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From Dublin: Wicklow Mountains, Glendalough & Kilkenny Tour
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From €40 per person
Rated 4.8 out of 5 by over 8,000 guests, this day trip south from Dublin packs two of Ireland’s finest destinations into a well-paced nine hours. The Wicklow Mountains, Glendalough, and medieval Kilkenny each offer something completely different, and at €40 per person it’s seriously good value for a full-day guided tour.
The morning starts with a drive through the Wicklow Mountains - rolling hills of purple heather, deep glacial valleys, and views that stretch for miles. Your guide shares the stories behind the landscape as you go, including how these mountains sheltered Irish rebels for centuries. At the Wicklow Gap viewpoint, you stop to take it all in.
Glendalough is next, where you get around 1.5 hours at St Kevin’s 6th-century monastic settlement, tucked into a glacial valley between two lakes. The round tower, stone churches, and Celtic high crosses are remarkably intact. If you want to stretch your legs, the optional 2.5km boardwalk hike from the Lower Lake to the Upper Lake is one of the most beautiful short walks in Ireland.
After Glendalough, the coach heads south to Kilkenny - a city that still feels genuinely medieval. Narrow cobbled laneways connect the 12th-century castle to craft workshops, traditional pubs, and independent shops. You get two full hours here, which is enough for a decent lunch, a wander through the castle grounds, and a browse through the Kilkenny Design Centre.
At Glendalough, if you take the optional 2.5km boardwalk walk to the Upper Lake, the path runs along the bottom of the valley with the lakes on your left. The Upper Lake is noticeably quieter than the Lower Lake, where most day visitors cluster around the round tower. The round tower doorway is three and a half metres up the wall - not for decoration, but because when the Vikings came up the valley, the monks pulled the ladder in after them. It worked some of the time.
At Kilkenny, two hours is workable if you move with a purpose. The Medieval Mile runs from Kilkenny Castle at one end to St Canice’s Cathedral at the other - about 1.5 km of slip-lanes, alleys, and limestone. If you only have two hours, use the castle grounds for a quick orientation, then walk the laneways toward the Tholsel and Rothe House. Lunch on Parliament Street or High Street will cover you well - Foodworks on Parliament Street does proper food without the tourist-queue pressure of the castle-side options.
For the Kilkenny Castle entry, it’s payable on the door and worth it for the Long Gallery alone. But if your budget is tight, the castle parkland is free to walk - fifty acres along the River Nore that most visitors don’t know about.
Pack layers for the Wicklow Mountains section of the drive regardless of the forecast. The mountain roads are 300 metres above sea level and the temperature drops noticeably on the approach to the Wicklow Gap.