Wicklow and Glendalough from Dublin

Glendalough is a glacial valley with two lakes and the remains of a sixth-century monastic city, an hour and ten south of Dublin through the Wicklow Mountains. The road there is the reason to go: over the Sally Gap, past Lough Tay, down through the bog. There is no train, one bus a day, and so the tours do the work.

Half day or full day

The half-day tours leave at eight or nine, do the Sally Gap and the valley, and are back in the city by early afternoon; the afternoon versions do the same in reverse and catch the valley in the better light. The full days continue to Kilkenny with a sheepdog demonstration on the way and return at six. If you want time to walk to the upper lake, take a half day and stay in the valley; the full days give you ninety minutes.

Powerscourt

The small-group days that add Powerscourt do the house gardens and the waterfall, the highest in Ireland, before or after the valley. They cost more and the groups are sixteen rather than fifty.

What the reviews argue about

Time in the valley. The coach days give an hour to ninety minutes, which is enough for the round tower and the lower lake and not for the upper lake path. The small-van tours give more, and the ones with horse riding in the hills are a different day entirely.