If you love grand houses and amazing gardens, you are going to LOVE Powerscourt Estate in County Wicklow.

Started Off on a Sour Note

I left Kilkenny in the morning and had decided to head to Powerscourt Estate on the way to my last B&B in Glendalough. According to Google maps, this journey was supposed to take about 2 hours. However, there was a bad accident on the M11 and they closed the entire freeway down. The road we all had to get off on was backed up for miles and miles.  I’ll talk about this in my summary post but I was operating without any GPS because I didn’t pay for international cell service… So, I had to pull over and look at the paper map I had and figure out a way to get where I was going without taking the freeway.

Stressful day for sure but when I finally made it to Powerscourt, it was worth it. The gardens were recently voted No.3 in the World’s Top Ten Gardens by National Geographic. So, you know it’s good 😉

Acres of Beauty

The gardens spread out over 47 acres so you could really spend a whole day wandering around and taking time in them all. I stayed for about 3 hours and saw a good amount of the gardens. One thing to note, the house is just a big gift shop/cafe and there is nothing to really tour there. It was a surprise to me but I think the gardens are really the main attraction anyway!

When you walk out the back, you’ll head down a grand staircase which takes you to the gardens. I decided to head to the pond first. It was nice to be rewarded with nice weather since I had been stuck in the car all day!

Turning Japanese

Next were the Japanese gardens and they were just incredible. The trees were flowering and everything was so green.

I did not know what these were at first because this bush was GIANT! The biggest azaleas I’ve ever seen!

Views for Days

The path on the backside of the pond rewarded me with this view.

Turn around and you get this view…

Then I kept walking and horses were just there frolicking? Is this real life?!

Up Against the Wall

Closer to the house, there are walled and manicured gardens complete with these amazing ornate gates.

Including a wall of roses. So pretty!

I really enjoyed my time at Powerscourt and hope you get a chance to explore them on your next trip to Ireland!

Tell me more, tell me more!

Opening times: Daily: 9.30am – 5.30pm (Last entry 5pm)

Location: Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow, Ireland. (about an hour south of Dublin)

Cost: €10.00 for adults

More info: If you want more info, head to the Powerscourt Estate website here.

I hope you enjoyed Powerscourt and go see it next time you find yourself in Ireland!