Newgrange Lodge Campsite

Everything known and speculated about Newgrange can be found at the nearby Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre on the south of the Boyne at Donore village, where there are extensive displays and viewing areas and where you can pick up your ticket to see the stones (this is the only access point to Newgrange as all guided tours begin here). Tickets to Newgrange include access to the other World Heritage Site stones nearby: the three hundred decorated stones of Knowth make up the biggest group of Megalithic art in western Europe, and the large mound surrounded by 115 stones at Dowth (like Newgrange, the main passageway here is illuminated by sun during the winter solstice). Once you’ve rocked out the prehistoric sites, there’s a good choice of activities to pick from along the River Boyne and in the Boyne valley: fishing for salmon and trout, canoeing and kayaking, golf clubs galore and heritage trails. The town of Kells, origin of the famous Book of Kells, is in the Boyne Valley (though you’ll need to go to Trinity College Dublin to see the original manuscript), and we’d also take ourselves on a trip to the ancient town of Trim with Trim Castle. The Hill of Tara, seat of the ancient Irish kings and the place Scarlett O’Hara’s pops grandiosely named his plantation after in Gone With the Wind, is another ancient and popular site. Dublin, with its shops, Temple Bar area, Trinity College and restful St Stephen’s Green, is about 45 minutes’ drive away; day trippers can also catch the bus from the Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre to the city of Drogheda.