Travel in county Wicklow

Traveling by train is one of Ireland’s great if under-appreciated pleasures.

Even if your budget is tight and your pockets are light, there are ways to experience everything Dublin has to offer. You may have to bypass high-end restaurants and opulent castles but you won't miss out on a diet of international street food, live music sessions and sociable hostels.

Lindsay Lohan is back for Netflix’s hit rom-com Irish Wish, currently ranking on the U.S. movie charts on streamer at the No. 1. As you’re watching, you might be wondering where Irish Wish was filmed and if you can visit the breathtaking castles, cliffs, lakes and other locations in real life.

To drive south of Dublin and cross into County Wicklow is to be confronted, almost immediately, with some of the most soaring, timeless scenery the Emerald Isle has to offer. This is the ‘Garden of Ireland’: a forested realm of steep, glacial valleys that climb dramatically to the stark uplands of the Wicklow Mountains. Its beauty has made it a site of pilgrimage since ancient times — between the sixth and 12th centuries, the valley of Glendalough was home to one of the most powerful and learned monasteries in all Christendom.

Landscapes as green and lovely as everyone says. Literary giants in Dublin; Titanic history in Belfast. A pint and good craic in a traditional pub. The lure of Celtic legends.