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Dublin to Powerscourt, Wicklow and Glendalough Small Group Tours
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From €55 per person
A full day out from Dublin that takes in some of Wicklow’s finest - the world-ranked Powerscourt Gardens, a scenic drive through the Wicklow Mountains National Park, and a stop at the early medieval monastic valley of Glendalough. Your local guide provides live commentary throughout, and the group stays small (maximum 16 people) so you get a proper experience rather than a coach tour.
Molly Malone Statue, Suffolk Street - 09:20am - Your departure point in Dublin city. Please be 10 minutes early. (5 min)
Powerscourt Gardens - Voted number 3 in the world by National Geographic, these are genuinely spectacular gardens worth the time. There’s also an Avoca shop where you can grab a coffee or snack after exploring. You’ll pay a reduced entrance fee at the gate. (90 min)
Enniskerry village - A pretty Victorian estate village where you stop for lunch. The guide recommends Poppies Cafe for locally produced food with something for everyone. (45 min)
Wicklow Mountains National Park - A scenic drive through the mountains, passing some well-known spots including the “P.S. I Love You” filming bridge, Lough Tay, the Guinness Estate and Sally Gap. (60 min)
Sally Gap - A wild, open stretch of upland in the heart of the Wicklow Mountains, with running streams, meadows and usually a few sheep for company. The tour stops along the way. (pass by)
“P.S. I Love You” Bridge - The filming location from the 2007 film. (10 min)
Lough Tay - Also known as the Guinness Lake, after the Guinness family member who lives nearby. You might recognise the landscape from the TV series “Vikings” and various other productions. (15 min)
Glendalough - The tour finishes with time to explore this stunning glacial valley with its two lakes and the remarkably well-preserved 6th-century monastery founded by St Kevin. (90 min)
Meeting point: Molly Malone statue, outside the old stone church on Suffolk Street, at 09:20am. Please be 10 minutes early.
At Enniskerry, Poppies on the square is the right call for lunch. It’s been there since 1982, open from 8.30am to 6pm, and does proper soup, sandwiches and home baking. It’s the kind of café that hasn’t followed a single food trend in forty years and is all the better for it. With only 45 minutes in the village, head straight there rather than browsing the square first.
The Powerscourt Gardens are 47 acres - pick your priorities. The formal Italian terraces are the iconic view, with the Sugar Loaf framing the background. If you have 90 minutes, do the terraces, the Triton Lake, and the walled garden. The Avoca café inside the restored house shell is fine for a quick coffee but Poppies in Enniskerry is better, and you’ll be there in fifteen minutes anyway. The entrance fee is reduced with this tour - you pay at the gate on arrival.
At Glendalough, walk toward the Upper Lake. The 90 minutes here is enough to see the round tower, the cathedral ruins and the Lower Lake, and still walk the flat Green Road path to the Upper Lake. Most day-trippers cluster at the round tower car park; the Upper Lake - twenty minutes further along the valley - is where the silence is. The tower itself is 30 metres of original 10th/11th-century stonework, with the doorway three and a half metres off the ground - a detail that tells you everything about what it was built for.
The return to Dublin via Sally Gap is one of the finest drives in Wicklow. The road crosses open bogland at around 500 metres, with running streams and wide mountain views in every direction. The tour narrates this section with live commentary, but it’s worth knowing that on your own return visit you can take the Sally Gap road south and arrive at Glendalough from the opposite direction - a completely different approach to the valley.