Glendalough, Wicklow - Private Shore Excursion

About This Tour

An hour’s drive from Dublin Port, Wicklow opens up into a different Ireland entirely - deep valleys, highland bog, wild deer, and lakes that feel genuinely remote. This private day trip gives you the scenery and the history, with your guide recounting the stories at each stop and getting you back to the ship in good time.

You’ll take in the 40 shades of green that County Wicklow is famous for, breathe in the countryside at Lough Tay and the Wicklow Gap, and explore one of Ireland’s most historically significant monastic sites at Glendalough. The optional stop at Avoca lets you pick up something actually made in Ireland, and Powerscourt House gives you a sense of how the landed gentry lived.

Let your guide know your required return time - they recommend allowing at least 90 minutes to account for any traffic back to the port.

What’s Included

• Private transportation in an air-conditioned vehicle
• Fuel surcharge
• Parking fees

What’s Not Included

• Tips
• Lunch (purchased independently)

Itinerary

1. Wicklow Mountains National Park - Ireland’s largest national park delivers the wilderness you came for: ancient mountains, wild deer, unenclosed sheep, vast highland bog and heather. (90 min)
2. Glendalough - One of the most important monasteries in early Ireland, founded by St. Kevin in the 6th century and thriving through to the 12th. Your guide will share Kevin’s colourful stories as you approach the site. You’ll take a leisurely flat walk through primordial woodland around the lower lake toward the upper lake, with a nice waterfall nearby - about 40 steps up. (120 min)
3. Powerscourt House & Gardens - Built in the 18th century for the Wingfield family, Powerscourt gives a real insight into the decadence of the colonial era. The estate includes a golf course, pet cemetery, formal gardens and a waterfall. (60 min)
4. Avoca (optional) - The oldest hand weavers in Ireland, tucked into a genuinely charming village. You’ll tour the cottage factory, see the looms working, smell the wool and meet the craftspeople. There’s a bistro on site for lunch. A great place to buy clothing actually made here. (120 min)
5. Wicklow Mountains photo stop (optional) - A fantastic viewpoint in the mountains. (10 min)
6. Lakeland scenic drive (optional) - A very scenic pass through some lovely lakeland countryside.

Good to Know

• This is a private tour
• Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
• Travellers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
• Allow at least 90 minutes to return to Dublin Port before your ship’s departure
• Conducted in English

Local Tips

Tell your guide your ship’s departure time before you leave Dublin Port. The recommended 90-minute buffer for the return journey is the minimum, not the comfort zone. Traffic on the M11 into the city can build from mid-afternoon. If your ship departs at 5pm, be back on the road by 3pm at the latest.

Glendalough gets two hours in this itinerary, and that’s the right call. The flat Green Road walk from the visitor centre along the Lower Lake toward the Upper Lake takes around 40 minutes and passes most of the major monastic ruins. What you’re seeing is the remains of a medieval city - at its peak Glendalough had a scriptorium, workshops, schools, and several thousand people. The round tower’s doorway sits three and a half metres up the wall; the monks pulled the ladder up after them when the Vikings came up the valley. That detail lands differently when you’re standing in front of it.

If you take the optional stop at Avoca, go into the mill itself rather than just browsing the shop. Avoca Handweavers has been weaving on the same site since 1723 - it was established to clothe the copper miners who worked the hills above the village - and the looms are still running. The mill café on site is fine for lunch. The confluence of the Avonmore and Avonbeg rivers is a five-minute walk from the car park; Thomas Moore stood there in 1807 and wrote “The Meeting of the Waters.” The river junction is still there, exactly as he left it.

For lunch between stops, the Wicklow Heather in Laragh (the village just up the road from Glendalough) is the best option in the valley - Wicklow lamb and Irish beef, a writers’ bar lined with signed first editions. If you’re pressed for time, the Trinity Mountain Bothy in Laragh does good soup and sandwiches for walkers and moves quickly.

Powerscourt is worth the full two hours, not one. National Geographic ranked the gardens third in the world - behind Versailles and Kew. The house was gutted by fire in 1974, the week after a long restoration was completed, and the shell has been a viewing gallery since 1996; the gardens went on regardless. Allow time for the Italian terraces, the walled garden, and the Triton Lake. The waterfall is 6km away by a separate road and a separate ticket - if you can fit it, it’s 121 metres of the Dargle River dropping over granite and a very different character from the formal gardens.

Nearby on IrelandMe

• Glendalough - A 6th-century monastic city at the bottom of two glacial lakes; the round tower, cathedral and seven churches are all still standing
• Avoca - The oldest working woollen mill in Ireland since 1723, and the real village behind six series of Ballykissangel
• Enniskerry - The estate village below Powerscourt, with 47 acres of formal gardens ranked third in the world by National Geographic and a 121-metre waterfall 6km up the road