Glendalough day trip from Dublin: St Kevin's Bus at €23 return, the tours from €33, the OPW's €5 admission and the Wicklow stops

💡 The Short Version: St Kevin’s Bus leaves St Stephen’s Green North at 11:00 every day, reaches the Glendalough Visitor Centre at 12:20 and leaves at 16:30, which is about 4 hours 10 minutes on site, for €23 return. The OPW’s admission is €5 for an adult for the monastic site and visitor centre. From 15 October the site closes at 17:00 with last admission at 16:15, and it is closed 23 to 29 December. Or book a tour: Wicklow Mountains, Glendalough & Kilkennyad is from €45 for 9 hours (9,591 reviews), and the half-day Glendalough and Wicklow tripad is from €33 for 5. A tour adds the Wicklow Gap and a second stop, and takes the timetable off your hands (GetYourGuide).

Getting there

St Kevin’s Bus is a family firm that has run to Glendalough since 1927 and runs all year except Christmas Day. The 11:00 from St Stephen’s Green North calls at Leeson Street, Donnybrook, UCD, Stillorgan, Foxrock, Cabinteely, Shankill and Bray, then Kilmacanogue, Roundwood, Annamoe and Laragh, and arrives at the visitor centre at 12:20. The 16:30 from the visitor centre reaches the city at about 18:00. The fare is paid by card, cash or Leap card; the Leap Visitor and Young Adult cards are not accepted. The timetable page lists the other departures.

Tours

Tours take in more than Glendalough, and they are the way to add Kilkenny or Powerscourt to the day. Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” prices for one adult.

The bus and the OPW admission come to €28 for an adult, and they give four hours at Glendalough. Each listing says whether the OPW admission is inside the tour price.

Admission and hours

The OPW’s admission covers the Glendalough Monastic Site and Visitor Centre.

Paying for parking in the visitor centre car park gives one free admission to the visitor centre. The site is open all year and closed 23 to 29 December. From 15 October to mid-March (“winter hours”) it is open daily from 09:30 to 17:00, with last admission at 16:15; from mid-March to 14 October it is open from 09:30 to 18:00, with last admission at 17:15. Last admission to the buildings and toilets is 45 minutes before closing. The visitor centre is fully accessible, access to the graveyard is very difficult for wheelchair users, and the walkways are uneven. Dogs must be on a lead (heritageireland.ie).

What to see

The OPW gives the average visit to the monastic site and visitor centre as 1 to 1.5 hours; the bus timetable leaves about four, so the lakes fill the rest.

The visitor centre

Interpretive exhibition · fully accessible

Start here. The exhibition explains the valley before you walk it, and the centre has the toilets and a bookshop.

The monastic city

Round tower · medieval churches · decorated crosses

St Kevin founded a monastery in the glaciated valley in the sixth century, and it became one of the best-known religious centres in Europe. The remains are spread across the glen: a round tower, several medieval stone churches, including St Kevin’s Church, and decorated crosses. St Kevin’s Bed is a small man-made cave in the cliff above the Upper Lake. Tradition says St Kevin lived and prayed there, though the OPW notes it may be a prehistoric burial place that is much older.

St Kevin’s Church and the round tower in the monastic city at Glendalough. Photo: Denzillacey, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The lakes and the walks

Two lakes · Upper Lake car park · nine waymarked trails in the national park

The valley has two lakes, and the OPW says the views of both are the reward for exploring the site. The Upper Lake has its own car park, with toilets run by Wicklow County Council. Wicklow Mountains National Park has nine waymarked trails, and the Spinc boardwalk gives views of the Upper Lake; the park service asks for a good level of fitness and hiking boots on the hill walks. Work to upgrade the White Trail, the Spinc and Glenealo Valley route, from the Miners’ Village up to the footbridge, began on 20 July 2026 and is expected to take 5 or 6 months (nationalparks.ie).

The Upper Lake at Glendalough, looking into the Glenealo valley. Photo: J.-H. Janßen, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Powerscourt, Kilkenny and the Wicklow Gap on a tour

Tours only

The tours add the Wicklow Gap, Kilkenny, Powerscourt Gardens and Powerscourt Waterfall, a sheepdog demonstration or Guinness Lake. Kilkenny Castle and the Rock of Cashel have their own section in day trips from Dublin; Powerscourt is there too. Entry to Powerscourt is on its own website.

The Glendasan river with Tonelagee behind in the Wicklow Mountains. Photo: Joe King, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Before you go

• The 11:00 bus. It is the departure that gives a full afternoon at Glendalough, with the 16:30 back. The timetable page has the other departures.
• Winter. The site closes at 17:00 from 15 October, with last admission at 16:15; toilets close at 16:15.
• Closed days. 23 to 29 December. The bus runs every day except Christmas Day.
• Dogs. On leads.
• Footwear. The walkways are uneven.

Glendalough is one of the day trips from Dublin. For a coast instead of mountains, see Howth and Malahide by DART, and for a full day west, the Cliffs of Moher. What to book before you go to Dublin has the city tickets, Leap card and Dublin public transport covers the card that St Kevin’s Bus accepts, and 3 days in Dublin shows where a day out fits.