If you only have time for one day out of Dublin, make it Glendalough. Under an hour south of the city, it has a 6th-century monastic settlement, two glacial lakes and some of the best walking in the Wicklow Mountains National Park.
Leave early
Glendalough is no secret, and by late morning in summer the car parks fill up and the coach tours arrive. Leave Dublin around 8am and you'll have the monastic site almost to yourself, with soft morning light on the lakes. With a private driver there's no parking to worry about. You're dropped at the gate and collected when you're ready.
Take the scenic road there
Rather than the main road, we like to go over the mountains:
- The Sally Gap. A high crossroads in open bogland, with the old Military Road running through the heart of the mountains.
- Lough Tay. A dark lake far below the road with a strip of pale sand at one end, often nicknamed the "Guinness Lake". It's one of the most photographed views in Wicklow.
It's slower than the motorway, but it's half the point of the day.
The monastic site
St Kevin founded a monastery here in the 6th century, and it grew into one of the most important religious centres in early Ireland. Today you can wander through the gateway, the graveyard, several stone churches and the round tower, about 30 metres tall and still standing after roughly a thousand years. The site is free to walk around, and the visitor centre has a short exhibition if you want the history.
The lakes and walks
From the monastic site, an easy, flat path through the woods leads to the Lower Lake and on to the larger Upper Lake, with the mountains rising straight out of the water. Pick the walk that suits your group:
- Easy: the Green Road from the monastic site to the Upper Lake and back, around an hour at a gentle pace.
- Moderate: add a loop to Poulanass Waterfall, a short, steeper climb through the trees.
- Challenging: the Spinc loop, up wooden steps to a boardwalk along the cliffs above the Upper Lake. Allow three to four hours. The views are the best in the valley.
Wear good shoes, and pack a rain jacket whatever the forecast says.
Lunch and the way home
Laragh, just down the road, has cafés and a pub for lunch. On the way back to Dublin there are two good stops:
- Powerscourt House & Gardens near Enniskerry, with formal gardens and, a short drive away, Powerscourt Waterfall, the highest in Ireland.
- Avoca, a pretty village and home of the Avoca weavers, if you're heading home via the south of the county.
Leave at 8am, take your time, and you'll be back in Dublin in time for dinner.