This guide is for you if you have a few hours in Dublin and are deciding how to spend them: on foot, on public transport, or with a car and driver-guide of your own. It covers the choices to make before you book: morning or afternoon, four hours or eight, which buildings to go inside, and when the city is at its fullest.
Do you need a car in Dublin at all?
Be honest with yourself here, because the answer is often no. Tourism Ireland describes Dublin as compact and calls walking one of the best ways to see it. Public transport covers the rest: Dublin Bus, the Luas tram, the DART along the coast and the dublinbikes scheme. The Leap Visitor Card gives unlimited travel for one, three or seven days. If you are fit, the forecast is dry and you have two or three days, you can do the centre yourself.
A car changes three things. The first is the weather: the distances feel longer in rain, and a car means you spend the wet part of the day between stops, not walking them. The second is Phoenix Park. It covers seven hundred hectares, among the largest city parks in Europe, with fourteen kilometres of walking and cycling trails. Walking it is an outing on its own. The third is time. Four hours with a driver-guide covers the park, both medieval cathedrals, Dublin Castle, the Georgian squares and Trinity without working out a single route.
So the car earns its place when time is short, when the weather is poor, or when someone in your group would rather not walk far.
Morning or afternoon
You choose a 07:00 or a 13:00 start when you book. Each has its uses.
- The 07:00 start suits a first morning in the city, especially if you are still on another time zone and awake early anyway. You finish around 11:00 with the city laid out in your head, and the rest of the day is yours.
- The 13:00 start suits a slower morning, or a day that began with something else. You finish around 17:00, and the drop-off can be a restaurant or Temple Bar rather than your hotel.
The coffee or pint stop is part of the four hours either way. In the morning it tends to be coffee. In the afternoon, your call.
Which doors to go through
This is the decision that shapes the day. The tour covers the car, the driver-guide, fuel and parking. Entry tickets are not included, and the Book of Kells and both cathedrals charge for entry. In four hours you cannot go inside everything and still see the park, so pick before you start.
A simple way to think about it:
- If you go inside one place, make it the one you would regret missing. For many people that is the Book of Kells at Trinity. For others it is St Patrick's.
- If you would rather see more, keep the cathedrals and the castle as outside stops and photographs, and spend the time on the move.
- If you have a place not on the list, such as Kilmainham Gaol or the Guinness Storehouse, tell your guide in the morning. Both come up often, and the route is not fixed.
If going inside somewhere matters to you, check that site's official page before the day and book your own entry if it offers one. Your guide can then build the route around your time slot.
When the city is at its fullest
Two dates change Dublin. St Patrick's Festival takes over the city every March. Bloomsday falls on 16 June, with celebrations around the city. On days like those, a fixed walking plan can come apart. A car with a guide who can change the order is easier, and the drop-off can be anywhere you name.
Outside those dates the bigger variable is the weather, and that is where a car pays for itself. For what the weather does through the year, read our guide to packing for Ireland.
Four hours or eight
Four hours is enough for the centre without rushing. Eight hours adds Howth, Malahide or the coast. It is worth it if this is your only full day in Dublin and you have no other trip out of the city. If you are already doing a day trip, to Wicklow or the west, keep this one at four hours. The eight-hour version is priced on request; message us with your date.
Who it suits, and who should think twice
It suits a first day in Dublin, a long layover, travellers with limited mobility, and families who do not want to drag children between museums in the rain. Because you are collected from any address in Dublin, it also suits anyone staying outside the centre.
Think twice in these cases:
- You want to spend the whole time inside one museum. Then you do not need a car. Walk there.
- You want photographs of yourselves, not of the buildings. Our photography walk is two hours on foot with a professional photographer, and you get an edited gallery afterwards.
- You are on a tight layover. Message us your flight times before you book, so we can tell you honestly whether four hours fits.
- You are a group of more than 16. Two vehicles travel together on one booking. Message us for a price.
For the route stop by stop, our article on Dublin in four hours with your own driver goes through it. If you have more than a day, the guide to day trips from Dublin compares what to do next.
Questions people ask
Can the driver wait while we go inside?
Yes. The car and driver-guide are yours for the whole time, so the stops last as long as you want, within the four hours.
Can we finish somewhere other than our hotel?
Yes. Your hotel, a restaurant, Temple Bar or anywhere else in Dublin. Tell your driver on the day.
Can we cancel?
Yes. Cancel up to 24 hours before pick-up and you are refunded in full. The details are on our cancellation page.
Booking the day
Choose the start time, decide which one or two places you want to see from the inside, and book those entries yourself if they matter. The rest is on the Dublin private chauffeur tour page. The price depends on the size of your group; set it there and book.
