6 of our favourite day trips outside of Dublin

Sarah Finnan, Deputy Digital Editor

Having grown up in Longford, Sligo was always my family’s first choice for a summer day out and it’s still one of my favourite places to go back to. If the sun is shining, you can’t go wrong with a stroll along one of the many gorgeous beaches. Streedagh Beach – where parts of Normal People was filmed – is one of my top reccs. It’s about a 23-minute drive from Sligo town and the perfect place for a picnic. You might even spot horses from a local equestrian school trekking along the seafront! If the weather doesn’t play ball, head straight for the Voya seaweed bathhouse in Strandhill. One of only a few dedicated seaweed bathhouses in Ireland, it boasts a brand-new rooftop bathing area and is one of the most relaxing ways to unwind.

Marlene Wessels, Art Director

One of the benefits of having visitors is that you make time for things you might not do otherwise. I had a cousin visiting recently and I took her to Powerscourt. I have been there so many times, but I am always taken back by the beautiful canopy of trees as one drives up to Powerscourt Townhouse.

It was not the best day weatherwise with showers and a grey sky but Powerscourt Gardens were beautiful as always. There were plenty of roses, the walled garden was colourful with an abundance of texture and flowers and I always love visiting the pet cemetery (with a gravestone for Eugenie, the Jersey Cow and Princess the Aberdeen Angus). The Japanese garden is always popular with the moss hideaway and one can pretend play in the stone tower.

After our wander through the gardens we enjoyed an Avoca coffee and sandwich in the garden terrace.

Sarah Gill, Staff Writer

Look, hear me out for a second: Roscommon. A county that many people seem to have driven through once and never thought about again, I am bound by a weird sense of Rossie pride to advocate for this little place, so if you’re planning a midlands day trip, please consider the following.

Just over an hour and a half’s drive from the capital, I would recommend embarking on a loop walk at Sliabh Bawn, followed by lunch in Rogue & Co or The Comfy Café. While you’re in town, a browse around the jewellery and antiques in Time Pieces is an absolute must.

If you’ve still got time, Oweynagat—or, the Cave of the Cats—is one to tick off the bucket list. It forms part of a complex of 50 archaeological monuments that make up the ancient pre-Christian Connaught royal site of Cruachán, and is thought of as the gateway to the underworld.