Wicklow Way – 4-Day Self-Guided Walking Tour (Ireland)

4 Day Self-Guided Walking Holiday in Wicklow

A Wicklow Walking Holiday on Your Schedule

A self-guided Wicklow Way walk can be the perfect way to see this stunning landscape on your own schedule and time. At Footfalls Walking Holidays, we cater our self-guided walking tours to you, so you can peruse our sample itinerary below but always feel free to get in touch for adjustments or with questions.

The Wicklow Way is Ireland’s oldest waymarked walking trail and is enjoyed by many independent walkers every year. J.B. Malone pioneered this now-popular long-distance hiking trail over 40 years ago. Covering a total distance of 127 kilometres (79 miles) from Marlay Park in Dublin to Clonegal, the route spans extraordinary landscapes and jaw-dropping history.

This 4-day self-guided hiking vacation along the Wicklow Way gives you the opportunity to enjoy almost 30 kilometres of some of the best views of Wicklow, the Garden of Ireland.

The example itinerary below goes from South to North (towards Dublin), allowing you to finish your walking tour approximately just 45 minutes away from Dublin city centre.

Take a look at our other self-guided walking tours of Ireland for more route inspiration! Or alternatively, consider joining like-minded walkers in one of our small-group guided walking tours of Ireland. We love meeting folks from all around the world and showing them our beautiful backyard here in Ireland!

Self-Guided Wicklow Way Adventures

Prices / Dates

Price:  €459 per person sharing

Single Supplement: +€230

Solo Traveller Supplement: +€30

Tour Dates: 1 March to 31 November 

Tour Grade: Easy 

Accommodation: Guesthouse

Included / Excluded

Wicklow Walking Itinerary

Day 1 - Travel to Rathdrum

Arrive at Dublin Airport and take the train to the town of Rathdrum. Overnight in Rathdrum

Day 2 - Glenmalure to Glendalough

For the first half of today's walk, you will follow the Wicklow Way trail as it steadily climbs up and out of Glenmalure Valley via forest trails. This picturesque landscape includes rolling hills, green pastures, and an impressive waterfall that plunges down into the valley. From there, the way-marked trail then crosses the saddle between Lugduff and Mullacor Mountains and descends into the wonderful valley of Glendalough. Beautiful Glendalough is one of the most popular destinations in Ireland. Its name in Irish, “Gleann Dá Loch”, means “The Valley of The Two Lakes”. You’ll have a chance to explore both of these lakes as you continue down to the valley floor. You will stay overnight in Glendalough or Laragh. Distance: 14 Km/8.75 miles, Ascent: 450 m/1350 ft, Approximate walking time: 4 hours

Day 3 - Glendalough to Roundwood

On this day, you will have two walking options to choose from! First, you can choose to stay on the Wicklow Way to follow a low-level trail across the side of Paddock Hill and enjoy lovely views back over Glendalough.

Alternatively, you can take a more challenging trail across Scarr Mountain. On a clear day, you can enjoy magnificent views from the summit across the Irish Sea and all the way to the Welsh Mountains.

Both trail options end in the small, but lively, village of Roundwood. Roundwood happens to be the highest village in Ireland! You will stay overnight in Roundwood.

Wicklow Way - Distance: 10 Km/6 miles, Ascent: 250 m/750 ft, Approximate walking time: 3 hours

Scarr Mountain - Distance: 15 km/9 miles, Ascent: 520 m/1560 ft, Approximate walking time: 4.5 hours

Day 4 - Depart

Depart Roundwood for you next destination. 

A few words from our customers...

Everything worked out just fine including only one day of serious rain on the Dingle Way and no rain in the Wicklow area. The lodgings were nice and comfortable, and our hosts were very helpful. At each place we stayed, we said we said we could see spending more time there. The scenery in both areas could not have been better. The maps and directions were great, and we did not get lost or misplaced, only momentarily uncertain! Sometimes we thought we were closer to the end of our day than we were, but the distances and climbs were very doable. We were both discussing this morning that we never had any problems with blisters or any other ailments! We took our time and enjoyed the sounds and sights of birds and watched lambs cavorting in the pastures. We have highly recommended your tours to family and friends and we hope someday to return to the beautiful Emerald Isle.
Fred & Lisa
USA
We did the self-guided Wicklow Way based in Laragh, a 6 day hiking program. We really enjoyed the tour and had a great experience with Footfalls Walking Holidays. The communication for the booking was very smooth and enjoyable and the tour itself was excellent. Our special thanks to Philip who organised our holiday and who did our transfers. The accommodation was great and the walks so nice. It was our first walking holiday so we were a bit anxious about whether or not it would suit us, but we had a great holiday which end way to soon. All our walks were marked on a map and we also got the written instruction, which was perfect in combination with the signposting as well. When we go back to Ireland, we'll be doing another Footfalls holiday, that's for sure.
Ronnit & Embo
Belgium