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Day Tour from Dublin: Wicklow Mountains, Glendalough, Powerscourt
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From €565 per person
County Wicklow sits just south of Dublin and packs in a remarkable variety - formal gardens, mountain wilderness, a waterfall plunging 121 metres, and one of Ireland’s most extraordinary early Christian sites. This private full-day tour takes you through all of it with a knowledgeable driver-guide and a flexible schedule.
Your guide picks you up from your hotel, port, or any agreed meeting point in the Dublin area. From there, you head into Wicklow for a day that takes in Powerscourt Gardens (named the third best garden in the world by National Geographic, set on 47 acres with Italian and Japanese gardens, ornamental lakes and views of the Sugarloaf Mountain), Powerscourt Waterfall (at 121 metres, the highest in Ireland), Guinness Lake - also known as Lough Tay, a crescent-shaped lake whose dark peaty waters and white sand resemble a pint of Guinness - and the 6th-century monastic ruins of Glendalough, set in a valley with two lakes in the Wicklow Mountains.
The guide can also arrange a sheepdog demonstration or take you to Ballinastoe woods and the P.S. I Love You bridge as an alternative to Guinness Lake. The itinerary has some flexibility - just let them know what you’d like.
Powerscourt House and Gardens and Powerscourt Waterfall have separate admission fees (not included in the tour price).
Powerscourt is in Enniskerry - the village is the estate’s front door. The gardens were ranked third in the world by National Geographic, behind Versailles and Kew. Richard Cassels designed the Palladian house between 1731 and 1741; the terraced formal gardens, the Italian and Japanese sections and the Triton Lake all go with it. The house itself was gutted by fire in November 1974 - the week after a long restoration was finished - and has been a stabilised shell with shops and a café inside since 1996. The gardens are the point, not the house. If you have time after the tour, Poppies café on the village square has been open since 1982 and does proper soup and sandwiches without ceremony.
At Glendalough, arrive understanding that the Lower Lake and Upper Lake are two different experiences. The path from the visitor centre along the Lower Lake - past the round tower and the seven churches - is flat, buggy-friendly, and takes about an hour return. The Upper Lake is quieter and a different feel entirely. On a tour day you’re unlikely to do the full Spinc walk (9km, 4 hours) but the 3km Green Road between the two lakes is the route that shows you both. Budget at least two hours here rather than rushing the monastic site.
Lunch near Glendalough: the village is actually Laragh, 1.5km east. The Wicklow Heather in Laragh is the more serious dinner option - Wicklow lamb, local beef, a dining room lined with signed first editions of Joyce and Heaney - but it books ahead at weekends. Lynham’s of Laragh is the pub alternative: turf fire, the kind of food you want after a morning in the mountains, open late by Wicklow standards.
At Powerscourt, the Avoca shop is worth a stop even if you’re not buying. Avoca Handweavers has been weaving on their original mill site in Avoca since 1723 - the throws and coats sold here are made on working looms twenty minutes south, and the quality is real. The Powerscourt food market adjacent is a practical lunch option if you’re arriving hungry and want to keep the day moving.
The Guinness Lake viewpoint at Luggala is a short walk from the roadside pull-in. The lake is crescent-shaped and the contrast of dark water and white sand beach looks like a dark pint - that’s where the name comes from. The Vikings TV series used it for exterior shots. The Guinness family estate is private; the view is public. Ten minutes from the car is enough to understand why people stop.