County Wicklow has long been called the Garden of Ireland, and this 8-hour tour takes you to three of its finest gardens. You’re picked up at your hotel and spend the day moving through landscapes that genuinely earn that reputation - lush, varied, and full of character.
Your first stop is Powerscourt Gardens, one of the most spectacular formal gardens in the world. You’ll walk through ornate Italian terraces, a Japanese garden, a rhododendron alley, and take in views of Sugarloaf Mountain in the distance.
From there you head to Mount Usher Gardens on the banks of the River Vartry - a peaceful, more naturalistic space designed in the Robinsonian style, where the planting feels like it belongs rather than being imposed on the landscape.
The final garden is Kilmacurragh Botanical Gardens, a historic botanical haven home to rare and exotic plants from around the world. Ireland’s mild climate suits them well, and the collection here is genuinely impressive.
In between the gardens, you’ll stop at Avoca Cafe - known for its farm-to-table approach, homemade baked goods, and fresh seasonal dishes - for a relaxed and well-earned meal.
Good to Know
Hotel pickup included
Lunch at Avoca Cafe included
Visits to Powerscourt Gardens, Mount Usher Gardens, and Kilmacurragh Botanical Gardens included
Tour duration is approximately 8 hours
Local Tips
Enniskerry is the estate village that exists because of Powerscourt - laid out to house the workers and give visitors somewhere to pause on the way up the avenue. The gardens open at 9.30am and the Italian terraces are at their best in the first hour before the tour buses land. National Geographic ranked them third in the world, behind Versailles and Kew. Allow at least 90 minutes rather than rushing; the walled kitchen garden and the Japanese garden are easy to miss if you stick to the main terrace. The Powerscourt Waterfall, six kilometres away by a separate road, is 121 metres of the Dargle River over granite - worth the extra drive if the day allows.
The Avoca Cafe lunch stop connects directly to the Avoca handweavers mill, which has been weaving on its original site since 1723. It was established to clothe the copper miners working the hills above the valley - you can watch the looms running while your food arrives. The mill shop stocks the same throws and coats as the Avoca outlets on the N11, but this is the original site, and the short walk beside the River Avoca below the mill is worth the five minutes.
Mount Usher Gardens sit in Ashford village on the River Vartry and were shaped by four generations of the Walpole family over 112 years, starting in 1868. The Robinsonian style means naturalistic planting that follows the riverbanks rather than imposing formal lines - Chilean fire trees alongside Japanese maples alongside Himalayan rhododendrons, all threaded through each other. It’s a gentler pace than Powerscourt and pairs well with it; your legs will thank you for the difference in character between the two gardens.
Kilmacurragh Botanical Gardens are less well known than the other two stops but quietly exceptional - a Victorian-era plant collection with species from Chile, Tasmania and the Himalayas that thrive in the mild Wicklow microclimate. The walled garden is worth taking your time in.
Nearby on IrelandMe
Enniskerry - the estate village around Powerscourt, where the gardens National Geographic ranked third in the world sit behind a Palladian house gutted by fire in 1974 and the Powerscourt Waterfall - the highest continuous-flow waterfall in the Republic - is six kilometres up the valley
Avoca - Ireland’s oldest working woollen mill, running since 1723; the looms are still going, the Vale of Avoca walk is half a day, and Fitzgerald’s pub is still a pub after its Ballykissangel fame
Ashford - the village where Mount Usher Gardens sits on the Vartry; the Walpole family planted 5,000 species here over four generations, and the Devil’s Glen forest above the village has a walking loop named for Seamus Heaney, who wrote the Glanmore Sonnets from a gate lodge on the estate in the 1970s
