The nine places here divide fairly cleanly between the coast and the western foothills. Bray sits at the northern end, Ireland’s first seaside resort since the railway arrived in 1854, with a Victorian promenade running about a mile from the harbour to the foot of Bray Head. Arklow closes the county at the southern end, a Viking harbour turned shipbuilding town at the mouth of the Avoca that still builds ships, with the 1759 Nineteen Arches Bridge linking its two halves. Rathnew lies between them, quiet in itself but within minutes of Wicklow town, the coast and the mountains.
Inland, the character changes. Enniskerry was laid out in the 1840s for the tenants of Powerscourt and still works as the estate’s front door, its mock-Tudor square standing in for medieval England on screen. Hollywood, at the foot of the Wicklow Gap in the west, is the start of St Kevin’s Way, the 30km pilgrim path over to Glendalough. Dunlavin, on the same western side, is built around a market square about 108 ft across with Richard Cassels’s 1740 Doric courthouse on it, now the village library.
Bray is the one place on the list you can reach without a car, roughly 45 minutes on the DART from Dublin, and its seafront walk is free and open at any hour. The rest need driving. Ballinaclash, 4 km south-west of Rathdrum, and Carnew, the county’s most southerly village, are short stops rather than days out.
Laid out in the 1840s for Powerscourt's tenants and still the way in to the estate, its Italian terraces and Ireland's highest waterfall.
About a mile of Victorian seafront from the harbour to Bray Head, free and open at all hours, passing Joyce's childhood home.
A working shipbuilding port at the mouth of the Avoca, with the Nineteen Arches Bridge and a maritime museum covering the yards.
A stone bridge over the Avonbeg 4 km from Rathdrum, with a quiet riverbank path where otters work the water.
Ireland's first seaside resort, 45 minutes by DART from Dublin, with a free promenade and headland climb plus Killruddery House and Gardens.
9 of 9 shown — tap a pin for the place.
Enniskerry, wicklow
Enniskerry wasn't a village that grew on its own. It was laid out in the 1840s for the tenants of Powerscourt, which is still the reason most people come: an 18th-century house, formal Italian terraces and, a short drive on, Ireland's highest waterfall at 121 metres. The village square, all mock-Tudor shopfronts, has stood in for medieval England and a Disney fairytale.
Bray, wicklow
Bray's Victorian promenade runs about a mile from the harbour, past James Joyce's childhood home at Martello Terrace, to the foot of Bray Head, the headland whose summit cross gives the walk its payoff. William Dargan built it in 1859 to turn Bray into 'the Brighton of Ireland', and it's still a free, 24-hour seafront walk with a beach, an aquarium and the Harbour Bar at the end of it.
Southeast coast of Ireland, wicklow
Arklow grew up as a Viking harbour and a shipbuilding town at the mouth of the River Avoca, and it still builds ships. The 1759 Nineteen Arches Bridge – the longest handmade stone bridge in Ireland – links the two halves of the town, and the maritime museum tells the story of the yards that built Francis Chichester's Gypsy Moth III and the sail-training ship Asgard II.
East County Wicklow, wicklow
Ballinaclash is a small village around a stone bridge where the River Avonbeg squeezes through a short gorge, 4 km south-west of Rathdrum. J.M. Synge walked and cycled through and set The Tinker's Wedding here; today the draw is a quiet riverbank path where otters work the water. It's a waypoint, not a day out.
Bray, wicklow
When the railway reached Bray in 1854, Dubliners poured down to the sea and it became known as the Brighton of Ireland. The Victorian promenade, the harbour with its resident swans and the climb up Bray Head are the free draws; Killruddery House and Gardens is the paid highlight. It’s a 45-minute DART from the city.
Carnew, wicklow
Carnew is Wicklow's most southerly village, built around a 16th-century tower house now wrapped in a Georgian-Gothic façade and still a private home. Its handball alley was the site of the 1798 firing-squad executions, and quiet lanes toward Shillelagh make for gentle walks.
Dunlavin, wicklow
Dunlavin's market square is unusually wide – about 108 ft across – and anchored by a 1740 Doric courthouse designed by Richard Cassels, now the village library. The Fairgreen beside it was the scene of a notorious 1798 massacre, and a heritage trail launched in 2022 links the village's older stories, from a Bronze-Age moat to a closed railway line.
Hollywood, wicklow
Hollywood is a compact west-Wicklow village at the foot of the Wicklow Gap. It's the start of St Kevin's Way, the 30km pilgrim path to Glendalough, and it sits on the self-guided Wicklow Film Trail. Local legend even claims it gave its name to the California Hollywood.
Rathnew, wicklow
Rathnew is a Wicklow village best known for two country houses on its edges – the 300-year-old Hunter's Hotel, run by the same family for over 200 years, and Victorian Tinakilly House, built for the engineer who laid the first transatlantic cable. The village itself is quiet, but it sits within minutes of Wicklow town, the coast and the Wicklow Mountains.
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