I found a crazy cheap rental car deal for the weekend so on Saturday we headed south out of town for the day toward Wicklow Mountains National Park. Light rain turned to light snow and as we climbed, the views became stark and wintery. Thankfully the roads weren’t too icy so we continued on – having Sally Gap almost entirely to ourselves.

As we lost elevation, the snow disappeared and we were greeted with lush green landscapes and the scenic Glenmacnass Waterfall.

We had to hike down the road a mile from the pullout area for this photo as there isn’t a safe place to stop in a car.

We had decided on the Wicklow Heather for lunch after discovering it had Glendalough whisky flights available. Though we didn’t have reservations, there were some tables available and we were seated promptly in the converted church. My meal of salmon gravlox and pate was delicious (the toasted brown bread was divine) and Eric really enjoyed his mixed green salad… plus the aforementioned whiskey flight. I nursed my glass of wine and then had a decaf latte – had to make sure we could get back to Dublin!

We had a few hours of daylight left so we made a quick stop at the Glendalough Monastic Site for some photos (a small waterfall!) and leg stretching.

We highly recommend this easy day trip from Dublin.