Private Wicklow Mountains Day Tour

About This Tour

Wicklow earns its reputation as the Garden of Ireland quickly once you leave Dublin behind. This private day tour takes you from your chosen pick-up point through the county’s best scenery - the south Dublin coastline, the wild mountain passes, Glendalough’s ancient monastery and the highest pub in Ireland.

Your driver/guide keeps things personal and adapts the day to what your group wants. The itinerary below is a solid starting point, but there’s plenty of room to adjust - whether that’s more time at Glendalough, a detour to Powerscourt Waterfall, or a hillwalk to suit your fitness level. Up to 7 passengers travel together in an air-conditioned minivan.

What’s Included

• Private driver/guide
• Hotel or port pick-up and drop-off
• National Park entry fees
• Transport by air-conditioned minivan (max 7 passengers)
• All activities on the tour

What’s Not Included

• Food and drinks
• Lunch

Itinerary

1. South Dublin coastline - After your Dublin pick-up, you head south along the coast through Dún Laoghaire, Sandycove and Dalkey - a stretch known locally for its scenery and its residents (it’s home to quite a few Irish names you’d recognise). (30 min)
2. Powerscourt and the Avoca café - Start the day properly with a morning coffee in the Avoca café at Powerscourt. While you’re there you can browse their selection of quality Irish craft and food products before heading into the heart of the Wicklow Mountains National Park. (60 min)
3. Sally Gap and Lough Tay - A short guided walk at the Sally Gap, with open views over remote mountain passes, glacial lakes and endless shades of green. You’ll see the Guinness family estate on the shore of Lough Tay below. This stretch of landscape was chosen as a filming location for Vikings and for Braveheart. (60 min)
4. Glendalough and the glacial valley - Lunch at a traditional Irish pub, then on to Glendalough - a 6th-century monastic settlement with a famous round tower, set in one of the most beautiful glacial valleys in Ireland. Your guide shares the story of St Kevin and the hermit settlement he founded here. You’ll walk from the lower lake up to the upper lake, with the option of taking a quieter off-the-beaten-track mountain trail if your group wants it. (60 min)
5. Return through the National Park - You take an alternate route back through the mountains to Dublin, making the most of the scenery on the way home. (60 min)

Good to Know

• This is a private tour, fully customisable to your group’s interests
• Conducted in English
• Other Wicklow highlights available on request: Powerscourt Waterfall, Avoca village, hillwalking and mountain biking
• Suitable for all fitness levels

Local Tips

The coastal stretch through Dún Laoghaire and Dalkey is worth a proper look, not just a window view. If your group wants a thirty-minute stop, the East Pier walk at Dún Laoghaire runs 1.3 km out to a lighthouse and back along the granite - it was the largest man-made harbour in the world when it was finished in 1842. Two kilometres south, Dalkey has two standing medieval castles on Castle Street and a ferry to Dalkey Island from Coliemore Harbour (April to October). The coastal road between them is one of the better drives in south Dublin.

At Glendalough, walk the Green Road from the visitor centre rather than driving to the Upper Lake car park. The flat path between the two lakes is about 1.5 km one way, passes nine of the major monastic ruins, and is the only route that makes sense of the whole valley. The Lower Lake gets the coach crowds; the Upper Lake at the far end is where the valley opens up. If your group is fit, the Spinc boardwalk climb up the south side of the Upper Lake (the White Route, 9 km loop, 4 hours) gives you the whole valley from above - but allow most of the afternoon for it.

Timing at Glendalough matters more than most stops on this tour. The valley is 40 minutes from Dublin city centre and coaches fill the car park from half ten. Your driver-guide can time the approach to arrive before the crowds or after they thin around four. The round tower is the centrepiece - 30 metres of mica-slate granite with the doorway 3.5 metres off the ground, which was exactly the point when the Vikings came up the valley.

For lunch near Glendalough, the village of Laragh is 1.5 km east. Lynham’s of Laragh is the local pub - turf fire, old timber, food served until late by Wicklow standards. The Wicklow Heather does a more formal sit-down dinner if the day has run long. Trinity Mountain Bothy in the village is the right call for soup and a sandwich between walks.

Nearby on IrelandMe

• Glendalough - a 6th-century monastic city in a glacial valley, with a 30-metre round tower, two lakes and walking trails from a 40-minute flat path to a full-day mountain loop
• Dún Laoghaire - two granite piers built in the 1840s (once the world’s largest harbour), the Joyce Tower at Sandycove two kilometres north, and a Sunday market that runs fifty-plus vendors
• Dalkey - two standing medieval castles on Castle Street, a ferry to a wild-goat island, and the Killiney Hill view that has been compared to the Bay of Naples since the Victorians started the rumour