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. Clare · About 2 hours from DublinKillaloe and Lough DergIreland's great Shannon lake: a medieval bridge between two counties, a monastic island, kayak trails and lakeside pubs. A properly restful weekend.
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. Tyrone · About 2 hours from DublinOmagh and the SperrinsEmpty mountains, Bronze Age stone circles, a brilliant emigration museum and some of the darkest skies in Ireland. Tyrone is the place to switch off and look up.
Co. Armagh · About 1 hour 30 minutes from DublinArmagh cityA small city with two St Patrick's cathedrals, an 18th-century library and a planetarium, plus apple blossom, cider and an ancient royal site. Armagh is a hidden gem.
Co. Monaghan · About 1 hour 30 minutes from DublinGlaslough and Monaghan townA castle estate with an eccentric past, a poet's landscape, quiet lakes and forest parks. Monaghan is the gentle, unhurried weekend you didn't know you needed.
Co. Cavan · About 1 hour 30 minutes from DublinCavan town and the lakesLakes in every direction, an island castle, the source of the Shannon and a limestone landscape on the border, plus some of the best food in the north-west.
Co. Roscommon · About 2 hours from DublinBoyle and Lough KeyA forest park on a lake of islands, a royal site where Samhain began, a coal mine you can go down and one of Ireland's great abbeys. Roscommon is full of surprises.
Co. Offaly · About 1 hour 45 minutes from DublinBirr and ClonmacnoiseA giant Victorian telescope, a monastic city on the Shannon, whiskey in Tullamore and a sculpture park on a bog. Offaly is the heart of Ireland, literally.
Co. Longford · About 1 hour 30 minutes from DublinLongford town and the Royal CanalIreland's longest greenway, a lake full of islands, pretty estate villages and an Iron Age road in the bog. Longford is the midlands at their most peaceful.
Co. Laois · About 1 hour 20 minutes from DublinAbbeyleix and the Slieve BloomsWaterfalls and forest trails, a castle on a rock, a Lutyens garden and a pub that hasn't changed in a century. Laois is the midlands at their best.
Co. Carlow · About 1 hour 30 minutes from DublinBorris and the Barrow ValleyA slow river lined with towpaths and old mill villages, a dolmen with a 150-tonne capstone and gardens that feel like a secret. Carlow is the south-east's quiet surprise. 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.