Golf holidays in Wicklow
Wicklow is a small town on the coast about an hour south of Dublin. It sits at the mouth of the river Vartry and has a small working port and quayside, although this is much more business oriented rather than a touristy pleasure port. Wicklow town is the ideal place to stay for golf holidays in the beautiful Wicklow Hills, as it is almost dead centre to all the best golf courses.
If you would like to investigate the rolling, green Wicklow Mountains and National Park it all begins just behind the town. South of town the sandy beaches of Brittas Bay are a popular spot in the Summer. Wicklow is pretty much one main street of shops bars and restaurants, but there is easily enough going on to keep you entertained for a week’s stay.
There are some superb beaches in Wicklow too, all the way from Dublin down to Arklow there are sandy coves and longer bays where you will find Dubliners taking a breath of sea air (and a cone of the ubiquitous Mr. Whippy) on summer weekends.
Wicklow - Golf Clubs
Strangely, an awful lot of golfers heading for Ireland overlook the easiest part of the country to get to and the richest vein of links and parkland golf to be found on the Emerald Isle. Who knows why? However, this does mean that outstanding courses like The European, Druids Glen and Wicklow have plenty of Tee-times for visitors.
Druids Glen is probably the best known golf resort in Wicklow and their second course Druids Heath is ever bit as good as the Glen, just a little less floral. For tough links golf The European is hard to beat (in every sense of the word!). The litte gem though is Wicklow Golf Club itself, perched on the clifftops amidst a blaze of furze it is one of Ireland's best kept golfing secrets and best value golf courses to boot: don't miss it!
Heading inland towards those hills, golfing delights abound. Woodenbridge at the confluence of two river valleys is exquisite; Powerscourt has two lush courses around the stately home and gardens: these are three of the best - ask us about the others, there's quite a few!
Keeping to the coast and heading south from Wicklow you will come to the semi-seaside course at Blainroe (always in supreme condition) and carrying on down there is a tremendous links at Arklow, which nobody ever seems to have heard of. It's like the land that golfers forgot!
Wicklow - Where to stay
To play the best of the Wicklow golf courses and to enjoy some nightlife, by far the best place to stay is Wicklow town itself. It's a happy little market town with a river port, perfectly placed for all the best Golf Clubs, with one main street full of brightly-painted bars and more places to eat than you might imagine. Most evenings there will be someone somewhere coaxing tunes from a fiddle, mandolin or squeeze-box and you'll be more than welcome to sing along.
For a quieter trip to Wicklow, there are a number of country house hotels, the one we favoulr in particular is Tinakillky a few miles outside Wicklow where you can stay in the total tranquility of the countryside.
If you penchant is for a golf resort style holiday then Druids Glen has everything you could wish for: a modern hotel, two courses and good practice facilities.
Getting to Wicklow
It is very easy to to get to Wicklow for your golf holiday with with so many flights to Dublin, which is just an hour's drive away. Alternatively you could fly into Cork, which is a little further to drive.
Of course, you can also travel over with your own vehicle via the Stenaline or P&O ferries and fastcraft (very impressive) to Dún Laoghaire or Dublin Port from Holyhead or to Rosslare from Fishguard. We can of course include these crossings in your golf holiday at our reduced rates.
