Enhance my day trip: Glendalough, Ireland

January 14, 2007 4:52 PM

I'm in ireland, getting ready for the final leg of my trip tomorrow: Wicklow, Glendalough. Looks like we're going to miss the guided tour, and I think I'm alright with that, although this is a last minute plan, and it seems like an awfully big place...

We're planning to head out around 10:30am (from Dublin). Wikitravel mentions a bus at 1130am - will 5 hours be enough time to get a good bite of the place? Are there particular spots to which we should navigate? Traps we should avoid?

Any advice is much appreciated!

posted by greggish to Travel & Transportation around Wicklow, Ireland (3 answers total)

You cannot miss the ruins at Glendaloch. They are gorgeous, charming, and totally Ireland. I haven't been to Wicklow, but of my week-long trip in Ireland, Glendaloch was one of the highlights. Just tour the ruins, take a walk through the gorgeous grounds, take pictures of you and your friend at the lake. We spent at least 2 hours there, probably more like 3. So, I guess with five, you could do more. Glendaloch is quite close to Dubin. I don't remember how much time, but it seemed close. Have fun!

Also, I rented a car while I was there. I don't remember it being particularly expensive, and that way you could call your own shots on when to leave.
posted by tk at 5:34 PM on January 14, 2007

Do you mean the Bus Eireann tour?. Ok, as in it doesn't run on Tuesday.

I think 5 hours is plenty (as far as I remember from school tours when I was young), it's not that big a place. The guided tour takes 40 minutes or so.

Having said that, you could spend much longer there, it is very beautiful, and the round tower is one of the iconic views of Ireland. It is well worth seeing.
posted by Boobus Tuber at 6:10 AM on January 15, 2007

5 hours is plenty of time in Glendalough
posted by Wilder at 8:18 AM on January 15, 2007