Celtic Boyne Valley Day Trip from Dublin

 

Beverly C

2019-05-01

My 79-year-old travel-mate and I booked this tour for a misty day in late April. We had a small group of 13 on a smaller bus than the usual GreyLine buses. Eion (pronounced like "Owen") was our hilarious, extremely knowledgable and attentive tour guide. He gave us lots of local stories and facts about Dublin neighborhoods as we rolled out of town and north along the bay into the beautiful fishing village of Howth. We spent an hour there getting coffee and pastries across the street from the fishing fleet. Then on into the Boyne Valley. Eoin's knowledge of this area was great, and he took the time to stop and point things out as we went along. When we got to the parking area of New Grange he was our trusted troop leader, getting us through the complex crowd control system of getting to the site. We had to walk up and down stairs, across a river on a pedestrian bridge, and into small transport buses going up to the site. He made sure we two older women made the trip successfully. It was worth the effort! The site is breathtaking. Special guides take small groups of perhaps 12 people through the very tight rock tunnel that leads to the central chamber of the burial mound. It was a tight squeeze and not for the faint of heart. But a truly amazing experience. The chamber is lit with electric lights. They turn them off for about a minute and the group stands in the total stillness and darkness. Then a beam of light replicates the sunbeam that enters the chamber on the winter solstice. Afterwards the group has time to walk around the outside of the mound and absorb the spiritual experience of having been inside this sacred space. Then the bus ride back down through the green hills to the walking trail across the river and back up to the tour buses. We gathered there and Eoin drove us to a little town where we had lunch in a local hotel. And on to the Hill of Tara. This site does not have local guides but does have a nice gift shop/cafe. Eoin led us up onto the rugged terrain, which requires a fair amount of agility and some decent shoes. A set of walking sticks would be useful for people with balance issues. Two of our members decided to stay in the gift shop/cafe while the rest of us made our way up and down over the rolling grassy fields, listening to Eoin's stories of the history of this place. Then back on the bus and down through the rolling hills into Dublin. We hated to say good-bye to Eoin and our little group of trekkers!

TAMARA M

2018-12-17

Amazing tour. Full of history and breathtaking scenery. Highly recommend this tour. Rocky, our tour guide, was the best!!

Charles R

2018-10-23

Nev was a perfect guide across all the great sites we visited. When we reached the final site, Marty was a wonderful guide for the hill of Uishneacht.

prezzaman

2018-08-09

Great trip, so interesting with details on the history of the island and unique opportunities to see hidden treasures of Ireland!

soda99

2018-05-01

Wonderful trip, wonderful guide, and a wonderful time.

Valerie V

2018-04-08

The Ancient Celtic tour was lovely. Our tour guide Caroline from the west coast of Ireland was top notch! Not only was she very knowledgable about ancient and neolithic Irish history, she is passionate about the topic, and her passion was infectious. She also kept our time on the bus between destinations interesting: she had hand-made playlists of Irish songs from the top 5 famous Irish artists, she taught us how to sing other famous Irish tunes, and told many jokes. She made the tour very personal by learning everyones name and where they were from.

I enjoyed learning about ancient Celtic Ireland. Please note that one of the sites Loughcrew to the ancient tomb has a very long walk uphill that is quite steep, steeper than any other tour Ive been on. But the reward is entering a neolithic tomb from before the ancient Egyptian pyramids were constructed 4,000 BC. Also, bring sturdy shoes you dont mind getting dirty because of the mud or muck. All in all, a very enjoyable tour!

BirdLover210

2018-04-06

This tour was exceptional - I would give it 100 stars if I could. Our guide David was relaxed, kind and friendly, and he is also a trained archaeologist with amazing insight into both the prehistoric and historic time periods of Ireland's human settlement. He knew of several historic sites along the way that we were visit to see in addition to what was formally listed on the tour. We had originally planned to visit Drogheda for a walking tour, but ended up swapping it for another UNESCO world heritage site instead - excellent maneuver! This tour was wonderful from start to finish. Small bus, flexible driver and comfortable ride. No rushing from site to site - we were able to take as much time as we liked and ask lots of questions. Beautiful scenery along the way. Also, because of the tour flexibility and rural nature of the sites, we saw lots of birds and other wildlife. You will be missing out if you don't opt for this experience - best tour of the 3 we took on our trip. I just wish our other 2 tours were with this company. We'll know better for next time!

Stephanie.lucasparks

2018-04-04

This tour was fantastic and Rob was a great guide. If you are interested in history and/or archaeology, go on this trip! It is well worth it.

Heidi W

2018-04-03

Noel, from Extreme Ireland, was a fantastic guide and we enjoyed ourselves very much. Although it was unfortunate that we didn't get to visit the inside of the passage tomb at Loughcrew because of a faulty lock that couldn't be opened and we were pelted with freezing rain because, well, it's Ireland, the entire trip was amazing and I would go back again. Special thanks to Marty at the Hill of Uisneach for his witty and insightful tour of the site. We would love to go back. Even my nearly 13 year old was captivated by the entire experience.

kristinkbauer

2018-03-25

Our tour started out a little late but our tour guide, Leo, was super and very knowledgeable about Ireland’s ancient history.

Alicia P

2018-03-24

This was an amazing trip. Lots of walking so be prepared but the guide would tell us before each stop if it would be difficult and would have recommendations of what to do instead if you need not want to do the walking. It was fun and beautiful and very informative. We had the Irish Day tours company and the guide was great, the bus was great and they had helpful advice of what to do after the tour if we wanted to do more exploring.

JMort

2018-03-24

LOVED this tour!! Really, really enjoyed exploring Ancient Celtic Ireland. It was a long day and we hit so many interesting sites. Really loved Tara Hill and visiting the Passage Tombs. Highly recommend this tour to give you an overall tour of Ancient Ireland - will definitely go back to this part of Ireland for a more in depth discovery on a future trip. Perfect day!

brweatherholt

2018-03-24

There were some tour changes due to weather, however this tour was still very informational, beautiful, and interesting. I learned that I want to go back in May to see them light the fires.

Michael L

2018-02-17

It was really a great trip with Irish Day Tours and Gary Darry?, our superb guide! Thanks so much! Tara, Trim Castle, Boyne Valley, Monasterboice, Slane Castle, Drogheda town walk, and as the absolute highlight: the Loughcrew Cairns including snowy winter feeling 10 centimeters of freshly fallen snow and incredible 6000 yrs old stone carvings. Most of the time enjoying the ancient places, only a few hours on the modern bus. Absolutely fantastic!

Ricmay6

2018-01-22

Not only were the countryside and castles really awesome but so was Bobo, our tour guide!! He knew the history and could speak to the culture and charm of the Irish and he was entertaining and often hilarious. Thank you for a wonderful trip.

bulmasan

2018-01-17

This was a lot of fun. I will say, though, that it's physically strenuous. You need proper hiking boots several people in my tour didn't have those. Three people took one look at the climb at Loughcrew and decided to wait in a nearby coffee shop rather than attempt it.

It's a full day. I learned a lot. Definitely worthwhile.

US

2018-01-02

Very Good!

Samantha D

2017-11-30

We have a fantastic time on this trip. Seeing the giant cross was amazing. We love every minute of this tour.

Gloria P

2017-11-27

It was nice.

Maria E

2017-11-22

This was an amazing tour which doesn’t quite cover how much I enjoyed it. I hate that I don’t know the tour guys name but he was an older gentleman, retired teacher, who had a wealth of historical facts and insights to share. He made the tour!! You’ll see lush scenery, relics, castles...

Alison K

2017-10-29

We had a really lovely experience with our guide Noel. He was clearly very knowledgeable and passionate about the topics, and really took the time to explain everything. He went above and beyond and ended the day's journey by singing us some Irish songs :- Thank you, Noel!

Paula J

2017-10-24

Excellent tour. Too bad the weather did not cooperate, but we learned a lot and still enjoyed it.

Timothy W

2017-10-24

A hidden gem of a tour. I give it 5 stars because I can not give 6. The guide,Tony, was great. A wealth of knowledge and good humor. Took us to some fantastic old sites. I would go on any tour he ran because I know it would be great.

Julene v

2017-10-23

Rob was a fantastic tour guide he is funny, friendlly and very informative. Had a great day would really recommend a tour with him. No rushing which was great