castas

Our first day in Ireland is a bank holiday. We arrive in Dublin at 8:40 AM and were planning on picking up our rental car and driving to Newgrange. Will we get there in time to get tickets? How long does it take to clear customs and get a rental at Dublin airport? Will there be more or less crowds because it is a bank holiday?
Trying to make our first day an easy one because our driver is not likely to sleep much on the plane - he's not a good traveler, but I'm married to him so I have to take him along. Thought we would overnight in Howth or Malahide - we will want to do some walking along the coast. Any recommendations?
Thanks

JAK86

You will encounter a greater amount of people and traffic on the bank holiday. That is inevitable. Getting through customs and everything didn't take long at all for me when I got to Dublin. I'm still new to the international travel thing, but we had to get our passports stamped and then we were good to go. Saw the customs counter, but nobody there.

colbeck

Malahide is a nice village, not far from the airport.
There are several nice hotels and restaurants, and Malahide Castle to visit. The problem that exists on any arrival is finding a place for that "driver" to take a nap. Hotels almost always have mid-afternoon check-in times. Perhaps you can locate one that will accomodate an earlier check-in. Belcamp Hutchinson is a lovely manor house hotel, though we had to walk around town for a bit because we arrived early.

Padhraicin

Howth and Malahide are quite different - both nice.
Both are nice villages with pubs shops, etc.
Malahide has a marina - you can walk along the sea on either side of the village - but you need to walk or drive a little before you can do a nice beach walk at Portmarnock.
Howth is a fishing village - with trawlers at one pier and yachts at the other. There is a great walk along the cliff of Howth Head. You can walk from the village to Sutton and then get a bus back - or just walk half-way to the Summit - walk back.

Sidley

Malahide is a lovely, upscale,and fun small town located on the water, specifically a yacht basin. There are loads of shops, inovative restaurants and nice walking areas. I agree with the person who recommended Belcamp Hutchinson manor house. It is a charming place to stay....made more so by the very dramatic and lovely hostess.

lucylou

Both Malahide and Howth are quite nice as Padhraicin say, personally speaking I think there is more to do and see in Malahide.