A two-day Wicklow weekend from Dublin — green and grey
Powerscourt, Glendalough, the Sally Gap, and a single overnight in Wicklow town. The cleanest day-trip for a low-fly visit to Dublin.
Wicklow is Dublin's mountain back-garden, 30 minutes south of the city across the Sally Gap. It contains Ireland's most-photographed monastic site (Glendalough), the country's highest waterfall (Powerscourt), and one of Europe's most cinematic mountain drives — and you can do all three in a weekend.
This is the simplest itinerary on the site: two nights, one base, three set-pieces.
Carbon math, up front. Every IMPT hotel booking retires one tonne of UN-verified CO₂ on-chain — roughly 28× the per-night footprint of a hotel stay.
The route at a glance
- Day 1 morning: Dublin (Day 1 start) — 0 nights
- Day 1 PM – 3: Wicklow Town & Glendalough — 2 nights
Getting around: St Kevin's Bus from St Stephen's Green to Glendalough (twice daily); or hire a car at Dublin airport for the full Sally Gap drive
Day 1 morning Dublin (Day 1 start)
Leave Dublin late morning — the Sally Gap is a 90-minute drive south through the Wicklow Mountains. If you don't have a car, the St Kevin's Bus departs St Stephen's Green Green at 11:30am direct to Glendalough.
Morning
Powerscourt House and Gardens (on the road south, 25km from Dublin centre) for the formal morning — Italianate terraced gardens, the Palladian house, the formal café. Allow 2 hours.
The walk worth doing
Powerscourt Waterfall (Ireland's highest at 121m) — a separate 7km drive but does not need a separate ticket. Walk the path to the base of the falls, allow an hour.
Where to eat
Avoca café at Powerscourt for the lunch; or the Sugar Loaf Café on the road south for the alternative. Pack snacks — the Sally Gap drive has no shops once you leave the M11.
Day-trip from here
Powerscourt itself is the morning; Glendalough is the afternoon (see below).
Day 1 PM – 3 Wicklow Town & Glendalough — 2 nights
From Powerscourt, drive south over the Sally Gap (R759 — single-track, gorgeous in clear weather, atmospheric in mist) to Glendalough. The drive is 35km but takes an hour; stop at the J. B. Malone memorial viewpoint above the upper lake.
Morning
Glendalough — the 6th-century monastic site founded by St Kevin, with two lakes, a 30m round tower, three chapels and the most complete monastic-village layout in Ireland. Free entry to the grounds; small fee for the visitor centre. Allow 3 hours.
The walk worth doing
The Spinc — a 9km loop above the upper lake at Glendalough, climbing 300m to a wooden-boardwalk ridge with the best view in Wicklow. Properly tough; allow 4 hours; signposted from the upper-lake car park. The shorter Poulanass Waterfall walk (3km, 90 minutes) is the easier alternative.
Where to eat
The Wicklow Heather Restaurant in Laragh (the village 2km from Glendalough) for the formal dinner — Irish-led, properly excellent, the wine list is unusually good. The Lynham's Hotel pub in Laragh for the late drink. In Wicklow town itself (15km southeast), The Bakery is the best lunch.
Day-trip from here
On the second full day: Russborough House (40km west) for the Palladian-mansion-and-art-collection morning; or the Wicklow Way long-distance trail for a long walk-and-bus day; or Avoca village + the Avoca Mill (the original Avoca handweavers' factory) for the formal-craft afternoon.
Practical notes + how to extend
From Wicklow town or Laragh, the drive back to Dublin is 60km — under 90 minutes. The whole weekend is doable as Friday lunchtime → Sunday evening.
If you're staying at Brooklodge, allow extra time for the Strawberry Tree restaurant — Ireland's only certified-organic restaurant, and the reason most travellers book the hotel.
The carbon mechanic — in plain English
Every hotel booked through IMPT triggers the retirement of one tonne of UN-verified CO₂ — roughly 28× the per-night footprint of a hotel stay. The room price is the standard rate. The offset is funded from IMPT's commission, recorded on-chain on Ethereum, and tied to your booking ID. For a multi-night Irish itinerary booked through IMPT, the per-traveller offset comfortably exceeds the carbon cost of the hotel-stay portion of the trip.
Ready to book this itinerary?
Same price as direct, free cancellation on most stays, 1 tonne UN-verified CO₂ retired on-chain per booking.
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