Glendalough Visitor Centre — Attraction in The Municipal District of Wicklow

NO SHELTER WHATEVER ... Here we have a large complex, tastefully designed I may add, built for the purpose of sheltering stones and keeping maximum amount of OPW staff employed taking money from tourists who arrive unaware that the Monastic City is free to tour and any guide book or free app will give all the history of the place that anyone would need to know

There is no shelter, anywhere in the valley of Glendalough for trekkers, tourists, or pilgrims ...it's all about making money .... I waited two hours for my bus in the rain and wind and two other couples got drenched wet. Everyone here has their place ...the hotelier and publican who charges well above normal, the burger joint (St Kevin was a vegetarian), the souvenir shops with their made in China tack, the Christian retreat centres, and the OPW who run the place, and the car park which is not shy to charge ...but not one gives any consideration to the comfort of the visitor ...it may be called a Christian place of pilgrimage but such people do not run it

This is a holy place built by St Kevin, not as a place to make money out of but to attract people to a spiritual way of life not a material one ...yet their needs are ignored. Go to any holy place in India and there you will find 'dharmshalas'/free hotel rooms for the less well off where they can bring their own bedding, can cook, bathe, and stay as long as they wish. Dharma means duty...the Hindus consider it their prime duty to render such service to pilgrims by building such facilities and even providing free meals for everyone

It is high time the OPW considered such and erect shelters here ...they could very easily put an enclosed bus shelter or add a tasteful glass porch onto the front of their visitor centre so that people waiting for the bus do not have to suffer from the Wicklow wind and rain... umbrellas over the picnic tables would help even

Go to Snowdonia or the Alps and there you see many such shelters...

This review is about sustainability only! ☺️

It feels wrong to serve so much single-use-plastic at every vendor within a national park. Antithetical, even.

By 2050, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. And over 95% of the plastic that we produce and use does not get recycled, but rather ends up in landfills, incinerators, and within our ecosystems.

I was quite disheartened to see so many hikers carrying throwaway plastic cups that they got from either the visitor center or the kiosks within the parking lot.

Surely, there is a way you could at the very least mandate and provide compostable dishware and cookware within the park premises, and have proper compost receptacles as well, for people to drop them in after use.

The trash cans here of course are filled with the containers that the food was sold in, showing a complete disconnect between visitor and the park that they are here to enjoy. 20 minutes, spent drinking coffee from a throwaway cup, off to spend an eternity in the landfill. All happening here within this glorious part of Wicklow national Park.

Thank you for considering my suggestion to better align park vendor and maintenance practices with the spirit of the land we’re here to enjoy and land from.

Plastics don’t...

Probably could have been five stars but we took the half day tour in the afternoon on Paddywagon tours out of Dublin. Because you're already in Dublin, We could have easily skipped the first hour of the tour, which was just an explanation of the things we had already seen in Dublin for being here after one day. That extra hour could go a long time when you get to the park here. You need the extra hour just to get to the waterfall after the lower lake. The lower lake is beautiful, but with the short amount of time given for the walking tour you really can't get to the upper lake and back before you need to get back on the bus. The waterfalls are even with the upper lake so it's about the same time turnaround. So if you book the full date you can get the most out of this but the half day you really can't. We consider ourselves pretty thrifty walkers and taking the time to see the monastery and the other parts of this were well worth it. But then once you leave there and try to take the hike up to the waterfalls you run out of time quickly and would almost have to jog back so you don't miss your bus.

The scenery and energy here is amazing and it's definitely worth a visit but plan accordingly so you have the...