Dublin Day Trips on a Budget: 6 Cheap Options
Dublin’s cheapest day trips cost less than a Guinness Storehouse ticket, and its priciest costs more than a night’s hotel room. Howth is a EUR 4 DART round trip with a free cliff walk at the end. The Cliffs of Moher, by contrast, run EUR 65-89 for a 12 to 13 hour coach day that hands you maybe 90 minutes at the actual clifftop. Six genuine day trips sit within reach of Dublin, and the honest budget math on each one is different enough that “just book a tour” is bad advice for at least half of them. Here’s the cheap-to-expensive breakdown, plus which ones need a booking window and which don’t.
| Day trip | Travel time from Dublin | Rough cost |
|---|---|---|
| Howth | 25-35 min by DART | EUR 4 return, no booking |
| Bray to Greystones | About 40 min by DART to Bray | EUR 4-6 return, no booking |
| Glendalough and the Wicklow Mountains | About 1h20 by St Kevin’s Bus | EUR 14-23 bus, free site |
| Newgrange and the Boyne Valley | Guided tour only, no walk-up | EUR 18 direct, or EUR 45-75 coach |
| Cliffs of Moher | 3-3.5h each way by road | EUR 65-89 coach, 12-13h round trip |
| Belfast and the Giant’s Causeway | About 2h by train, 3h by road | From EUR 16 train (GBP after the border) |
The two cheap DART days: Howth and Bray to Greystones
Howth and Bray to Greystones are the only two trips on this list you can decide to do the morning of, no ticket and no tour bus required. Howth is a 25 to 35 minute DART ride from Connolly, Pearse, or Tara Street, trains every 20 to 30 minutes, roughly EUR 2 each way on a Leap Card or about EUR 4 for the round trip. Take the H3 bus up to Howth Summit, then walk the Cliff Path Loop back down into the village for the same views with a fraction of the climbing. Bray runs about 40 minutes out, with Greystones another 10 minutes past it; the connecting cliff walk between the two has had repeated landslide closures over the past several years, so check current trail status at bray.ie before planning a full day around it, and treat the shorter Bray Head loop as the reliable fallback.
Do either of these need advance booking? No. Both run on the regular DART timetable with a standard Leap Card fare, and neither has a paid attraction gating the day. They’re the two cheapest, lowest-effort options in this whole family.
Glendalough costs a bus fare, not a tour package
St Kevin’s Bus leaves St Stephen’s Green North for Glendalough, about 1 hour 20 minutes each way, EUR 14 one way or EUR 23 return. The monastic site itself, the Round Tower and the ruined churches by the Lower Lake, is free to walk; the only cost if you drive instead is the OPW car park at EUR 4 a day. If the bus timetable doesn’t line up with your day, a half-day guided version covers the same ground with commentary included: check current departures on GetYourGuide .
Newgrange is the one that needs a booking window, not extra money
Newgrange itself isn’t expensive, EUR 18 or so for a combined Newgrange and Knowth ticket, but it’s guided-access only through the Bru na Boinne Visitor Centre , no independent walk-up. Book 3 to 7 days ahead in peak season (June through August), 1 to 2 days ahead the rest of the year. Without a car, a small-group coach day tour from Dublin is the realistic budget route, roughly EUR 45-75 and 8 to 9 hours round trip: check current Boyne Valley tour dates on Viator .
Do I need to book Newgrange before I land? Yes. There’s no walk-up option at the passage tomb itself, and peak-season slots at the visitor centre sell out days ahead, not hours. Lock a date as soon as your Dublin trip is fixed.
Does the Cliffs of Moher work as a day trip on a budget?
Barely, and it’s the one trip on this list where the honest answer disappoints some readers. The drive alone runs 3 to 3.5 hours each way, so a full coach tour eats 12 to 13 hours for roughly 90 minutes to 2 hours actually at the cliffs, priced EUR 65-89 per person: compare current Cliffs of Moher tour departures on Viator . Self-driving and paying at the visitor centre alone runs EUR 8 off-peak or EUR 12 during the 11am-4pm peak window, cheaper but adds a long drive on unfamiliar roads. If a spare night anywhere in your trip is possible, put it here: basing overnight in Galway or Doolin turns the same cliffs into a short local trip instead of a coach-day gamble.
Belfast means pounds, not euro
The Republic of Ireland runs on the euro, Dublin included, but the Belfast and Giant’s Causeway day trip crosses into Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom, where it’s pounds sterling. The budget route is the Enterprise train from Dublin Connolly to Belfast, about 2 hours 8 minutes, advance fares from EUR 15.99 one way, considerably cheaper than an all-inclusive packaged coach tour if you’re willing to sort the Giant’s Causeway leg yourself once in Belfast. Carry euro for the Dublin end of the day and a card or some sterling for the Northern Ireland leg; mobile roaming and EU rules stop applying the moment you cross.
Getting between them without renting a car
None of these six require a car. DART covers Howth and Bray on its own tracks, St Kevin’s Bus and a handful of tour operators run Glendalough daily, Irish Rail’s Enterprise service handles Belfast, and Newgrange and the Cliffs of Moher are guided-access or coach-tour destinations either way. A car only pays off if you want Wicklow’s back roads at your own pace, and Irish rural roads are narrower and slower than they look on a map.
Where to stay if Dublin is your base
Every trip on this list starts and ends in Dublin, so a central room beats one near any single day trip. Temple Bar or St Stephen’s Green both put you a short walk from Connolly, Heuston, and the St Stephen’s Green bus stop St Kevin’s Bus uses. Compare rooms on Booking.com before your trip; Dublin hotel prices run high and keep climbing closer to the date.
For a day-by-day version of this budget approach, start with the 2-day itinerary and add days as your trip grows, or read the flagship Howth page first. This guide stays with the day trips on purpose; for the city itself, see Dublin on a budget . One concrete tip: book Newgrange and any Cliffs of Moher or Belfast tour before you book anything in the city, those three carry real sell-out risk in June through August, and Howth, Bray, and Glendalough by public transit do not.