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Wicklow: Glendalough & Powerscourt Distillery Private WhiskeyTour
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From €450 per person
This private day tour takes you through three of Wicklow’s finest spots, guided by someone who knows both the landscape and the whiskey. Your driver-guide is a specialist Irish whiskey host, so you get the full picture - the ancient history, the wild mountain scenery, and the craft behind what’s in your glass.
You’ll visit the early Christian monastic site at Glendalough, which has been drawing visitors since the 6th century and still manages to feel genuinely remote. From there, you’ll stop at Lough Tay - better known as the Guinness Lake, for its dark water and white sandy shore - before heading to Powerscourt Estate. The day wraps up at Powerscourt Distillery with a guided tour and a Fercullen Irish whiskey tasting.
Gas, road tolls and parking are all taken care of. Lunch isn’t included, so you’ll want to plan for that.
Glendalough - The glacial valley here is one of those places that stops you in your tracks. You’ll find an ancient early Christian settlement dating from the 6th century, with a round tower, Celtic crosses and a walk through the National Park to the Upper Lake. Your guide will fill in the history as you go. Allow about 90 minutes to explore properly.
Lough Tay (the Guinness Lake) - A photo stop at this famous viewpoint in the Wicklow Mountains. The lake’s distinctive shape and dark waters set against the surrounding mountains make it worth every photo you take. About 30 minutes here.
Powerscourt Estate and Distillery - The final stop takes in the magnificent Powerscourt Estate, with its house, gardens and boutiques, before heading into the distillery for a guided tour and a tasting of Fercullen Irish whiskey. About 90 minutes in total.
At Glendalough, you’ll have about 90 minutes to explore. The flat Green Road walk from the visitor centre to the Upper Lake is the one to do in that time - about an hour at an easy pace, taking in the round tower, the cathedral ruins and seven of the original church sites before reaching the boardwalk at the lake’s edge. If your guide has flexibility, the Poulanass Waterfall trail is a less-crowded alternative - 1.5km return from the Upper Lake car park, through oak woods, to a 30-metre cascade. Glendalough is busiest between 10am and 2pm, so arriving early or later in the morning makes a real difference.
Lunch falls between Lough Tay and Powerscourt - it’s not included, so plan ahead. Laragh village, about a kilometre east of Glendalough, has Trinity Mountain Bothy (soup, sandwiches, excellent cake, ideal for walkers) and Lynham’s, which does more substantial plates and stays open later than most options nearby. Your guide will know the timing and can advise.
At Enniskerry, Powerscourt Estate has plenty to fill your time before the distillery - 47 acres of formal terraced gardens ranked third in the world by National Geographic. The house itself was gutted by fire in 1974 and has been a stabilised shell with shops and a café since 1996. The distillery, which produces Fercullen whiskey, is on the estate grounds. Poppies café on Enniskerry village square (five minutes from the estate, open since 1982) is the better lunch option over the estate café if timing allows a detour.
One whiskey note: Powerscourt Distillery’s Fercullen range is relatively young - the distillery opened in 2018 - but the location and the build quality of the experience make it one of the more memorable distillery visits in Leinster. Your guide’s whiskey specialisation means you’ll get more than the standard tour script.