The Best Tours in Dublin, Ranked

Short answer: book the Book of Kells and Kilmainham Gaol first, because those are the two that sell out. Everything else in Dublin can be arranged once you arrive.

That is the practical ranking. Below is the considered one: what deserves your time and money, in order, with honest notes on the things that get booked far more often than they deserve. The guided walk we point most first-time visitors at, which pairs the Book of Kells with Christ Church and the medieval core, has its calendar here:

The rankings at a glance

Most of this list sits within a twenty-minute walk of Trinity College, and the rest is a short bus or tram ride away. Browse what is running on your dates — guided circuits of Trinity College and the Old Library, Christ Church and St Patrick’s Cathedral, the Guinness Storehouse and the Jameson Distillery, the literary and traditional-music pub crawls, and day trips to Glendalough and the Wicklow Mountains.

1. The Book of Kells and the Long Room

Ireland’s most famous object, and the room it lives in is arguably more impressive than the object itself. The Book of Kells is a 1,200-year-old illuminated manuscript of the four Gospels, made around 800 AD, displayed open at two pages in the Old Library at Trinity College. Upstairs, the Long Room runs the length of the building beneath a barrel-vaulted ceiling.

Why it is first: nothing else in Dublin is both this significant and this likely to be sold out. Entry is timed, Trinity strongly recommends booking online, and summer slots go days in advance.

One caveat to know before you go: the Old Library is mid-conservation, so most of the Long Room’s 200,000 books have been temporarily removed. Luke Jerram’s illuminated Earth sculpture Gaia currently hangs in their place. The room is still extraordinary; it is just not the room in the postcards.

If you want a guide as well as a ticket, the Book of Kells, Dublin Castle and Christ Church Tour is the one we rank first: a licensed guide, the medieval core on foot and both cathedrals, rated 4.8 from more than 1,750 reviews. The Fast-Track Book of Kells Ticket & Dublin Castle Tour is the shorter, most-reviewed option, rated 4.6 from more than 2,200 reviews. Both currently cover Dublin Castle from the outside only.

→ Full guide: Book of Kells tickets and tours

2. Kilmainham Gaol

A decommissioned prison on the western edge of the city where the leaders of the 1916 Rising were executed, and where a large part of modern Irish history was decided. The guided tour is the only way in, and the guides are outstanding.

The building does a great deal of the work. The Victorian east wing, with its tiered galleries under a glass roof, is one of the most photographed interiors in Ireland, and the stonebreakers’ yard at the end of the tour is sobering.

Book weeks ahead. This is the most consistently sold-out attraction in Dublin and there is no walk-up option you can rely on.

3. A historical walking tour

Dublin’s centre is small and its history is stacked, not spread out. The same street can be Viking, Norman, Georgian and revolutionary in turn, with almost nothing signposted to explain it. A two-hour walk with a good guide is the cheapest possible upgrade to the rest of your trip.

Take it on your first morning. Every later decision gets easier once you know the geography.

→ Full guide: Dublin walking tours compared · Free walking tours explained

4. The literary pub crawl

Professional actors perform Joyce, Beckett, Behan and Wilde in the pubs where the writers drank; between scenes you have a pint and they explain how it all connects. Dublin is a UNESCO City of Literature, and Ireland’s four Nobel laureates in literature include three born in the city. This is the tour that makes that fun rather than daunting.

You do not need to have read any of it. Our pick for a first evening.

5. Glendalough and the Wicklow Mountains

A sixth-century monastic city in a glacial valley between two lakes, in the Wicklow Mountains south of Dublin, with a round tower still standing and a mountain road in and out. Seven to nine hours, which leaves you an evening.

We rank this above the Cliffs of Moher for most visitors, and the reasoning is entirely about time: the Cliffs are a twelve-to-fourteen-hour day for about ninety minutes at the destination. Glendalough is half the travel and more time on the ground.

→ Full guide: day trips from Dublin

6. The Guinness Storehouse

Ireland’s most-visited paid attraction, and it survives its own popularity better than you would expect. Seven floors built around a central atrium shaped like a pint glass, ending in the Gravity Bar with a 360-degree view over the city and a pint included.

It is a brand experience and makes no pretence otherwise. But the brewing floors are interesting, the advertising archive is a small design history in itself, and the view at the top is the best in Dublin.

Go early or late. Midday is crowded.

7. The traditional music pub crawl

Professional musicians, not actors, explaining how Irish traditional music works — what a reel is, how a session runs, what each instrument does — and then playing it properly across several pubs.

The reason to book it: it inoculates you against Temple Bar, where the music is played at tourists instead of to them.

8. EPIC: The Irish Emigration Museum

A fully digital museum about the Irish diaspora, in the vaults of a former customs house on the docks. It sounds like it should be dull and it keeps winning awards instead.

The subject is the right one for Ireland — some seventy million people worldwide claim Irish descent — and the museum handles it with more nuance than the sentimental version you might expect. A strong choice on a wet afternoon.

9. The Jameson Distillery

A guided whiskey experience on Bow Street in Smithfield, with a comparative tasting that is more educational than it sounds: you taste Irish against Scotch and American whiskey to understand what triple distillation does.

Less essential than Guinness but more intimate, and better if you like whiskey and are not merely tolerating it.

10. A Dublin Bay cruise

An hour or two on the water, out past the Poolbeg chimneys towards Howth or Dún Laoghaire, with the Wicklow Mountains behind the city. Seasonal and weather-dependent, but a different angle on a city you otherwise see at street level.

What about Dublin Castle?

It is closed. The entire campus shut to the public on 15 June 2026 for Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union, including the normally free courtyards and the Dubh Linn Garden. The Office of Public Works expects to reopen it in January 2027.

This matters because Dublin Castle is one of the city’s most-searched attractions and a great many listings have not caught up. The OPW has issued an explicit warning about third-party sites selling tickets it cannot honour.

→ Full details: Dublin Castle closure and what to do instead

Honest notes on what to skip

The hop-on-hop-off bus. In most cities this is good value. In Dublin the historic core is so compact that you will spend longer waiting at stops than walking would have taken. It earns its place only if you are heading out to Kilmainham, the Guinness Storehouse and Phoenix Park in one day, or if walking is difficult — in which case it is useful.

Drinking in Temple Bar. Walk through it and understand it, but skip the bar prices. The pubs a five-minute walk in any direction are better and cheaper.

Any listing that promises to bypass a Book of Kells queue. All entry is timed and pre-booked, so there is no general queue to skip. Buying online is the skip-the-line product; what a guided listing adds is the guide, or an early-access slot.

Leprechaun-themed anything. You know.

A note on booking platforms

Most Dublin tours are sold through the large booking platforms as well as directly by operators. The practical advantages of platform booking are consolidated cancellation terms, review volume large enough to be meaningful, and currency handling.

The exceptions to book direct: the Book of Kells if you want the bare timed-entry ticket, which Trinity sells itself (a guided tour that includes entry is the platform product); Kilmainham Gaol, on the official heritage site; and Dublin Castle when it reopens, where the OPW has specifically warned against third-party sellers.

Everything else — walking tours, pub crawls, day trips — is straightforward on a platform.

How to sequence a trip

Two days: Book of Kells, a walking tour and Kilmainham Gaol on day one. Guinness Storehouse and a pub crawl on day two.

Three days: add a Glendalough or Boyne Valley day trip.

Four or more: add the Cliffs of Moher or the Giant’s Causeway, plus EPIC or the Jameson Distillery for a wet afternoon.

One day only: Book of Kells in the morning, walking tour after lunch, pub crawl in the evening. Skip the day trips entirely.

For the full list of sights beyond the tours — free museums, rainy-day options and evenings — see our guide to things to do in Dublin.

Frequently asked questions

What is the number one tour to do in Dublin?

The Book of Kells and Long Room at Trinity College, followed closely by Kilmainham Gaol. Those two also need booking furthest in advance.

How many days do you need in Dublin?

Two full days covers the city comfortably. Three lets you add a day trip. Four or more lets you reach the west or north coast.

Do I need to book Dublin tours in advance?

Book the Book of Kells and Kilmainham Gaol before you travel. Pub crawls and small-group tours benefit from a few days’ notice. General walking tours can usually be joined at short notice outside peak summer.

Is Dublin Castle open in 2026?

No. It is closed to the public until January 2027 for Ireland’s EU Council Presidency, including the courtyards and gardens.

Is the hop-on-hop-off bus worth it in Dublin?

Only if you are covering the outlying sights in one day or if walking is difficult. The historic centre is too compact for it to save time.

What is the best tour for a first-time visitor?

A morning walking tour for orientation, then the Book of Kells. That combination gives you both the map and the highlight in a single day.

Are Dublin tours good in winter?

Yes. Indoor attractions are unaffected, crowds are far thinner, and Kilmainham and the Book of Kells are considerably more pleasant. Day trips are the weak point, with short daylight and more weather disruption.

Start booking

Secure the Book of Kells and Kilmainham Gaol first. Arrange everything else around them.

→ Check dates and prices for the Book of Kells, Dublin Castle and Christ Church Tour, or, if St Patrick’s is the cathedral you want time in, the St Patrick’s, Book of Kells and Dublin Castle Tour, rated 4.8 from more than 400 reviews.

Related reading: Book of Kells tours and tickets · Things to do in Dublin · Dublin walking tours compared · Free walking tours in Dublin · Day trips from Dublin · Dublin Castle closure and reopening · Private tours in Dublin · St Patrick’s Cathedral tickets and tours · Irish castle tours

Availability, prices and opening arrangements change. Confirm with the operator before booking.