Knowth Tours | Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre
Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre, gateway to the World Heritage sites of Knowth and Newgrange
The Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre is the starting point for guided tours to the great passage tombs of Knowth and Newgrange in the Boyne Valley. These remarkable monuments form part of the Brú na Bóinne UNESCO World Heritage Site and represent some of the most important Neolithic ceremonial structures in Europe, containing the largest collection of megalithic art in Western Europe.
Tickets can be purchased online. Tours visiting both Knowth and Newgrange take approximately three hours, while tours to either Knowth or Newgrange take about two hours.
Private Day Tours
Private Day Tours include a range of flexible itineraries with pick up and return to your accommodation. Popular options explore the Brú na Bóinne World Heritage landscape, visiting Newgrange and Knowth together with other important Boyne Valley sites such as the Hill of Tara, the Hill of Slane, and additional megalithic monuments including Dowth and Fourknocks.
At Newgrange and Knowth, guiding at the monuments is provided by the official on site guides from the Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre.
As these are private guided tours, the itinerary can be adjusted to suit your interests. Other historic locations in the Boyne Valley can be included instead, such as the 10th century High Crosses at Monasterboice, the medieval abbeys at Mellifont or Bective, or the great Norman fortress of Trim Castle.
The Great Mound at Knowth in the Boyne Valley
Newgrange, World Heritage Site
Newgrange is arguably one of the finest monuments of European prehistory. It was built during the Neolithic or New Stone Age more than 5000 years ago by a wealthy farming community that prospered on the rich lands of the Boyne Valley.
Archaeologists classify Newgrange as a passage tomb, but for its builders, Newgrange was much more than simply a place of burial. It housed the spirits of their ancestors, providing a link for the living community to the world of their deities and serving as a focal point for ritual and celebration.
Front view of Newgrange in the Boyne Valley with white quartz façade
Passage tombs, as the name implies, consist of a passage leading to a chamber where the remains of the dead, usually cremated, were placed. The passage and chamber are covered by a large mound of stones and earth, retained at the base by large kerbstones. The amount of time and labour invested in their construction tells us much about the well-organised societies and specialised groups responsible for different aspects of their construction.
Newgrange is part of a large complex of monuments built along a bend of the River Boyne known collectively as Brú na Bóinne. The other two principal monuments are Knowth the largest and Dowth, but throughout the region there are as many as 35 smaller passage-tombs and many other sites of great archaeological importance and interest. Read More
Wicklow Day Tours
Private day tours from Dublin explore the beautiful Wicklow Mountains, travelling through the scenic Sally Gap mountain pass to Glendalough, the early medieval monastic settlement founded in the 6th century by St Kevin. Itineraries may include a visit to the famous Avoca Handweavers for its café and craft shop, with a coastal drive returning to Dublin via Killiney and Dalkey.
The Glendalough and Wicklow Mountains Tour explores one of Ireland’s most scenic landscapes, including the monastic city at Glendalough, mountain lakes and the dramatic scenery of Wicklow Mountains National Park.
Another option is the Wicklow Gardens and Scenery Tour, which combines the spectacular Wicklow mountain scenery with visits to some of the region’s celebrated gardens and historic estates, offering a relaxed journey through the countryside south of Dublin.