Wicklow Mountains

Introduction
Wicklow Ireland
County Wicklow “The Garden of Ireland” is renowned worldwide for its charming beauty. Wicklow is a walker’s paradise and is home to the Wicklow Way, Ireland’s oldest waymarked walking trail.

This popular guided walking holiday takes you through Ireland’s largest National Park; covering 90,000ha in central Wicklow, part of Ireland’s Ancient East. Wicklow Mountains National Park manages and protects some of Europe’s oldest bog lands, heather covered mountains, broad-leafed and coniferous woodlands. The Wicklow Mountains offers a vast diversity of scenery; from woodlands and rolling hills to lush green valleys, streams and lakes. The area provides habitat for native species including sika and red hybrid deer, foxes, badgers, hares and birds of prey.

Central to the area is Glendalough, the famous and globally important monastic settlement where we will walk in the footsteps of St. Kevin. The settlement grew for centuries after its foundation in the 6th century to become Ireland’s earliest proto-urban development and a European hub for education. The imposing round tower overlooks a scene of exceptional natural beauty. Glendalough, meaning a valley of two lakes (Gleann Da Loch) possesses contemplative ambience and is a landscape imbued with the spirituality of its illustrious past.

Accomodation


Accommodations
During this trip, all overnights are spent at the BrookLodge Hotel & Macreddin Village. This accommodation offers elegant and modern rooms with extensive facilities including an indoor-to-outdoor pool, Hammam massage center and sauna. There are 86 bedrooms in total, spanning across 3 buildings: BrookLodge, BrookHall & BrookMews. There are various types of rooms available ranging from traditional style Standard Rooms to New York style Mezzanine Suites. Many rooms feature four poster or sleigh beds and all rooms have private bathroom.
Free WiFi is available throughout.

Wells Spa:
The Wells Spa is an adult only ‘Destination Spa’, featuring a Hammam massage room, wet and dry flotation rooms, heated relaxation loungers, a serail mud chamber, aroma steam room, sauna, outdoor hot tub & numerous water features.



Meals
5 Full Irish Breakfasts, 4 Packed Lunches and 4 Dinners are included in the price of your trip.
The Brooklodge has award-winning restaurants.
We also organize other local restaurants for some evenings (not included).
It is useful to bring a small waterproof pad to sit on for our picnic lunches.

Special diets and dietary restrictions:
The hotel can cater to any special diet or dietary restriction. Please, remind the hotel staff at time of your arrival.

This trip includes and can accommodate special dietary requests.

Riding

These hiking trips show you the best of Ireland, its picturesque scenery, the grandeur of its mountains, the warmth and hospitality of its people and the magic of their music. Call it an Irish walking holiday; a hiking vacation in Ireland; even a sabbatical - maybe you're researching Ireland, perhaps for a thesis or book; or perhaps you want to see the Ireland of your Irish ancestors. Call it any or all of these, but treat yourself to a tour of Erin's Isle anyway.

This holiday, guided by someone who really knows and cares for Ireland, is the best way to see this enchanting country; imagine yourself hiking (or walking) over Irish mountains, pausing by Irish lakes, drinking in Irish pubs and listening to traditional Irish music.

Ireland has a lot to offer the walker: dramatic sea cliffs, high mountain ridges, quiet green roads, butter roads, fuchsia-lined lanes, heath and moorland, sweeping expanses of beach. And then there are the sleepy villages, oak woods, sky-blue lakes, torrential waterfalls and babbling brooks.
Ireland's climate ideally suits the walker as generally it rarely gets too hot to be uncomfortable. Rain and cloud-formations are what bring the interesting light patterns and rainbows. The Western coast and islands are known for magnificent sunsets.

Don't be surprised at the very few people you will meet whilst walking, after all, the entire population of Ireland is only around four million! Ireland is a birdwatcher's paradise with many rarities such as the corncrake. It is also a great place for botanists, especially the area of the Burren, Co. Clare.

Maybe the best attraction of all is the people, you'll never find another place like it for hospitality, friendliness, warmth, generosity, humour, love of life and love of the land.

Our hiking tours of Ireland are fully escorted by experienced, professional guides. We travel through Ireland in groups of no more than twelve people. We will escort you on hikes through Ireland's most scenic trails, walk through undiscovered routes lined with extraordinary vistas. Whether you wish to hike through Connemara, walk parts of the Dingle Way, or take a ferry to the Aran Islands, sit back, relax and let us take care of your Irish hiking vacation.

Itinerary

Sample Itinerary - subject to changes

Day 1: Arrival
Pick-up at Dublin Airport at 1.00 pm and transfer to the BrookLodge Hotel. After settling in and light refreshments, we will take a nice walk around the village of Aughrim just to get the legs ready for the days ahead! Aughrim is known locally as “The Granite City” because of its many buildings constructed from locally quarried Wicklow Granite.
Distance: 5 km / 3 miles, Ascent: little to none.
Meals included: none
Overnight at BrookLodge Hotel & Macreddin Village

Day 2: St. Kevin’s Monastic Settlement & Derrybawn Woodlands
Our first walk starts in the valley of Glendalough, in Irish, (Gleann Dá Loch, meaning "Valley of two lakes"). Our journey takes us into the 6th Century Monastic Settlement, where we will do a short tour of some of the monuments and ruined churches that exist there. From here we will continue along to explore the glacier moulded valley and its two lakes, before starting a short ascent to Pollanass Waterfall and into Derrybawn Woods. Here we will be offered stunning views down over the Glendalough Valley and surrounding countryside.
Distance: 9 km / 5. 6 miles, Ascent: 190 m / 570 ft.
Meals included: Breakfast, Packed Lunch & Dinner
Overnight at BrookLodge Hotel & Macreddin Village

Day 3: Trooperstown & Paddock Hill
Today’s walk takes us south through Ballard Forest, We will pass evidence of a forgotten farming community that once lived and toiled the land. We follow a local’s path up the heather covered Trooperstown Hill that will lead to magnificent views in all directions including rolling hills, the Irish Sea, the Wicklow Mountains, and the Round Tower of Glendalough. Our walking trail gently descends into Trooperstown Forest, over the Avonmore River and up Paddock Hill where we will join another part of the Wicklow Way.
Distance: 17 km / 10.5 miles, Ascent: 350 m / 1050 ft.
Meals included: Breakfast, Packed Lunch & Dinner
Overnight at BrookLodge Hotel & Macreddin Village

Day 4: The Vale of Clara & Avoca
Our walking trail today takes us to the magical Vale of Clara, a nature reserve containing the largest area of natural hardwood woodlands in the country. The serenity of this ancient oak woodland is contagious and is ideally followed by lunch on the banks of the babbling Avonmore River beside the charming church of Clara (1799). We will then visit the famous Avoca Woollen Mills for an exploration of their historical and operational mill and will finish off the day with a bit of shopping and perhaps a treat.
Distance: 9 km / 5.5 miles, Ascent: 220 m / 660 ft.
Meals included: Breakfast, Packed Lunch & Dinner
Overnight at BrookLodge Hotel & Macreddin Village

Day 5: Botanic Gardens Kilmacurragh & the town of Rathdrum
The first part of our adventure today takes us to The National Botanic Gardens, Kilmacurragh, An Eighteenth-Century Arboretum. We will have a guided tour of the gardens and hear the Thomas Acton family's story that developed the estate in the nineteenth century. The guided tour lasts approximately 1 hr. Afterwards, you will have some free time to wander and explore the magnificent gardens and their surroundings.
In the afternoon we will take a short drive to the town of Rathdrum where we will do a circular walk, starting and finishing in the town.
Along the walk, we will visit an old Famine Graveyard, walk part of a mass path used in bygone days as a recognised path or track to and from church and through a Millennium Forest. Finishing with a beautiful relaxing stroll along the banks of the Avonmore River. Of course, no date would be complete without a visit to one of the fine establishments (Bars) that Rathdrum has to offer.
Distance: 8 km / 5 miles, Ascent: 80 m / 240 ft.
Meals included: Breakfast, Packed Lunch & Dinner
Overnight at BrookLodge Hotel & Macreddin Village

Day 6: Departure
Depart for Dublin Airport after our final hearty Irish breakfast, arriving at 12 noon.
Meals included: Breakfast

Rates and Dates for Wicklow Mountains

Dates Note:

Other Info
Meeting: Dublin airport
Airport: Dublin
Transfer: Dublin airport

Climate:
                                               Dublin area