Short escapes in Ireland
Long weekends, close to home
From an hour down the road to a proper west-coast adventure. Pick where you're travelling from to see drive times, or filter by county.
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Co. Kerry · About 5 hours from DublinValentia Island and PortmageeFossil footprints older than the dinosaurs, slate quarries, subtropical gardens and the Skelligs on the horizon. Valentia is the Kerry most people drive straight past.
Co. Kerry · About 4 hours from DublinKenmareA colourful little town, a bay full of seals and a peninsula that most Ring of Kerry traffic never finds.
Co. Kerry · About 4 hours 30 minutes from DublinDingle PeninsulaColourful harbour town, trad music every night and the most famous coast road in Kerry.
Co. Kerry · About 3 hours 45 minutes from DublinKillarneyIreland's original tourist town, with a national park on the doorstep and a station in the middle. Drive times are estimates, so allow extra time for traffic, especially on bank holiday weekends.
Short breaks in Ireland for every bank holiday
A long weekend doesn’t need a flight. Ireland is small enough that most of the island is a morning’s drive from Dublin, Cork or Galway, and every place on this page works as a two or three night break. Each guide covers how to get there with or without a car, where we’d stay, what to do when it rains and where to eat.
An hour or so from Dublin
For a Friday evening getaway, Glendalough and the Wicklow Mountains, the Boyne Valley and Carlingford and the Cooley Peninsula are all within about an hour and a quarter of the city. Kilkenny is about an hour and a half away, and the train makes it an easy break without a car.
The west and the Wild Atlantic Way
With three or four days, go west. Galway and Westport and Achill are two and a half to three hours from Dublin, with Connemara and the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher a little further on. Dingle, Killarney and Donegal are longer drives that reward an extra day of annual leave.
The south coast and the north-west
Kinsale and West Cork are the place for a food weekend, and the Waterford Greenway is a favourite family cycle on old railway line. In the north-west, Sligo and Strandhill suit surfers, walkers and anyone who likes a seaweed bath.
How to choose
Pick the town you’re travelling from at the top of the page and every card shows the drive time from there, nearest first if you like. The “Good for” filters narrow it down to beaches, walking, rainy-day options or trips that work without a car. Bank holiday weekends book up early, so check when the next bank holiday is and use the annual leave planner to turn it into a longer break.