Wicklow Town Itineraries
Half a day or a full weekend. Here are the best ways to spend your time in Wicklow Town, planned step by step.
Whether you have a few hours off the Commuter train or a full weekend to explore, these itineraries give you a local’s route through Wicklow Town. Each one links directly to the restaurants and activities along the way.
Half a Day in Wicklow: The Quays, the Castle and a Plate of Fish
The short version of Wicklow, built around the two things it does better than any of its neighbours: a working harbour you can walk through, and a free Norman ruin on a headland with the Irish Sea underneath it. No tickets, no booking except the lunch table, and nothing that falls apart if the gaol is still closed.
- 110:00·45 minutes
Market Square and the walk down to the water
Start at the Billy Byrne statue in Market Square, then follow the heritage trail markers downhill past the Abbey Grounds and the friary ruins toward the quays. It is a five-minute walk and it sets up everything else: the 1798 rebellion at the top of the hill, the sea at the bottom.
View Wicklow Town Heritage Trail - 210:45·45 minutes
The quays and the East Pier
Walk the South Quay past the sailing club and out onto the East Pier, past the RNLI station that has been here since 1857. Timber, aggregate and fishing boats share these quays; this is a port at work rather than a preserved waterfront, which is the whole character of the town.
View Wicklow Harbour and the East Pier - 311:30·40 minutes
The Black Castle
Carry on past the harbour mouth and up onto the promontory for the Black Castle, the Norman ruin begun after 1169. There is no gate and no charge. Stand at the seaward end for the view north over the Murrough and south along the cliffs, and keep clear of the unfenced edges.
View The Black Castle - 412:30·1.5 hours
Lunch on the South Quay
Blue Seafood and Bistro is a couple of minutes back along the quay and is the town's main destination room, looking out over the harbour. Reservations are by phone and worth making, especially at a weekend. If it is full, Halpin's Bridge Cafe up at the bridge does the town's best-known all-day breakfast without a booking.
View Blue Seafood & Bistro
A Full Day in Wicklow: Cliff Path, Lighthouses and the Long Shingle
A day that uses the coast on both sides of the town: the cliffs and seals to the south in the morning, the town in the middle, and the flat shingle of the Murrough north in the evening. It involves about ten kilometres of walking in total, none of it hard, and it costs almost nothing beyond food and a parking ticket.
- 109:00·45 minutes
Breakfast on Abbey Street
Start at the Firehouse Bakery on Abbey Street, open from 8.30am seven days, for a sourdough and a coffee before you walk. It is the reliable early opening in a town where several kitchens do not start until later.
- 209:45·2 hours
The Glen Beach Cliff Walk
Drive or walk the two kilometres south to the free car park off the Dunbur Road and take the clifftop path past Glen Beach and Lime Kiln Bay to Bride's Head. About four kilometres and an hour and a half, with roughly 110 metres of climbing on rough ground. From August to April there are grey seals on the rocks below: watch from the path and keep dogs on a lead.
View Glen Beach Cliff Walk - 312:15·1 hour
Wicklow Head and the three towers
Continue south by car to Wicklow Head, the easternmost point of the Republic of Ireland, where two towers built in 1781 stand alongside the 1818 light that is still working. The octagonal 1781 tower is the one let by the Irish Landmark Trust, with its kitchen 109 steps up. The working station is not open to visitors; the headland is.
View Wicklow Head and its Lighthouses - 413:45·1.5 hours
Lunch at the bridge
Back into town for lunch at the Bridge Tavern, on the site where Robert Halpin's family kept their dockside tavern and where the future captain of the Great Eastern grew up. Riverside terrace if the weather allows, snug if it does not. Tables can be booked through OpenTable.
View The Bridge Tavern - 515:30·1 hour
The gaol on Kilmantin Hill, or the farm shop beside it
Wicklow's Historic Gaol is five minutes uphill from Market Square, but it has been closed for refurbishment since September 2025 with a reopening expected under a new operator; check before you climb. If it is still shut, An Tairseach's organic farm shop is on the same hill and worth the walk for the vegetables, honey and farm-raised meat.
View Wicklow's Historic Gaol - 617:00·1.5 hours
The Murrough at the end of the day
Finish on the flat. Park at the Murrough car park, which costs fifty cent for the day, and walk north on the shingle and grass between the sea and Broad Lough for as long as the light holds. There are no lifeguards on the Murrough at any time of year. The Brass Fox is two minutes from the car park for a pint afterwards.
View The Murrough
Ready to plan your visit?
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