Free tips · 5 min read
How to Spend a Day in Howth
A cliff path, a working harbour, and the best half-day out of Dublin — timed properly.
Go on the better weather day
Howth is thirty minutes by DART from the city centre and it is the single best day out from Dublin. Keep it flexible and use it on whichever day the forecast is kindest. The cliff path in sideways rain is a different and much shorter experience.
The right order
Take a mid-morning train, walk the cliff loop first while your legs are fresh, then come back down to the harbour for a late lunch. Doing it the other way around means walking uphill after chowder, which nobody enjoys.
The full loop takes about two and a half hours at an unhurried pace. There is a shorter version that still gives you the lighthouse view.
Eat at the harbour
Seafood, plainly done, facing the water. Chowder and brown bread is the honest order. Avoid the busiest window between one and two and you will be seated immediately.
Back in time to change
An afternoon train has you back in the city by five, which leaves time for a bath, a change of clothes, and a proper dinner. That combination — sea air then a good table — is the best day this trip has to offer.