Dublin City Highlights Coach Tour from Dublin
Four to five hours around Dublin's main sights by minibus or small coach, planned around the slot that is hardest to get: the guided tour at Kilmainham Gaol.
What the day covers
- Guinness Storehouse gravity bar
- Kilmainham Gaol
- Trinity College and the Book of Kells
- Phoenix Park and the Papal Cross
When it runs
- Year-round
The order of the stops
Three of the four stops sit together on the west side of the city. Phoenix Park and the Papal Cross make a short photo stop. Kilmainham Gaol is a guided tour of about an hour, plus 30 to 45 minutes in the museum. The Guinness Storehouse is at St James's Gate. Trinity College and the Book of Kells are in the centre. The order follows your gaol slot: a morning tour lets the group reach the Storehouse before the gravity bar gets busy in mid-afternoon, and finish at Trinity.
Bookings to make first
Book Kilmainham Gaol first. Groups of ten or more must book in advance with the OPW. Requests are handled first come, first served, and not all can be met. Public tickets go on sale 28 days ahead and often sell out within minutes, so weeks of notice matters. The Book of Kells uses timed entry, and summer slots go days ahead; guided groups there are capped at 16. Book the Storehouse for a time that follows the gaol.
Where the coach stops
Dublin City Council has 67 on-street coach spaces across 19 sites, with a two-hour limit, but they are not for loading. For drop-offs the driver uses a signed coach stop; the one for Trinity is on Nassau Street. Market Street, next to the Storehouse, is reserved for coaches. The gaol has no parking of its own, so the coach sets down and moves on; the driver confirms the stopping point for your slot. The driver plans the route around the daytime bus gates at Bachelors Walk and Aston Quay (7am to 7pm) and the College Green gate, which never switches off.
Vehicles and groups
The tour runs in a 7-seat executive van, a 16 to 19-seat minibus or a 29 to 35-seat midi coach. The smaller vehicles have an easier time in the narrow streets around St James's Gate. It suits conference delegates with a free morning, families with older children and groups with a day in Dublin before touring elsewhere. The gaol tour is serious history and may not suit young children.
What if we cannot get Kilmainham Gaol tickets?
The tour still runs. The coach covers the other three stops and the time goes to Trinity, the Storehouse or a longer stop in Phoenix Park.
Does the driver wait at each stop?
The coach parks in a council space, or at Market Street, and comes back to the set-down at the agreed time. How waiting is handled is set out on the quote.
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Send the date, the passenger count and any timed entries you already hold. We come back with a fixed price for Dublin City Highlights.