Dublin private tour by car: a four-hour route, a full-day plan and what each costs

A Dublin private tour by car is a chauffeur and vehicle for a set number of hours, taking you between the sights you choose and waiting outside each one. Elly8.net's private city highlights tour is a fixed four-hour package, from US$340 in a Business Sedan to US$680 in an Executive Sprinter for a group, per vehicle and all-in. For a longer day, the eight-hour full-day chauffeur costs from US$630.

The car is not a substitute for walking Dublin; the Georgian squares and Temple Bar are best on foot. What it does is connect the parts of the city that are a long walk apart. Trinity College and the Book of Kells are in the centre, the Guinness Storehouse is to the west at St James's Gate, Kilmainham Gaol is further west again, and the Phoenix Park is beyond that. Seeing all of them on foot in a day is hard work; by car, with the chauffeur at the door, it is comfortable.

What does a private tour of Dublin by car cost?

Prices include the chauffeur, vehicle, taxes and standard gratuity, and are charged in US dollars when you book. Parking, where the chauffeur needs to pay for it while you visit, is billed at cost.

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 packages, side by side

A Business Sedan seats three with two large bags, a Business SUV or Van and a First Class SUV seat six, and an Executive Sprinter seats twelve, according to our fleet page. For a tour, luggage space matters less than legroom and how easily people get in and out at each stop; families and older travellers often prefer an SUV for the higher seats.

Route one: Trinity, Georgian Dublin and the Guinness Storehouse (4 hours)

This is the classic first-visit route, built around two timed tickets.

Trinity College and the Book of Kells. Start at Trinity, a five-minute drive from St Stephen's Green. The Book of Kells Experience includes the Old Library and a digital exhibition, runs about 90 minutes and has limited availability, with tickets from €25. Book a morning slot online before you travel.

Georgian Dublin by car. From Trinity, the chauffeur takes you slowly past Merrion Square and Fitzwilliam Square and their famous Georgian doorways, with a stop wherever you want photographs. This is the part of the city where a car with large windows is better than walking, because you cover the squares in twenty minutes instead of an hour.

Dublin Castle. On the way west, Dublin Castle offers the State Apartments, the Chapel Royal, the Medieval Tower and a Viking excavation, with tours and an audio guide. A short visit fits, or you can drive past and save it for another day.

The Guinness Storehouse. Finish at St James's Gate, about ten minutes by car from St Stephen's Green by our routing. The Guinness Storehouse sells timed tickets, so book a slot for the last part of the tour. The chauffeur drops you at the entrance and, if you are staying on, the tour ends there; otherwise he or she waits and takes you back to your hotel. Chauffeurs follow Irish rules on alcohol in the vehicle.

Route two: Kilmainham Gaol and the Phoenix Park (4 hours)

For travellers more interested in Irish history than in beer, this route goes west instead.

Kilmainham Gaol. Heritage Ireland describes the former prison as a monument to more than a century of Irish nationalism. Access is by guided tour only, pre-booking is essential, and the site asks visitors to allow 90 minutes. Adult tickets are €8. It is about 11 minutes from St Stephen's Green by car on a clear road, by our routing.

The Phoenix Park. Five minutes from Kilmainham, the Phoenix Park is one of the largest enclosed public parks in any European capital, formed as a royal hunting park in the 1660s and opened to the public in 1747, and a large herd of wild fallow deer still lives there. A drive through it, with a stop to watch the deer from a respectful distance if they are near the road, is a calm hour after the intensity of the gaol.

Back through the centre. On the way back, a stop at Trinity or a drive past Dublin Castle completes a four-hour loop. By our routing, the full circuit from St Stephen's Green to Trinity, St James's Gate, Kilmainham, the Phoenix Park and back is only about 20 km (12 mi) and 50 minutes of driving in clear traffic, so most of the four hours is spent at the sites, not in the car.

A full day: the city in the morning, the coast in the afternoon

With eight hours, you can combine one of the city routes with the coast. Dalkey, on the south side of Dublin Bay, is about 15 km (9 mi) and 25 minutes from St Stephen's Green by our routing, and Howth, on its peninsula to the north, is about 17 km (10 mi) and half an hour. A long coastal drive from Dalkey round the bay to Howth is about 29 km (18 mi) and 50 minutes.

A typical full day looks like this:

1. Morning: Trinity and the Book of Kells, then Georgian Dublin by car.
2. Midday: Lunch in the centre, or drive to Dalkey for lunch by the sea.
3. Afternoon: The coast road round Dublin Bay to Howth.
4. Late afternoon: Back to the hotel, or straight to a restaurant for dinner.

The full-day chauffeur costs 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. If you would rather leave the city altogether, our Dublin day trips with a private driver guide covers Wicklow, the Boyne Valley and Kilkenny.

Booking the tickets in the right order

The car is the easy part to arrange; the timed tickets are not. Book them first, in this order, and then give the desk the times:

1. Kilmainham Gaol, because access is by guided tour only and pre-booking is essential. Fix this slot first if it is on your list.
2. The Book of Kells Experience, which has limited availability and takes about 90 minutes.
3. The Guinness Storehouse, which sells timed entry and works well as the last stop.

Leave about twenty minutes between the end of one visit and the start of the next. The drives themselves are short, between five and fifteen minutes on a clear road by our routing, but you need time to walk out, find the car and get in. The chauffeur plans the pickup point at each site so you are not searching for the car.

Why a car helps in central Dublin

Dublin's centre is a maze of one-way streets, bus lanes and narrow Georgian squares, and parking is scarce and expensive. Taxis can use the bus lanes, and they are a fine way to make a single hop, but hailing a fresh taxi outside each of four sights, in the rain, with children or an older relative, is where the day goes wrong. With a private car, the vehicle is waiting when you come out, coats and shopping stay inside, and the next stop is already planned.

What the chauffeur does, and what a guide does

Your chauffeur drives, plans the route between stops, waits outside each one and looks after your belongings in the car. Your chauffeur can suggest where to stop, but the booking is for a driver, not a licensed tour guide giving a commentary. For guided interpretation, book the guided tours at the sites themselves: Kilmainham Gaol is guided-only, and Trinity and Dublin Castle both offer guided options. Many travellers find that combination, expert guides inside and a private car between, gives the best of both.

Who a private tour by car suits

• Travellers with limited mobility, for whom the distances between Trinity, St James's Gate and Kilmainham are too far to walk.
• Families with young children, who can rest in the car between sights. Child and booster seats are fitted on request.
• Your first afternoon after landing. A four-hour tour from Dublin Airport arrivals, with the bags in the car, uses the hours before hotel check-in; the chauffeur tracks your flight, and our meet and greet page explains how arrivals work.
• Business travellers with a free afternoon between meetings in the Docklands or Ballsbridge. Three hours by the hour is US$255 in a Business Sedan, as arithmetic from the US$85 hourly rate, and it can be billed to a corporate account with the rest of the trip.
• Couples marking an occasion, who want an anniversary afternoon at their own pace in a First Class Sedan, followed by dinner.
• Groups. Twelve people in one Executive Sprinter, at US$680 for four hours, works out at under US$57 each, as arithmetic for comparison only; the fare is per vehicle.

For one or two able walkers with a whole day, walking tours, the city's buses and the Luas tram are cheaper, and the centre is easy on foot. We would rather say that than sell you a car you do not need.

Evenings and event nights

Dublin's evenings are as much a reason to book as its days. The five-hour evening out and event night package, from US$425 in a Business Sedan to US$850 in an Executive Sprinter, covers dinner and a show, a concert at the 3Arena or a match at the Aviva Stadium or Croke Park, with drop-off at the door and the car waiting for the ride home. On big event nights, roads around the stadiums close; the desk agrees a pickup point outside the closures. See concert transportation and sports event transportation.

How to book a Dublin private tour

1. Choose the package on the Dublin page: the four-hour city highlights tour, the evening package or the full-day chauffeur.
2. Choose the vehicle by party size.
3. Reserve now in US$, then message the desk with your ticket times and the stops you want. 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

Arriving the same morning? Read our guide to Dublin Airport to the city center first. Tours in other cities work the same way; see private city tours and Dublin chauffeur by the hour. Elly8.net is a member of LimousineWorldwide.Directory, LimousineAssociation.International, HotelsWorldwide.Directory and VacationsWorldwide.Directory.