Arrive before nine, or after four
We have been to Glendalough in every month and every mood, and the single decision that changes the visit is the hour on the clock. Between eleven and three the coaches from Dublin are in, the lower car park is full, and the monastic city has the acoustics of a school trip. Before nine the valley belongs to whoever is standing in it. After four it does again.
If you are staying in Dublin, this means leaving earlier than feels reasonable. Set the alarm for six. The drive south is fifty minutes on a clear morning and the reward is a round tower with nobody standing in front of it.
- Best hours
- 07:30 to 09:00, or 16:00 until dusk. Both are quiet, both have better light.
- Worst hours
- 11:00 to 15:00, especially on a dry weekend between May and September.
- Drive from Dublin
- About 50 minutes via the N11, closer to 75 if you come over the Sally Gap, which you should.
Which car park, and what it costs
There are two. The lower one, at the Visitor Centre, is free and fills first. The Upper Lake car park is run by the National Park, charges a modest daily fee, and puts you two minutes from the water rather than fifteen. If you have any mobility question at all, pay for the upper one. If you want the walk in past the monastic city and the graveyard, park low and walk up the Green Road.
Both are cash-light now and card readers work, but Irish rural card readers have opinions in bad weather. Keep coins in the car.
The three walks that matter
Nine waymarked trails leave the valley. Most visitors have time for one. These are the three we actually send people on.
- The Green Road (Green, 3km)
- Flat, lakeside, and gentle. Lower lake to upper lake and back. Suitable for anyone who can walk an hour, and the one to do in a coat and city shoes.
- The Poulanass and Derrybawn loop (Red, 6km)
- Up beside the waterfall, into oak wood, along a ridge with the whole valley beneath you. Ninety minutes to two hours. The best value per step in Wicklow.
- The Spinc (White, 9km)
- Six hundred wooden steps, then a boardwalk along the upper rim. Three to four hours. Do it in clear conditions only, and do not attempt it in the smooth soles you wore to dinner.
Soft weather is the right weather
This is the part visitors resist. Glendalough in bright sun is a pretty lake. Glendalough in drizzle, with the cloud sitting halfway down the valley walls and the water gone the colour of slate, is the reason the monks came here in the sixth century and stayed. Fog does not ruin the visit. It is the visit.
Bring a proper shell, not an umbrella. The valley funnels wind and an umbrella will embarrass you within four minutes.
What to do with the rest of the day
Glendalough is two to three hours, not eight. The mistake is building a whole day around it and then padding the afternoon with a mediocre lunch in Laragh. Instead, drive out over the Wicklow Gap or back over the Sally Gap, stop at Powerscourt for the gardens, and be at a fire somewhere by six.
If you are doing this without a car, the guided day tours from Dublin handle the driving and typically combine the valley with the mountain road, which is the pairing we would choose anyway.