My Extreme Day Trip to Dublin for Under £200

I’ve been following the growing hype around ‘Extreme Day Trips’ for several years now. The concept is that you travel to and explore a new destination in under 24 hours.

So when I saw the perfect flights to Dublin for under £27, I jumped at the chance to experience an Extreme Day Trip of my own.

Despite some unexpected problems (I mean, what is even the shortest trip if it doesn’t have issues?), I had the most fantastic time. So much so that I’m already planning my second EDT for later in the year.

Travelling to & Parking at the Airport: £53.96

• Petrol: £20
• Parking: £33.96

Since my outbound flight was at 6:00am and my inbound flight landed at 11:00pm, I had no choice but to drive to and park at the airport.

I live roughly 50 miles from Manchester Airport, so £20 in petrol covered my return journey. I then booked the cheapest carpark with Holiday Extras for £33.96. It still baffles me that parking at the airport for a day costs more than my flights.

Flights to Dublin: £26.98

• Flights: £26.98

My return flight from Manchester to Dublin cost £26.98 with Ryanair. I booked my flight four days in advance, which was an unexpected Extreme Day Trips lesson: book last-minute flights so you can check the weather.

This trip took place in early January, and I selected the only clear, dry day in Dublin for the best part of a week. I don’t think I’d have the same enthusiasm for Extreme Day Trips as I do now if it had rained all day and I spent the entire day wet.

While I checked the weather for Dublin, I didn’t check the weather for Manchester. This meant I drove to and from the airport in half a foot of snow. Not ideal when you’re driving across the highest motorway in England at 3.00am.

This ‘adverse weather’ in Manchester also resulted in some delays. I landed an hour late in Dublin and an hour late again when I returned to Manchester.

This brings me to my second Extreme Day Trip lesson: Allow for minor delays. Yes, you could get a significant delay or cancellation that ruins your trip, but these are rare. However, delays of up to 90 minutes are not uncommon.

Thankfully, my one-hour delay into Dublin didn’t impact my day. I still landed at 8:00am, so I had around 12 hours to explore the city before needing to return to the airport. However, if I had a later or longer flight with less time at my destination, a delay would have had a much bigger impact.

Airport Transfers: €12.00

• Airport Transfers: £10.02 (€12.00)

A pretty straight forward expense, my AirCoach from Dublin Airport to the city. You can take a public bus to / from the airport which I believe is cheaper, but it’s also slower since it makes more stops.

Being an Extreme Day Trip, I knew I needed to balance time and money and the AirCoach was the perfect compromise.

Attractions & Experiences €61.50

• Book of Kells Tour Tickets: £17.95 (€21.50)
• Guinness Storehouse Tickets: £33.39 (€40.00)

I made a list of all the things I wanted to see and do in Dublin in advance:

• Dubh Linn Gardens (Free)
• Trinity College (Free)
• Book of Kells Experience (Paid)
• Grafton Street (Free)
• Love Lane (Free)
• Temple Bar (Free)
• Ha’Penny Bridge (Free)
• Portal (Free)
• Guinness Storehouse (Paid)

I then used Google Maps to create an optimal route, made a rough timeline and booked tickets for paid experiences.

The self-guided tour around The Book of Kells Experience was €20.50.

The website says to allow 90 minutes, which I would say is about right. I was the first person into the library with the earliest time slot of 9:30am – this is a fantastic time for low crowds and great photos.

Tickets to the Guinness Storehouse start from €20. Tickets are sold using dynamic pricing, which means peak times can cost more. However, I spent €40 on my Guinness Storehouse tickets as I upgraded my experience to include:

• STOUTie: Your selfie on the top of a pint of Guinness.
• Guinness Academy: Learn to pour the perfect pint of Guinness.

I’m sorry to say it, but I am not a Guinness lover. Gasps from the audience. However, this experience is nothing short of incredible.

Tours of The Guinness Storehouse are self-guided, so you can spend as much or as little time here as you like. I spent just over two hours here, including my enhanced experiences (STOUTie & Academy), which each took around 20 minutes.

Food & Drink: €68.17

The biggest surprise I had when visiting Dublin was the cost of food and drink. You could likely get the same thing for less. However, I tried where I could to support independent cafés and restaurants, which may have slightly inflated the price further.

As you can see, I had several drinks throughout the day. These were all ‘sit-down drinks’. I was out of the house for 23 hours in total, walking over 35,000 steps, so sitting down for a break when I could was a must.