Dublin 5-day itinerary 2026: city + Wicklow + Cliffs of Moher

Five days: the complete Dublin experience

Five days is the ideal duration for a first visit to Dublin and its surrounding countryside. You cover the city properly — not just the front-of-postcard sights, but the neighbourhoods, the pubs, the free museums — and you take two excellent day trips that show you why Ireland’s landscape has the reputation it does.

No car is needed. All day trips in this itinerary use organised transport from central Dublin.

Day 1: old city, cathedrals and Guinness

Morning: Trinity College and the medieval grid

Start with the Book of Kells when Trinity opens. Book your fast-track Book of Kells and Dublin Castle ticket online — the guided combination covers both sights efficiently and the guide’s commentary is genuinely worth it. Allow 90 minutes total.

Walk west through the old medieval street grid — Cork Hill, Lord Edward Street — to Dublin Castle if you have not already covered it in the combination ticket.

Late morning: the cathedrals

The Christ Church Cathedral and St Patrick’s Cathedral are both within 15 minutes on foot of Dublin Castle. Christ Church is the older foundation (Viking era); St Patrick’s is larger. See both if time allows — they are very different atmospheres.

Afternoon: Guinness Storehouse

A Guinness Storehouse entry ticket covers the seven-floor self-guided tour and one rooftop pint. Book in advance, go mid-afternoon on a weekday, and allow 1.5–2 hours. The Guinness Storehouse guide tells you which floor is worth more time.

Evening: Temple Bar for first impressions

Walk through Temple Bar to get a feel for it, but drink at the less touristy pubs on its fringes — the Palace Bar on Fleet Street has good Guinness and is less chaotic than the plaza pubs.

Day 2: Georgian Dublin, Kilmainham and northside history

Morning: Georgian squares and free museums

Georgian Dublin is best in the morning. The National Museum of Ireland opens at 09:15 and is free; the prehistoric Irish gold collection and Viking Age artefacts are outstanding. Merrion and Fitzwilliam squares are the classic Georgian set pieces. The National Gallery next door is also free.

Late morning and afternoon: Kilmainham Gaol and the 1916 sites

Kilmainham Gaol is the most emotionally charged site in Dublin. Book guided tours well in advance in summer — they fill weeks ahead. The experience lasts 75–90 minutes. Return to the centre on the Luas Red Line and spend the afternoon at the GPO Museum on O’Connell Street — the story of the Easter Rising told through the actual building where it unfolded.

Evening: Smithfield and Cobblestone

Smithfield Square in the northwest of the city centre has reinvented itself over the last decade. Cobblestone pub has the best regular trad session in Dublin — genuinely local, genuinely good music, no tourist patter. Have dinner at one of the restaurants around the square before the session starts around 21:00.

Day 3: northside, the docklands and Phoenix Park

Morning: EPIC Museum and the Docklands

The EPIC Irish Emigration Museum in the Custom House Docks tells the story of the 50 million people of Irish descent around the world. It is interactive, well-produced, and consistently rated the best museum in Dublin by visitors who expected it to be merely decent. Allow 90 minutes.

Walk west along the quays to the Dublin Docklands — the Convention Centre, the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, the distinctive Jeanie Johnston tall ship moored at Custom House Quay.

Afternoon: Phoenix Park

Phoenix Park is one of the largest enclosed parks in any European capital — 707 hectares, free to enter, home to a herd of wild fallow deer. Dublin Zoo is inside the park (a family favourite; allow 3 hours if you are going). Otherwise, the park is a good afternoon of walking: the Papal Cross, the Wellington Monument, Áras an Uachtaráin (the President’s residence, glimpsed through the trees), and the deer grazing in the Fifteen Acres. A 25-minute bus ride from O’Connell Street.

Evening: Capel Street or Stoneybatter

Capel Street has become one of Dublin’s best dining streets — a mix of excellent independent restaurants at lower prices than the city centre tourist triangle. Stoneybatter, a short walk away, has the neighbourhood pub atmosphere the Liberties used to have.

Day 4: Wicklow day trip

Full day: Wild Wicklow and Glendalough

The Wicklow Mountains and the sixth-century monastic site at Glendalough are the best day trip from Dublin. The Wild Wicklow Mountains and Glendalough tour departs around 10:30 daily, covers the Sally Gap mountain pass, Powerscourt Waterfall, and the two lakes and round tower at Glendalough, before returning to Dublin around 19:00. The scenery is exactly what Ireland should look like — green hills, mountain bog, dark lakes, ancient stone.

If the tour group experience is not for you, the Wicklow Glendalough day trip guide covers the self-drive route and the walking options at Glendalough. The most accessible walk is the 2-hour Upper Lake circuit; the Spink ridge walk is tougher and more rewarding.

Evening: quiet dinner after a long day

After 8–9 hours in Wicklow, a quiet neighbourhood dinner near your accommodation is usually the right call.

Day 5: Cliffs of Moher and Galway

Full day: Cliffs of Moher, the Burren and Galway City

The long day: buses depart Dublin at approximately 07:30–08:00. The Galway and Cliffs of Moher day tour from Dublin covers the Burren (a unique limestone landscape with ancient portal tombs), the Cliffs of Moher themselves (214-metre sea cliffs with Atlantic views), and a brief stop in Galway City — the Spanish Arch, Shop Street’s buskers, a quick pint. Return to Dublin around 21:00.

The Cliffs of Moher day trip guide is worth reading the night before so you know what the cliff walk options are and how to get space away from the largest tour groups at the main Visitor Centre.

Practical planning

Booking essentials:

Kilmainham Gaol: 2–4 weeks ahead in summer
Cliffs of Moher tour (early departure): 1–2 weeks ahead in summer
Book of Kells: online saves queue time and €2–3

Budget (5 days, excluding accommodation):

Category	Approximate cost
City attractions	~€90–110
Wicklow day trip	~€35
Cliffs of Moher / Galway day trip	~€50–60
Meals (5 days)	~€200–250
Drinks	~€50–70
City transport (Luas, bus, DART)	~€20
Total	~€445–515