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Wicklow Mountains, Avoca and Glendalough Rail Tour from Dublin
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From €107 per person
This full-day tour from Dublin combines rail travel, coach and a qualified driver-guide to show you two of Wicklow’s most distinctive spots: the village of Avoca and the ancient monastic settlement at Glendalough. It’s a well-organised day out that covers a lot of ground without feeling rushed.
You’ll travel by train from Dublin through stunning coastal and mountain scenery, then switch to coach for the scenic Wicklow leg. You’ll be back in Dublin by around 17:00.
Avoca (Ballykissangel) - Arriving at Arklow, you’ll travel on to Avoca, the pretty village that doubled as Ballykissangel in the successful BBC television series of the same name. It’s home to Avoca Handweavers, the oldest hand-weaving mill in Ireland, operating since 1723, where you can watch the weavers at work. There’s excellent food and shopping at the mill. This is the best stop for lunch - there won’t be enough time at Glendalough - so take your time here. Your host will give the exact return time. (120 min)
Meeting of the Waters, Rathdrum and Glendalough - Leaving Avoca, you’ll head north, passing the Meeting of the Waters - immortalised in poem and song by 18th-century poet Thomas Moore - with a possible photo stop as time allows. You’ll pass through Rathdrum, with its narrow streets, pubs and church, then continue through Laragh toward Glendalough, passing through Clara - said to be the smallest community in Ireland, with one school, one church and two houses.
Glendalough is a National Park and takes its name from the valley of two lakes. The tour visits the upper lake and the ancient monastery, which has had a settlement since the 7th century when St. Kevin founded it here. The present ruins date largely from the 12th century. The round tower at Glendalough is one of approximately 65 remaining in Ireland and is considered the finest example - with the exception of two built by Irish monks in Scotland and one on the Isle of Man, round towers are an entirely Irish phenomenon.
On the return to Dublin you’ll pass through Annamoe, the adopted home of two-time Academy Award winner Daniel Day Lewis, and Roundwood, the highest village in Ireland at around 200 metres above sea level, before descending via the Sugarloaf Mountain to the N11 back to Dublin. (120 min)
Lunch at Avoca is your best opportunity - plan accordingly. The tour itinerary is clear about this: there’s plenty of time in Avoca and not much to spare at Glendalough. The Avoca Handweavers café at the mill has a strong reputation for food, and the mill shop gives you the chance to pick up something made on the looms you’ll watch working. Don’t skip the meal here hoping to eat at Glendalough - you won’t have the time.
At Glendalough, walk to the Upper Lake. The Green Road from the visitor centre is flat and takes about twenty-five minutes to reach the Upper Lake. The round tower, cathedral and the main church cluster are near the visitor centre, so do them first, then walk the lakeshore path. The Poulanass Waterfall is a short detour from the Upper Lake car park if time allows - a thirty-metre cascade through mossy oak woodland. The tour’s stop at the upper lake is a clear indication that Glendalough is giving you both halves of the valley: use them.
Rathdrum is worth a glance as you pass through. The town sits on a ridge above the Avonmore River, and Avondale House - Charles Stewart Parnell’s birthplace, restored and reopened in 2023 with a 38-metre treetop viewing tower - is 1.5km down the road. This tour doesn’t stop there, but Rathdrum is worth a dedicated visit if you’re back in south Wicklow with more time.
Roundwood on the return is the highest village in Ireland - at 238 metres above sea level, officially. Roundwood has two pubs on its single main street, and the Roundwood Inn has been pouring pints in a 17th-century coaching inn since 1980, known for Wicklow game and, improbably, Hungarian goulash. The tour passes through rather than stopping, but if you’re ever driving this road yourself, it’s an easy reason to pull over.
Annamoe is quieter than it sounds. The hamlet is on the R755 between Roundwood and Laragh - a river, a trout fishery, and a footnote in literary history. Annamoe is where Laurence Sterne, the author of Tristram Shandy, fell through a working mill-race as a seven-year-old in 1720, was pulled out unharmed, and later wrote about the hundreds who came to see the child who had survived. The mill still stands on the Avonmore River.