2 nights · Tinahely base

The South Wicklow Slow Weekend

The anti-Glendalough itinerary. Tinahely as your base, Madeline's Accommodation as your bed, and three quiet walks that almost no tourist finds. For the traveller who wants Wicklow without the Wicklow queues.

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18 km
Walking
2 nights
Length
Easy–Moderate
Grade
Day by day

The plan

Day 1 — Arrive & the Railway Walk

  • Arrive Tinahely by 4pm. Check in at Madeline's Accommodation, on the Town Square.
  • Short walk on the Railway Walk — an hour and three-quarters, flat, finishing in time for an early dinner.
  • Dinner at Hanlon's on the Square, or the Bridge Inn. Pint at whichever didn't cook.

Day 2 — Tomnafinogue Woods & Kyle Loop

  • Breakfast at the Bridge Café on the Square.
  • Morning: Tomnafinogue Woods, an ancient oak remnant, 10 minutes drive. Three kilometres, one hour, and the finest old-growth forest in eastern Ireland.
  • Lunch: drive 15 minutes to Shillelagh village — Osborne's pub does soup and toasties that have been the same for forty years.
  • Afternoon: the Kyle Loop — 8.5 km, 2.5 hours, up into the hills above Tinahely, views to the Irish Sea.
  • Evening: Courthouse Arts Centre if there's something on (book ahead); otherwise dinner at the Bridge Inn and an early night.

Day 3 — Tinahely Town Heritage Walk & home

  • Slow morning. Breakfast at Madeline's, then the Tinahely Town Heritage Walk — an hour on foot, audio tour in your headphones, covers the Courthouse, Church of the Assumption, the fairgreen, and the Georgian terraces.
  • Lunch at the Courthouse Arts Centre café — excellent brown bread, decent coffee.
  • Drive home via the Vale of Clara for a final short walk (45 minutes, riverside) if you want one more for the road.
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