Ireland is a great country with an even greater variety of tourist spots to visit. The best and most efficient way to travel in Ireland is via a tour. Tours may vary from: bus tours to cab tours, walking tours to pub tours, day tours to 10-day tours, and budget to extravagant. This article will tell you all about the best 1-day tours from Dublin, as most of you will probably stay in Dublin for their holiday lets. Aside from the city, you can enjoy more of Northern Ireland and the Republic Ireland right from the city center. So make sure you reserve a day or so to experience more of this great island. And the best part about it is that you can book the service here from our site, just visit this page.

bus tours, tour bus, day tour, dublin city center, cliffs of moher, burren, galway bay, doolin, limerick

Cliffs of Moher

This bus tour departs early from Suffolk Street at Paddys Palace Dublin on 7 AM and near the Dublin Tourist Office on 7:15 AM. Making your way towards the center of Ireland, your first stop is at historic Limerick – the county seat of County Limerick in the province of Munster. There you will get to see the place which famous Irish author Frank McCourt referred to in his memoir called Angela’s Ashes. It tells of his childhood in Limerick during the 1930s. You will also get to visit King John’s Castle located on King’s Island, which is found next to the River Shannon. The walls and fortifications of the castle still remain standing today and it is one of the most visited places in Limerick. The remains of a Viking settlement were recently discovered at this site. Next stop is at the Cliffs of Moher in Liscannor, County Clare. You will be walking in and around the cliffs and its different scenic locations. 120 meters high above the Atlantic Ocean is Hag’s Head, where the Moher tower (a stone ruin of an old watchtower) is located. The highest point in the cliffs is at 214 meters near O’Brien’s Tower, which was built in 1835 as an observation tower for tourists. From atop the tower, tourists can view the Aran Islands and Galway Bay, the Maum Turk Mountains and the Twelve Pins to the north in Connemara, and Loop Head to the south. After you head to the nearby Burren, a unique karst-landscape region rich with historical and archeological sites – there are lots of scenic and picturesque views in this area. Then the tour will take you to Doolin, a coastal village in County Clare, well known as a center of traditional Irish music. They also have a number of archaeological sites and castles like Doonagore Castle – a round 16th-century tower house within a walled enclosure about 1 kilometer from the village; and Ballinalacken Castle – a two-tier tower house which was most likely built in the late 15th or early 16th century, located on a scenic limestone outcrop that overlooks the road from Lisdoonvarna. Next up is beautiful Galway Bay that connects Clare to County Galway. This stunning 50 kilometer bay attracts tourists by itself. Aside from a number of small islands, you can also see the famous Aran Islands to the west of the bay. By 7:30 PM you will be back in the Dublin City Center. You can book this tour online from our site, just visit this page.

bus tours, tour bus, giants causeway, dublin city center, dublin, day tour, derry, carrick-a-rede, derry, sperrins

Giants Causeway and Derry

This is a long bus tour so they start very early at 5:45 AM. They meet in front of Paddys Palace Hostel in Gardiner Street. As the tour begins, you go heading to Belfast and make your way to the farmlands of County Antrim. The bus tour’s first stop is at Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, a suspension bridge near Ballintoy that connects the main island to the small Carrick Island. The 20 meter suspension bridge is 30 meters high above from the rocky sea below. Maintained by the National Trust, the bridge is one of the main tourist attractions in Ireland. Then comes one of the main spots of the tour, the Giants Causeway – an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns and one of the best tourist spots in the island. You can click on the link to know more about this popular tourist attraction. This great natural occurring basalt stone cliff was the result of an ancient volcanic eruption – truly an amazing once in a lifetime experience. The Giants Causeway is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The guides will tell you all about the legend of the giant Fionn mac Cumhaill or more popularly known as Fionn McCool and how one of his battles supposedly created the causeway. Next stop is historic Derry or Londonderry to the British Ulster community. Called Doire in Irish, which means oak wood, this so-called Maiden City is where lots of political uprisings and clashes occurred during the 1600s. The guides will tell you all about the 16th Century Walls which was the source of the name Maiden City – the walls were never penetrated during the siege of Derry in the late 17th century. This is also where the historical Bloody Sunday tragedy of 1972 – when members of the 1st Battalion of the British Parachute Regiment shot at 26 civil rights protesters during a Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association march on January 30th of that year. 14 people died during the attack, some of which were only teenagers. Some were injured when army vehicles ran them down during the protest. All those killed and shot at were unarmed. This event has always been remembered in the island’s history. Before you leave the city, you can go around and find a place for lunch. Then you will head back to Belfast via the scenic Sperrin Mountains or simply the Sperrins – a range of hills which has a uniquely glaciated shape found in Northern Ireland. Sawel Mountain is the highest peak in the Sperrins whose summit is at 678 meters – which helps make the Sperrins one of the largest upland areas in Ireland. You can book this tour online from our site, just visit this page.

tour bus, bus tour, day tour, dublin, dublin city center, blarney castle, limerick, blarney stone, woollen mills, golden vale

Blarney Castle

The Blarney Castle bus tour departs Paddys Palace Dublin at exactly 7 AM and over at the Dublin Tourist Office in Suffolk Street at 7:15 AM. Going towards the center of the island from Dublin, the first stop is at historic Limerick. Same as the Cliffs of Moher bus tour, tourists will get to see Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes locations, and visit King John’s Castle. Then next stop is the main attraction Blarney Castle – a medieval stronghold that dates back to before AD 1200. Although it got destroyed in 1446, it was rebuilt by then King of Munster Cormac MacCarthy. The castle in is partial ruin nowadays but still has some remaining rooms and battlements that are accessible to the public. On top of the castle is the Blarney Stone or Stone of Eloquence, which tourists can kiss by hanging upside-down over a drop; it is a belief that a kiss to the stone will bestow the kisser the gift of eloquence. The stone was said to have come from the Lia Fail over at the Hill of Tara. Click on the link to know more about the Hill of Tara and its location. Altough the castle itself is in ruin, the gardens of the castle have been well kept over the years – together with its several natural rock formations, names of which include Druid’s Circle, Witch’s Cave and the Wishing Steps. On the grounds is the Scottish baronial-style mansion aptly called Blarney House, which is also open for public viewing. Then the tourists will be given the chance to shop over at the Blarney Woollen Mills – a popular shopping center in the village. Then there’s the 12^th century McCarthy Fairytale Fortress that has dungeons and so-called fairy caves, aside from the beautiful gardens up front. Tourists will be given the chance to explore the Blarney Village and have lunch in one of the many restaurants, bars and pubs around. Going home you will pass by County Limerick and the Golden Vale, a great passageway of green pastures, hills and mountains – it is considered as one of Europe’s richest pasturelands. The tour will end at 7:30 PM in Dublin. You can book this tour online from our site, just visit this page.