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: €1,469 per person sharing
Sunday to Sunday
Single Supplement: +€495
Tour Dates 2024:
Saturday, 3rd to Saturday, 10th August – Sorry, we have no more single rooms available on this tour. We do have twins & Doubles available.
Tour Dates 2025:
Saturday, 2nd to Saturday, 9th August
Tour Grade: Easy to Moderate
Accommodation: Guesthouse & Hotel
Included / Excluded
- 7 nights bed & breakfast in Hotel Accommodation
- 6 Guided Walks
- 5 packed lunches.
- Pickup and return to Dublin Airport.
- Ferry to and from Wales.
- All transport to and from walks
- Evening Meals
- Entry fees to Conway Castle.
- Entry fees to The Great Orme Copper Mines.
- Packed Lunch on Days 1, 5 or 8.
Pickup at Dublin Airport at 1pm, from there its a short drive to Dublin Port where we will take the Stenna Line ferry to the port of Holyhead Wales. The journey time across the Irish Sea is approximately 3 hours followed by a 1hr drive to our accommodation in North Wales. After settling in to 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 Betws-y-Coed.
Our first walk in Wales begins in the coastal town of Llandudno, one of Britain’s finest Victorian seaside resorts, and takes us around the Great Orme Peninsula for fascinating views of mountains over the ocean.
We will explore the world’s only Bronze Age copper mine that’s open to the public. It was first mined over 3,500 years ago! We will stay overnight in Betws-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 to be one of the loveliest spots in North Wales. Here the river Llugwy rushes down from the mountains. Crags and jagged rocks divide the stream into a number of 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 simply sit back and relax in the park and watch the world go by. Overnight stay, Betws-y-Coed
Distance: 10 km / 6 miles, Ascent: 310 m / 930 ft,
Today we will climb the tallest mountain in Wales, Snowdon. At an elevation of 1,085 metres / 3255 ft above sea level, makes it the highest point in the British Isles outside the Scottish Highlands.
We make our ascent via the Rhyd Ddu Path, which offers fabulous mountain scenery towards Moel Hebog and the hills of Nantlle. The Rhyd-Ddu Path is one of the easiest paths to the summit of Snowdon and is also one of the quietest.
From the summit on a clear day, we will enjoy incredible sweeping views in all directions. We descend along the old Llanberis path that offers some spectacular views along the way.
Distance: 14 km / 8.5 miles, Ascent: 930 m / 2790 ft.
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If you don't feel like taking on the challenge of climbing Snowdon, you can always opt for the lower-level Miner's Track. The Miners’ Track was initially built to serve the Britannia Copper Mine. Remains of the mine can be seen along the route.
The track will take you along the shores of Llyn Teyrn, Llyn Llydaw and Glaslyn, returning the same way.
Distance: 10 km / 6 miles, Ascent: 450 m / 1350 ft
We will stay overnight in Betws-y-Coed.
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 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.
