7 Day Self-Guided Walk – The Wicklow Way and more…

Enniskerry, Djouce, Lough Dan, Glendalough, Glenmalure and Tonelagee

Distance 60 to 90 kilometres.

Terrain: forest tracks, mountain paths, deep valleys, lakeshore, rivers and open farmland.
Grade moderate – some steep descent on tarmac and green roads to lakeshore, small areas of soft ground in the valleys.
The walk covers a section of the Wicklow Way from Krone Wood and includes, Lough Dan and Luggala, Glendalough with its 5th century monastery, Tonelagee and Glenmacnass, and includes some of the most spectacular scenery in Ireland.

We pass Powerscourt Waterfall, and cross the mountains, Djouce and Maulin, named after two daughters by the famous French banker, Mr. LaTouce, who once owned most of the land of north Wicklow including Powerscourt Estate and the town of Greystones.

Sample Itinerary for 7 Day Walking Package

Day 1
We collect you in Dublin Airport or other arrival point near Dublin and take a spectacular one hour drive over the Dublin and Wicklow mountains, which will give you an overview of the week ahead.

You arrive at your accommodation Lough Dan House, which will be your base and home for the duration of tour. After settling in and making yourself at home, you take a 7 kilometre lake walk to set you up for the days ahead.

Day 2
Route 1: Wicklow Way, Glencree to Pier Gates to Loughdan House

Distance 16 kilometres. Terrain: mainly forest tracks and mountain paths some boardwalk, good underfoot and exposed in places.
Grade moderate – ascent White Hill 630 metres, if you include Djouce Mountain 725 metres.

Splendid views of Loughs, Mountains and Valleys punctuates a day made strenuous by gradient, terrain and exposed moor land. A challenging and most rewarding day’s walking.

Day 3
Route 2: Lough Dan House, Wicklow Way and circuit of Lough Dan

Distance 16 kilometres. Terrain: forest paths, mountain tracks lakeshore, rivers and open farmland.

Grade moderate – some steep decent on tarmac and green roads to lakeshore, small areas of soft ground in the valleys.

We pass through Luggala Estate where Braveheart and many other famous films were made. This is home to Garech de Brun, champion for the preservation of traditional music and a member of Ireland’s most famous brewing families ‘Guinness’. The walk covers a section of the Wicklow Way from Pier Gates to Old Bridge and includes some of the most spectacular scenery in Ireland.

Day 4
Route 3: Lough Dan House, Scar and Wicklow Way to Glendalough

Distance 17 kilometres. Terrain: good walking paths, open mountain and forest tracks, and covers some sections of the Wicklow Way from Paddock hill to Glendalough.

Grade moderate – the route includes Kanturk and Scar Mountain, total ascent 641 metres.

A most enjoyable and rewarding walk, some strenuous parts but by no means difficult for the average fit person, superb views of mountains, glens and valleys.

Day 5: Walking
Route 4: St Kevin’s Way, Tonelagee to Lough Dan House

Bray Cliff Walk. Duration: About 2 to 4 hours, Greystone or Newcastle to Bray Sea-front.

Distance 14 to 18k depending on options. Terrain: the entire route is heather moorland.

Grade Moderate. Some steep ground to summit of Tonelagee 817 metres.

A most exciting walk to the summit of Wicklow’s 3rd highest mountain with spectacular views of a most unusual heart shaped lake ‘Lough Oler’ and Glenmacnass Waterfall.

Day 6
Route 5: Glendalough Spink, Mullacor and Glenmalure, distance 16k

The route follows the lake shore, the Glenalo valley and the awe-inspiring Spink walk, forest tracks, open moorland, spectacular views of Glendalough and Glenmalure Valley and waterfalls.

Day 7
You will depart Lough Dan House next morning after breakfast but your adventure is not finished.

Your journey to Dublin will take in a spectacular drive over the Military Road, a spectacular mountain pass over some 40 kilometres of entirely heather covered moorland, Glenmacnass Valley and waterfall, Sally Gap, Kippure and Feather-bed Mountain descending to the suburbs of Dublin, a dramatic finish to an exciting week the Wicklow Mountains.

We will leave you at Dublin City or Airport and look forward to seeing you and your friends for another visit another time.

An added option is to spend your last day doing an extra full day walk to Marley Park, the end or start of the Wicklow way, and take a bus to your location in Dublin City where we will have delivered your luggage earlier – full details available.

All walks listed in the itinerary can be changed and tailored specially to suit your individual needs.

“We stayed at Lough Dan House for one night whilst walking “The Wicklow Way”. It was a bit of a walk and up a hill from the end of the track but there is an option to get picked up which we chose to decline as we were enjoying the walk so much. Theresa and Sean were great hosts. We had dinner there and the food was excectional quality, up to restaurant standards without a doubt. My friend has special dietary requirements and Theresa went out of her way to ensure that she didn’t miss out on anything including dessert. We had delicious fresh salmon and homemade crumble for dessert. We also had lovely breads, olive oils and wine. The breakfast was also to a high standard. It was only whilst we were there that we discovered that Lough Dan House offer packages where you can stay with them for the full duration of the walk and they drop you to the start of each stage of the walk in the morning and pick you up at the end of the day (see their website for details). We would definitely have considered this option had we known in advance as this was one of the best of the various accommodations we stayed at along the Way. Theresa and Sean and thieir son definitely go out of their way to ensure that guests have an enjoyable stay. We could not have carried on doing the Way without their help. My friend’s boots packed it in on the day that we walked to Lough Dan as the soles started to come loose. Sean offered to drive us back to Dublin first thing the next morning to a large outdoor store to purchase new boots. We then got dropped back to the start of the walk for that day. This went above and beyond in our eyes and was intregal to us being able to complete and enjoy the remaining 5 days of the walk. Don’t know what we would have done otherwise. We would highly recommend Lough Dan House.”