Dublin shore excursion: Glendalough and Wicklow Mountains

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Free cancellation

1/10

Duration8h

GroupUp to 58

LanguagesEN

Mobile ticketAccepted

St. Kevin's monastery valley tour, hiking, scenic monastery views, famous Irish film backdrop

This full-day shore excursion from Dublin includes pickup at the cruise terminal, a professional driver-guide, and a route through County Wicklow to Glendalough's 6th-century monastic site and back through Dublin's city center. The tour runs approximately 8 hours and times the return to the ship around its departure window, so you don't have to calculate the schedule yourself. Small group sizes and an air-conditioned coach are standard; lunch is your choice of stops along the way.

Step-by-step itinerary

Dublin and Glendalough tour

Collect from cruise ship terminal
Drive through Wicklow countryside
Visit Glendalough monastic site
Pass Wicklow Mountains on return
Tour Dublin city highlights
Return to dockside for departure

The Experience

You're collected at the cruise ship terminal at 07:30 (or 30 minutes after disembarkation if the ship docks later), and your driver-guide boards the luxury coach with a sign ready to go. The first stretch takes you through County Wicklow, known as the garden of Ireland—rolling hills, streams and glens that have stood in for the Irish countryside in films like P.S. I Love You and Braveheart. The landscape is the kind photographers chase, and it sets up what comes next.

Glendalough, the valley of two lakes, is the centerpiece. The site holds St. Kevin's 6th-century monastery, including Ireland's finest round tower and St. Kevin's cross—legend says if you can touch your hands around the cross, you'll be married within a year. You'll walk the monastic grounds and take in the lakes and the mountains that frame them. On the return drive through Wicklow's peaks and turf hills, the landscape shifts again; this is where you'll see why the postcard version of Ireland looks the way it does.

After lunch (or a refreshment stop, depending on when the ship docked), the tour swings into Dublin's city center. You'll pass O'Connell Street, the Ha'Penny Bridge, Temple Bar, the Molly Malone statue, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Christchurch Cathedral, and Trinity College, with time to browse Grafton Street's shops. The timing is built so you're back at the dockside with a buffer before the ship departs—no guessing whether you'll make it.

What’s included

Your tour includes luxury coach transport with air conditioning, a professional driver-guide providing live commentary in English, pickup and drop-off at the cruise terminal, and WiFi on board; lunch is at your choice of stops along the route.

Good to know

Easy physical levelStroller friendlyInfant seats availablePets welcomePublic transport nearby

Operated by Paddywagon Tours

Is this one for you?The 8-hour day starts early and moves at a steady pace—you're on the coach by 08:00 and covering ground through Wicklow and back into Dublin—which is what keeps Glendalough's monastic site, the mountain scenery, and Dublin's city center all inside one departure window. If you want the inland ruins and the mountains without building the day yourself or worrying about the ship's schedule, this structure does that work.