28 km (17 mi) south of St Stephen's Green, roughly half an hour by our routing. From there the road climbs into Wicklow Mountains National Park, which stretches across almost 23,000 hectares and is the largest of Ireland's national parks and the only one in the east.

Glendalough is the heart of the day. According to Heritage Ireland, the foundation of St Kevin at Glendalough became one of the most famous religious centres in Europe, and the monastic site and visitor centre are open all year. St Kevin's Bed, a small man-made cave in the cliff above the Upper Lake, may be a prehistoric burial place far older than the saint.

The loop is about 107 km (66 mi) with roughly two hours of driving, which leaves around four hours for the gardens, a walk at the lakes and lunch in a village. The 6-hour signature package costs US$470 in a Business Sedan, US$610 in a Business SUV, US$720 in a First Class SUV, US$775 in a First Class Sedan and US$940 in an Executive Sprinter. If you want a longer walk in the mountains, an 8-hour full-day chauffeur from US$630 gives you two more hours.

A typical timetable, built from our routed estimates and adjusted on the day:

• 9:00 Pickup at your Dublin hotel.
• 9:35 Powerscourt: house and gardens, about an hour and a half.
• 11:10 Drive through the mountains to Glendalough, about 35 minutes.
• 11:45 Glendalough: the monastic site, the lakes and lunch nearby, about two and a quarter hours.
• 2:00 Leave for Dublin, about an hour by the direct road.
• 3:00 Back at your hotel, six hours after pickup, with the evening free.

2. The Boyne Valley: Newgrange and Trim

North of Dublin, the Boyne Valley holds two of Ireland's great sites within half an hour of each other. Brú na Bóinne, about 54 km (34 mi) from the city, is the visitor centre for the passage tombs of Newgrange and Knowth. Heritage Ireland is clear on the rules: access to Newgrange and Knowth is by guided tour only, visitors travel by shuttle bus from the visitor centre, and pre-booking is essential because availability is very limited.

Plan the ticket before the car. Heritage Ireland releases tickets online 30 days ahead for tours between 1 April and 1 November, and 7 days ahead outside that period, with releases at midnight Irish time. From 2 November to the end of February, the only tour option is Newgrange with the exhibition. Book your slot, then tell us the time and we set the pickup around it.

From Brú na Bóinne, Trim is about 32 km (20 mi) away. Trim Castle is the largest Anglo-Norman fortification in Ireland, and Hugh de Lacy and his successors took 30 years to build it. The full loop, Dublin to Brú na Bóinne to Trim and back, is about 135 km (84 mi) and 2 hours 20 minutes of driving by our routing, which fits comfortably into the 8-hour full-day chauffeur: US$630 in a Business Sedan, US$810 in a Business SUV, US$960 in a First Class SUV, US$1,035 in a First Class Sedan and US$1,255 in an Executive Sprinter.

3. Kilkenny

Kilkenny is the longest of the classic day trips, about 125 km (78 mi) each way, around 1 hour 35 minutes on the M9 by our routing, so roughly 3 hours 10 minutes of driving in the day. The reward is a compact medieval city that you explore on foot. Kilkenny Castle is open all year; it is largely a Victorian remodelling of a 13th-century defensive castle, set in fifty acres of parkland with a formal rose garden.

On an 8-hour full day, Kilkenny leaves you about four and a half hours in the city, enough for the castle, the streets around it and lunch. The chauffeur drops you at the castle and collects you wherever you finish. Book the full-day chauffeur from US$630, or add hours by booking by the hour at US$85 an hour in a Business Sedan up to US$170 in an Executive Sprinter.

4. Howth and Malahide: the coast without leaving County Dublin

For a shorter day, or a first afternoon after a morning arrival, the coast north of the city is close and easy. Howth, on its peninsula at the northern edge of Dublin Bay, is about 17 km (10 mi) from St Stephen's Green, roughly half an hour by our routing. Malahide, with Malahide Castle and Gardens, its guided castle tours, Butterfly House and botanic gardens, is about 12 km (7 mi) further along the coast.

The whole loop is about 46 km (28 mi) and an hour and a half of driving, which fits the 4-hour private city highlights tour: US$340 in a Business Sedan, US$440 in a Business SUV, US$520 in a First Class SUV, US$560 in a First Class Sedan and US$680 in an Executive Sprinter. Malahide is also close to Dublin Airport, about 9 km (5 mi), so it works well on an arrival or departure day with the bags in the car.

To be fair to the train: Howth and Malahide are both on Dublin's DART rail network, and for a couple with no luggage, the DART is a cheap and pleasant way to reach either one. The car earns its place if you want both in one afternoon, have children or limited mobility, or are combining the coast with an airport run.

5. The long days: west and north

If you want the Atlantic coast or Northern Ireland from a Dublin base, the drives are longer, and we have written separate guides for each:

• Dublin to Galway by car: about 2 hours 30 minutes each way, with Clonmacnoise on the way.
• Dublin to the Cliffs of Moher: about 3 hours 25 minutes each way; a 12-hour day.
• Dublin to Belfast: about 2 hours each way, with Newgrange on the way.

These are better as one-way transfers with an overnight than as day trips, but all of them can be booked by the hour as a return day, up to 12 hours at checkout.

Driver or coach tour?

Organised coach tours cover several of these routes and are a good option for solo travellers. A private driver costs more per head for one or two people, and less per head for a full vehicle; a 6-hour Wicklow day in an Executive Sprinter for twelve works out at about US$78 each, as arithmetic for comparison only, since the fare is per vehicle.

What a private car changes is the shape of the day. You leave when you are ready, not at a fixed coach departure; the chauffeur waits at each stop rather than giving you a fixed time to be back on the bus; you can drop a stop that does not interest you and spend longer at one that does. For families with young children, travellers with limited mobility and anyone on a tight schedule, that flexibility is the reason to book. Our private city tours page explains how tour bookings work across all 141 Elly8.net cities.

Practical points for North American visitors

Book tickets before the car. Newgrange and Knowth have very limited tickets, and some estates run timed tours; secure your entry time first, then book the car around it.

Bring layers. The weather in the Wicklow Mountains changes quickly, even in summer, and the walks at Glendalough can be muddy.

Use the car as a locker. Your bags, coats and shopping stay in the vehicle while you visit, which makes a day trip on your arrival or departure day realistic.

Children. Child and booster seats are fitted before pickup if you request them when you book.

How to book a Dublin day trip

1. Choose the package on the Dublin page: the Wicklow signature day trip, the private city highlights tour or the full-day chauffeur.
2. Choose the vehicle by passengers; see the fleet for seats and bags.
3. Reserve now in US$, then message the desk with your stops and any ticket times. Confirmation arrives by email.

Cancellation is free more than 72 hours before pickup, 10% at 72 hours or less, 50% at 48 hours or less, and 100% at 24 hours or less or for a no-show, refunded to the original card.

Book any address

Staying in the city instead? Our guide to a Dublin private tour by car covers the four-hour and full-day city routes. Every fixed price in Ireland and Europe is on the packages page. Elly8.net is a member of LimousineWorldwide.Directory, LimousineAssociation.International, HotelsWorldwide.Directory and VacationsWorldwide.Directory.