← All Wicklow tours via Viator · From €33 · 5 hours 
Glendalough and Wicklow Mountains Afternoon Tour from Dublin
Free cancellation 547 traveller reviews Booked securely via Viator
Check availability & prices →
From €33 per person
County Wicklow is often called the Garden of Ireland, and once you’ve driven through it you’ll understand why. This afternoon tour heads south out of Dublin into a landscape of beautiful lakes, dense forests, and quiet mountain valleys.
You’ll pass through scenery used in films like Braveheart and P.S. I Love You before arriving at Glendalough - the valley of the two lakes. You get at least 1.5 hours here to take a relaxing walk to the Upper Lake and explore the ruins of St Kevin’s monastery, including its round towers, Celtic crosses, and the remnants of an extraordinary early Christian settlement.
It’s a genuinely lovely half-day out, and good value for how much ground you cover.
Meeting point: Paddywagon Office at The Spire - 34 O’Connell Street Lower, Dublin 1.
Your 1.5 hours at Glendalough is enough for the monastic ruins and the Lower Lake, and just about enough for the Green Road walk out to the Upper Lake - 3km return, flat and easy, taking you past the round tower, the cathedral, and most of the surviving early Christian buildings on the way. That’s the route to prioritise: it’s the most efficient use of the time and the most rewarding path through the valley.
The round tower is 30 metres tall, with the doorway three and a half metres off the ground - built that way so the monks could pull the ladder up when Vikings came up the valley. The conical roof was rebuilt from the original stones after a lightning strike in 1876. It’s one of the best-preserved round towers in Ireland, and you can walk right to its base.
On the way from Dublin, the coach passes through Roundwood - officially Ireland’s highest village at 238 metres - which you’ll see from the road. It’s a proper village with two good pubs: the Roundwood Inn (17th century, Hungarian goulash on the menu since the 1980s, open fire from October) and The Coach House (in the Michelin Guide since 2024). Neither is on this tour’s itinerary, but if you ever return with more time, Roundwood is a 15-minute stop between Glendalough and Dublin that most people skip and shouldn’t.
If you find 1.5 hours isn’t enough at Glendalough - and many people do - the morning full-day tour options give you a longer stop and the option to walk the Spinc ridge above the Upper Lake (9km loop, about 4 hours). This afternoon tour is the right call if your morning is already committed; the full-day options are worth knowing about if you can plan ahead.