Wicklow Way 5 Day Walking Holiday
Three mountain days. The highlights that matter most.
Some walking holidays try to do everything. This one does the right thing. The Wicklow Way 5-day tour takes you straight to the mountain heart of Ireland's most iconic trail — skipping the gentle warm-up stages and dropping you directly into the Wicklow Mountains at their most dramatic. Three consecutive days of genuinely great walking: wild Glenmalure Valley, the ancient monastic settlement at Glendalough, the impossibly beautiful Lough Tay, and a final ridgeline descent toward Dublin Bay. This is the Wicklow Way, distilled.
Your days cover 14–20 km through glacial valleys, open moorland, and pine-scented forests—long enough to feel earned but short enough to leave you with energy to explore each evening. We handle your luggage transfers between every accommodation, so you walk with just a light daypack and nothing on your back but the view ahead. Four nights in carefully chosen family-run B&Bs, a full Irish breakfast every morning, and the Wicklow Mountains in every direction.
If you have five days and want to understand why Ireland's mountain landscapes stop people mid-stride, this is the tour.
Highlights
Glenmalure — Ireland's wildest glacial valley
You'll arrive at one of Ireland's most sacred monastic sites where round towers stand sentinel over valley and lake. The 6th-century settlement feels almost untouched by time—walk the ancient pilgrim paths, explore the ruins of a dozen churches, and feel the spiritual weight of centuries. This is history you can touch, breathe, and walk through.
Glendalough — 1,400 years in a single valley
Walking into Glendalough on Day 2 is one of those moments that justifies multi-day hiking. You descend through forest and then the valley opens below you: two glacial lakes, a round tower still perfectly upright after twelve centuries, and the stone ruins of a monastic city founded by St Kevin in the 6th century. The setting is extraordinary — early Christian monks built their sanctuary here precisely because the landscape itself feels sacred. Spend the evening exploring before the day-trippers arrive; you have the advantage of staying the night.
Lough Tay — the Guinness Lake
The moment Lough Tay appears below you on Day 3 is one of the great sights of the Wicklow Way. Cupped in a bowl of granite mountain, its waters are deep and dark — locals have called it the Guinness Lake for generations, and the comparison holds. You'll cross the high moorland above it, with views that stretch across three counties on clear days, then descend through birch and oak toward Roundwood. Ireland's highest village, sitting at 340 metres, is where you spend the night — falling asleep to wind in the trees and total mountain silence.
Djouce Mountain and the Dublin Bay panorama
Your final full walking day takes you over Djouce Mountain — 725 metres, with the ground falling away in every direction. To the north, Dublin Bay opens like a sketch; the city is a faint shimmer on the water, the Sugar Loaf punctuates the lower skyline, and suddenly you understand the full geography of what you've been walking through. This view, earned after three days on the trail, is something you'll describe to people for years. The descent to Enniskerry is steady and wooded, and the village greets you like an old friend.
Who Is This For?
Your fitness level
This tour suits walkers with a reasonable level of fitness who are comfortable on hilly terrain for 4.5–6 hours a day. You don't need previous mountain experience — the route is well-waymarked and our pre-departure pack covers everything you need to know. What helps is having walked for a few hours without stopping before, and not minding some genuine ascent. The longest day (Glendalough to Lough Tay) involves 651 metres of climbing over 20 km. It's a proper day, not a stroll — but it's well within reach of anyone who trains moderately and wears decent boots.
The right kind of traveller
You're someone who wants to actually experience Ireland rather than see it from a coach window. You'd rather wake in a family-run B&B where the owner knows which path goes where than check in to a hotel chain. You're curious — about Glendalough's monks, about why Lough Tay glows that particular shade of green, about what the mountain looks like at 7am when the mist is still sitting in the valley. You want a genuine challenge, and you want comfort at the end of it.
Solo travellers, couples and small groups
We welcome solo walkers, pairs and groups alike. The 5-day format works especially well for people who can't take a full week away — it's a serious walking holiday compressed into the most rewarding stretch of the trail. It also suits those new to multi-day hiking who want to test themselves without committing to a 7 or 10-day route. If you love it (and most people do), longer tours are waiting.
Tour Itinerary
Day
1
Arrival in Glenmalure Valley
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Arrival in Glenmalure Valley
Settle in. The mountains are already waiting.
Your tour begins in Glenmalure — not in a city hotel lobby, but in one of the most secluded and spectacular valleys in Ireland. We transfer you from Dublin and introduce you to your accommodation, your route notes, and the landscape you're about to spend three days walking through.
The valley stretches southward, the Avonmore River threading between steep heather slopes; the only sounds are wind and water.
Spend the afternoon at your own pace — check your boots, walk a short stretch of valley floor, or simply sit outside with a cup of tea and let Ireland arrive. In the evening, a local pub provides your introduction to genuine mountain hospitality. Come morning, the trail begins.
Day
2
Glenmalure to Glendalough/Laragh
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Glenmalure to Glendalough/Laragh
Your first full walking day climbs immediately out of Glenmalure's sheltered floor and onto the open mountain. The path rises through a pine forest before breaking onto an exposed hillside—and with every hundred metres of ascent, the view behind you expands.
Tonelagee's broad flank guides you northward across open moorland, where the wind has a different quality to the valley air: colder, cleaner, with the smell of peat and distance. The final descent into Glendalough is gradual and beautiful — forest giving way to valley, the Upper Lake appearing first, then the Lower Lake, and finally the monastic site itself: the round tower rising above the tree canopy, the ruined churches clustered at the water's edge.
You'll be staying in Laragh village, a five-minute walk from the monastic site. Go back after dinner, when the day-visitors have left and the evening light is doing something remarkable to the stone. This day establishes your rhythm: real climbing, real reward, real rest.
Day
3
Glendalough to Lough Tay / Roundwood
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Glendalough to Lough Tay / Roundwood
Leave Glendalough heading north and west, climbing steadily through the old oak woodland above the Upper Lake before the trees thin and the mountain proper begins. The ascent to Spink's long ridge rewards you with views across the valley you've just left, back to the Glenmalure slopes, and south toward the Blackstairs Mountains on the Carlow border.
Then the landscape shifts: open moorland, granite outcrops, the sky wide open in every direction. The moment Lough Tay appears below the ridge, it is one of those sights that stops you mid-step—a dark, oval lake cupped in the granite bowl of Luggala; its far shore is a wall of rock, the colour of the water shifting between green and near-black depending on where the clouds are.
You understand immediately why people have been photographing this lake for a hundred years. The descent to Roundwood—Ireland's highest village—is through a birch forest and across an open hillside as the light softens. By the time you reach your B&B, you will have covered the most celebrated stretch of the Wicklow Way and earned the deepest sleep of the week.
Day
4
Lough Tay to Enniskerry
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Lough Tay to Enniskerry
Your final full walking day begins with the mountains still around you and ends with Dublin Bay on the horizon — one of the great transitions in Irish hiking. The path climbs from Roundwood back onto the Wicklow plateau, and the ascent to Djouce Mountain (725 m) is steady and open: excellent ground underfoot, views building with every step.
From Djouce's summit, the landscape breaks dramatically to the north, featuring the Sugar Loaf's sharp cone in the middle distance, Bray Head jutting into the sea beyond, and Dublin Bay glittering in whatever light the day has offered.
This is the moment when you understand the full scope of what you've walked through: from the hidden depths of Glenmalure to this high vantage point, with Glendalough's valley somewhere in the ridgeline behind you.
The descent to Enniskerry winds through Crone Wood—ancient-feeling oak and ash—along a fast-running stream and deposits you gently in one of Wicklow's prettiest villages. The walk is done. You've earned the evening.
Day
5
Departure from Enniskerry
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Departure from Enniskerry
Onwards, with memories that outlast the muscle soreness.
A leisurely final morning in Enniskerry — there's no rush. Transfer to Dublin airport or city centre, or extend your trip: Powerscourt House and Gardens is a twenty-minute walk from the village; Bray and the coast are just beyond. Most walkers sit over a long breakfast before leaving, comparing notes on Day 3's Lough Tay moment, and finding that the Wicklow Mountains already feel like somewhere they want to return to. They usually do.
Route & Map
Accommodation
Your four nights are spent in genuine Irish B&Bs — family-run houses chosen because their owners understand walkers. These are not hotels. They are homes where someone has made your bed, prepared your breakfast with care, and will happily tell you about the valley, the trail, and the best pub within walking distance. En-suite rooms throughout, so hot showers and privacy after your walking days are guaranteed.
Each B&B is positioned strategically along the route: in Laragh with easy evening access to Glendalough's monastic site; at altitude in Roundwood, where mountain silence is the default; and in Enniskerry with a village of good restaurants and pubs at your door. We transfer your main luggage between every accommodation, so you walk with only a daypack — water, snacks, waterproof jacket, and nothing heavier. The difference this makes to a multi-day walk is not small.
Breakfast is a full Irish every morning — eggs, back bacon, sausage, black pudding, grilled tomato, soda bread, tea and coffee. On the Wicklow Mountains, at altitude, after a proper walk, this is exactly what breakfast should be. Lunch and evening meals are your own to discover: your accommodation hosts will point you to the best spots, and village pubs along this route take their food seriously.
What's Included
check_circle What's Included
- done✓ 4 nights accommodation in B&Bs (en-suite rooms)
- done✓ Full Irish breakfast daily
- done✓ Luggage transfers between accommodation (you carry day pack only)
- done✓ Detailed route maps and GPS notes
- done✓ Waterproof map case for each walker
- done✓ Experienced local guides (subject to group bookings)
- done✓ 24/7 emergency contact and support
- done✓ Pre-departure information pack with what to bring and route details
- done✓ All route markings and waypointing
block Not Included
- close✗ Flights or transport to/from Ireland
- close✗ Travel insurance (strongly recommended)
- close✗ Lunch (though guides recommend spots and packed lunch supplies are available)
- close✗ Evening meals (though guides recommend restaurants and pubs)
- close✗ Alcoholic beverages
- close✗ Activities or attractions outside the walking route (though guides will suggest them)
Photo Gallery
Best Time to Visit
The walking season runs April to October. May and June are our top picks, long evenings, wildflowers on the moorland and lighter trail traffic make these months hard to beat.
September brings golden light, quieter trails and easier accommodation booking. July and August are the warmest months, but Glendalough gets busy. Book accommodation well ahead if you are travelling in peak summer.
Time your visit with a festival. Many trails host walking festivals throughout the season — see our complete 2026 walking festivals calendar to plan around one.
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Cliff & Louise
Your Personal Hosts
Have a question about this tour? We've walked it dozens of times and love helping you plan your trip.
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