A Celtic Nations Guided Walking Holiday
A tour that combines two Celtic nations makes for one grand adventure! This Wales and Wicklow walking tour combines two of our most popular hiking destinations: the Wicklow Mountains near Dublin and Snowdonia National Park in North Wales.
Over a spectacular 8-day guided walking experience, you’ll enjoy two unique cultures, two fascinating histories, and two awe-inspiring landscapes. This walking holiday offers a great opportunity to observe the differences — as well as the similarities — between these two ancient Celtic regions and all they have to offer.
A Guided Walking Holiday in Wales
For our time in Wales, we will stay in Betws-y-Coed, (meaning Chapel in the Woods) the town is situated within the Snowdonia National Park. This national park is the second largest in the UK with 2,171 protected square kilometres (838 square miles) of oak woodlands, wild flowing rivers, cascading waterfalls, tranquil lakes, rocky mountains, and moorland.
The park also boasts some of the best walks in Britain, all dominated by Mount Snowdon, the highest mountain in England, Ireland, and Wales at 1085 m (3560 ft). Whether you love nature, the great outdoors, culture, or history, Wales has it all.
A Wicklow Walking Holiday
The second half of our adventure takes place in the Wicklow Mountains, just south of Dublin in the east of Ireland. We will be staying just outside the famous and majestic area of Glendalough, a seat of ancient culture and education and one of the most visited sites in Ireland.
Wicklow holds a proud tradition of walking, aided by the presence of the “Wicklow Way”, the oldest way-marked trail and part of the largest National Park in Ireland.
Wicklow Mountain National Park protects some of Europe’s oldest peat bogs, heather-clad mountains, broad-leafed woodlands, and native mammal species. After a few days of walking here, you will understand why the county has earned the title ‘The Garden of Ireland’.
If you’d like to peruse our other routes or destinations, check out our guided walking tours of Ireland or our Guided Walking Holidays in Wales.
If you have any questions at all, get in touch and we’d be delighted to help you find the best holiday for you!
Guided Walk in Wales & Wicklow
Prices / Dates
Price: €1,699 per person sharing
Single Supplement: +€595
Tour Dates 2026:
Saturday, 1st to Saturday, 8th August
Tour Grade: Easy
Accommodation: Hotel
Included / Excluded
- 7 nights bed & breakfast in Hotel Accommodation
- 6 Guided Walks
- Pickup and return to Dublin Airport.
- Ferry to and from Wales.
- All transport to and from walks
- Aber Falls Whisky Tour
- Evening Meals & Packed Lunches
- Entry fees to Conwy Castle.
- Entry fees to The Great Orme Copper Mines.
Pickup at Dublin Airport at 1 pm; from there, it's a short drive to Dublin Port, where we will take the Stena Line ferry to the port of Holyhead, Wales. The journey time across the Irish Sea is approximately 3 hours, followed by a 1-hour drive to our accommodation in North Wales. After settling into our accommodation, we will do a short walk to explore some of the local attractions and seek out our week’s first local culinary experience.
We will stay overnight in Betsy-y-Coed
Our first walk in Wales begins in the coastal town of Llandudno, one of Britain’s finest Victorian seaside resorts. It takes us around the Great Orme Peninsula for fascinating views of mountains over the ocean.
We will explore the world’s only open-to-the-public Bronze Age copper mine. It was first mined over 3,500 years ago! We will stay overnight in Betsy-y-Coed
Distance: 8 km / 5 miles, Ascent: 190 m / 560 ft,
Our adventure today starts and finishes at our accommodation in Betws-y-Coed. A meandering forest trail will lead us up to the ‘Llyn Elsi Reservoir’, built in 1914 and providing water for the town. The trail continues via an old Roman Road that takes us across the ‘Miner’s Bridge’ and on to the Swallow Falls. These falls are considered one of the most lovely spots in North Wales. Here, the river Llugwy rushes down from the mountains. Crags and jagged rocks divide the stream into several foaming cascades.
Once back in Betws-Y-Coed, you will have the remainder of the afternoon to explore the shops, treat yourself to afternoon tea or sit back and relax in the park and watch the world go by. We will stay overnight in Betsy-y-Coed
Distance: 10 km / 6 miles, Ascent: 310 m / 930 ft,
Today’s adventure takes us to Aber Falls, also known as Rhaeadr Fawr, a majestic waterfall nestled in the heart of Snowdonia National Park. This impressive waterfall drops approximately 100 meters over a series of rocky ledges, creating a breathtaking and dynamic display of nature’s power. The falls are fed by the Nant Aber stream, which flows down from the mountains, adding to the lush, green scenery that surrounds the area.
Aber Falls is a captivating natural landmark that showcases the raw beauty of Snowdonia’s landscape.
Distance: 8 km / 5 Miles, Ascent: 250 m / 750 ft.
In the afternoon, we will visit the Aber Falls Whisky Distillery—one of seven whisky distilleries in Wales, and the first in North Wales since the early 1900s.
On our final day of our walking tour in Wales we will visit one of the finest examples of fortress architecture in the world at the walled town of Conwy. Conwy Castle, with 22 towers and nearly a mile of battlements wall, was built by Edward the 1st in 1283 during the conquest of Wales.
In the early afternoon, we will travel back to Holyhead to catch the ferry to Ireland and drive south to our new accommodation in the Wicklow Mountains. We will stay overnight in Laragh Village.
Distance: 5 km / 3 miles, Ascent: 100 m / 300 ft
We start the day at the famous Glendalough Monastic Settlement founded by St. Kevin in the 6th century. We will have a guided tour of the area to learn its regional and global significance as a former hub of learning in Europe. Its fully intact round tower overlooks the two lakes that gave Glendalough (“Gleann Dá Loch”, The Glen of the Two Lakes) its name.
We will walk part of the Wicklow Way onto Lugduff Mountain for spectacular views of the lakes and surrounding wild hills. Our trail crosses The Spinc, down through a deserted miners’ village and back to Glendalough.
We will stay overnight in Laragh village.
Distance: 11.5 km/7.2 miles, Ascent: 410 m/1230 ft
Starting from our village accommodation, our Wicklow walk leads us through Ballard Forest and up onto Trooperstown Hill. This hill is a hidden gem and, on a clear day, almost every peak of the Wicklow Mountains range and some of the Welsh mountains are visible.
At the base of Trooperstown is our Footfalls Walking Holidays headquarters, but our trail moves the opposite direction to the beautiful Vale of Clara for lunch on the banks of the Avonmore River.
After lunch, we will follow the Avonmore River through the Vale’s Oak Forest into the town of Rathdrum. We will be picked up in Rathdrum and go to visit the world-famous Avoca Woollen Mills’ original location. We will stay overnight in Laragh Village.
Distance: 12.5 km/7.8 miles, Ascent: 430 m/1290 ft
After a hearty Irish breakfast, we will depart for Dublin Airport, arriving at 12.30 pm.