An Easy Day Trip from Dublin: Howth

We love easy day trips and being able to get out and explore places outside of our main destination. Howth is another easy place to visit from Dublin.

If you have extra time to spare and want to see other places outside of Dublin, we highly recommend a visit to Trim, which you can read about on our Trim, Ireland blog post.

And if you’re up for a long, adventurous day – take a day trip to see part of the Wild Atlantic Way or an easy trip to Wicklow Mountains National Park.

Getting There

You can hop on the DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) a commuter railway that will take you directly to Howth’s rail station from Dublin. On a clear day, it’s a lovely scenic route that takes you along the coast with awesome views.

We rode the DART from Connolly station to Howth Railway station, but you could also get to it from Dublin’s Tara or Pearse stations too.

Bus 31, 31a takes you to Howth Harbour and Bus 31b will take you to Howth Summit.

A really cool thing if you intend on using a lot of public transportation in the Dublin area – if you buy the LEAP Visitor Card, you’ll have unlimited rides on all public transportation in Dublin city center and surrounding area.

The pass covers fares for the Dublin Bus, DART, Luas (tram), and Airlink (airport bus). We saved so much money using this card!

Howth Harbour

Ok, if you couldn’t tell by the photos, we went to Howth village on a foggy, cold, rainy day. However, looking back on that day, walking along the harbor with the thrashing sea beyond was dramatically beautiful!

Also, if you have kids, there is a playground by the harbor for them to let off some steam on a nice day.

Old Howth Harbour Lighthouse

We love the lighthouse on the harbor! Located at the end of the harbor, it stands guard at the entrance of Howth Harbour.

I believe it’s a private residence, so you can’t go inside (unless you happen to know the lighthouse keeper of course!)

But how cool is that to live in a lighthouse? Goals!

Ireland’s Eye

We really wish we could’ve taken the ferry to Ireland’s Eye but it wasn’t operating that day. The island is a 15 minute ferry ride from Howth Harbour and I’ve been told you can spend hours exploring it and taking in the beauty surrounding it.

The island is less than a mile off the coast of Dublin. It is an uninhabited island (except for birds and wildlife) that once held an 8th century monastery started by St. Nessan. Also the 19th century Martello Tower that was built as a defense against attacks from France.

I would love to visit Ireland’s Eye if we ever go back to Dublin.

Howth Head Cliff Walk

Photo Credit: Masuma N.

Our other plan for the visit was to do one of the trails on the Cliff Walk along Howth Head. Bad idea on a foggy day, but I imagine it would’ve been beautiful to see the village below.

There are different trails, some are short and some could take hours to complete. It all depends on the level of walking that you’d like to do.

Photo Credit: Masuma N.

Photo Credit: Masuma N.

Photo Credit: Masuma N.

Photo Credit: Masuma N.

Photo Credit: Masuma N.

Photo Credit: Masuma N.

My friend, Masuma visited Howth on her trip to Ireland and allowed me to share these awesome cliff shots of what we could have seen on the walk. She took the Howth Coastal Path.

The views she saw up there look amazing!

The Dog House Blue’s Tea Room

Escaping the weather, we made our way to the coolest decorated tea room I had ever seen! I found The Dog House Blue’s Tea Room while searching online for budget friendly places to eat in Howth. It got lots of great reviews and the photos looked cute.

The reviews were right – we had a tasty meal and the hot tea on a cold day was so welcoming. We did not want to leave!

I could not get over the creative ways they decorated their restaurant. It was in a cave type of setting, with artwork, beautiful fabrics, candles, we felt like we had teleported into a fairy tale story.

Tristan chose Red Dragon for our pot of tea. It’s a fruity flavored rose tea with berries, apple bits, and red currants. Nice choice!

For the food, we ordered Shepherd’s Pie and a pizza called “The Dog’s…!!” from their menu of wood fired pizzas (you guys have to check out their pizza names, it’s very quirky!)

We had a meringue dessert to top off our dinner. It had a scoop of vanilla ice cream, strawberries and citrus fruits.

A Seaside Heaven

Photo Credit: Masuma N.

If you’re ever in Dublin and can’t make it out to the west coast, the east coast has just as beautiful views and cliffs to experience without traveling far. Even if you are able to visit the Wild Atlantic Way, I still think you should squeeze some time in to visit the fishing village of Howth.

It’s quiet, an easy day trip, you will love the cliff paths and food options if you’re a big foodie like us!

Bonus:

What is your most favorite seaside view? Comment below and share this post!

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