Dublin to Glendalough: Half Day Tour through Wicklow Mountains

Discover Wicklow’s beauty on a half-day tour from Dublin. Explore Glendalough’s lakes, forests, and monastic ruins. Perfect for nature and history lovers.

Duration: 5 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Paddywagon Tours - We begin with an introduction to Dublin City after which we leave the city behind and head south towards the Wicklow Mountains. Meet your fellow travelers for a great trip to the “Garden of Ireland.”
  • Wicklow Mountains National Park - As we leave the city we pass by Sugar Loaf mountain and descend through Ireland’s highest…
What's Included
  • Local guide
  • On-board WiFi
  • Driver/guide
  • USB points at every seat
  • In-vehicle air conditioning
  • Surcharges on fuel
What's Not Included
  • Lunch
  • Gratuities
  • Food and Drinks
Additional Information

Our journey embarks with a primer on Dublin City, before steering south to the County Wicklow, fondly known as the ‘Garden of Ireland’. Its stunning lakes, thick forests, and charming streams make the drive scenic and provides a quiet escape from the bustling city. Witness landscapes popularized by movies like Braveheart and P.S. I Love You. We traverse…

Location
34 O'Connell Street Lower
O'Connell Street Lower
Meet at Paddywagon Office at The Spire - 34 O'Connell Street Lower, Dublin 1.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.4
(808 Ratings)
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Kim
Jul 21, 2025
Nice tour of east Ireland - Pat and Alec were great. Adjusted the itinerary for the rainy weather and worked out great. Very informative and friendly.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Phoebe
Jul 13, 2025
Amazing! - Wow! The views were incredible. Only booked half a day as we thought a full day would be too long however we do regret not doing a full day because of how beautiful it was and how fast the time goes. The coach service was informative on landmarks and interesting places in Dublin just before we entered Wicklow which was very nice to hear. The lakes were gorgeous and the monastery was interesting. Will definitely go again in the future for the full day so we can explore and appreciate it even more.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Margaret_e
Jul 8, 2025
Loved Glendalough - Absolutely worthwhile! Quite a bit of walking but I’d do it again in a heartbeat. I only wish we’d done a full-day trip as there seemed to be some other cool stuff in the area.
Review provided by Viator
Scott
Jun 30, 2025
Beautiful area, pretty short time frame - We took the 8 am half day tour. The bus was nice and the ride was easy. Our guide on the bus, Jerry, did a good job of giving us information on the drive. Glendalough was beautiful and we had a great time walking up to the lakes and poking around the monastery ruins. The only negative was the amount of time at Glendalough, which fortunately wasn’t an issue for us. However, we went on a Sunday and there was virtually no traffic out of town (I heard Jerry comment as much). We arrived in Glendalough at 9:15 and the bus left again at 11:15. So the total tour time itself was about four hours but two hours of that were spent driving and if there was traffic it would have been more. We have no regrets about going on the tour as it was a fun excursion.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sharon
Jun 26, 2025
Brave hearts cannot miss this inspirational scenic tour - The tour guide Liam was best guide we could have hoped for. I did a tour with another company the day before and understood if is all about how the tour guide engages with those on his bus. Liam was amazing and instilled in each and every passenger a deep love for Ireland and it was pure fun to be on the bus . The scenery was breath taking and the ancient monastery a very special moment . I totally recommend this tour
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Carol_p
Jul 22, 2025
Educational tour while on bus, on own walking - Driver was excellant, informative tour guide but you walked & enjoyed the trails on your own or with fellow paying participants
Review provided by Viator
Naten245
Jul 6, 2025
Beautiful views in a limited timeframe - Bus tours like the ones from Paddywagon Tours are essential if you are staying in Dublin and don't want to try and either drive yourself around Ireland or figure out the rail system. The bus there and back if very comfortable, which is good as you will spend about half your time on it. The guide gives context for the area on your way down, which I was able to catch parts of but I was in and out for most of it as I had been walking a lot the last two days and took the time to rest. Once at Glendalough, the guide will give you a time frame for when to return. If you want to hike up to the higher lake, make that your priority because getting up there and coming back down can be a lot unless you make the concerted effort. I had spent quite a bit of my time photographing the monastery ruins and the lower lake so when I started to make the trip up I was already short on time and had to cut the hike up short.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Don
Jul 21, 2025
Great views - questionable service. - Good trip to a scenic location and worth the money. Disappointed in the driver/guide. Some of his comments could be seen as offensive. He also skipped our drop off location and didn’t seem to be concerned leaving us 15 min walk out of the way.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Alana_r
Jul 5, 2025
Wouldn’t recommend but okay - the tour itself was not great. It took us 45 minutes to get out of Dublin because if you start at 8 then you go pick up people a 6 min walk away but with traffic it’s like 15 minutes then 30 min out of the city… much less time than you think is spent on the tour. And you don’t stop at the ps I love you lake you just star at it from the bus. We never got out for the initial view point which I thought the posting said we’d have. The tour guide Michael was nice and had some good stories while we were in the car. You have free time at the lakes.
Review provided by Viator
Michele_c
Jun 18, 2025
Experience somewhat underwhelming . . . - The rural area were a nice change from the city. > However > Study/research area(s) ahead as there little to no information provided otherwise. While the touring staff at checkin and the bus driver were exceptionally nice the start time was delayed for 90 minutes because the original bus driver had called in sick the morning of . . .
Review provided by Viator
From $39
up to 15 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).