I've been having a quick look at the Wicklow Way and want to start making plans for doing it, so was after some information from any one that might have walked the route or Paddy Dillon as i know he's done it (the books been ordered).
Main info needed is the feasibility of wild-camping at points along the route, or campsites along the route to break it up into manageable stretches.
We walked it 2007, with the plan of wild camping. Yes we did do it, and camped but it wasnt quite as easy as planned. We ended up camping at a few pubs en route.... dreadful experience.... all that black beer to test!
There are places to wild camp, but the issue for us was water. It was an exceptinally dry summer! The good news was that the locals were friendly and we had no problems camping in famers fields for a couple of nights.
My other memmory was also not a lot of camp sites on or near the route
On one thing about the route - there did appear to be a lot of "quiet" road walking on the route.
Guide books, and the internet should sort out a plan for you.
If you don't mind a lot of road walking then you're fine. Wild camping is OK for the first half but the second half could be dodgy and as others have said, there aren't many campsites nearby (this may have changed as I did it more than 20 years ago and my sister did it 15 years ago). I must say that it wouldn't be my walk of choice today.
I did the park Marley park - glendalough. First day slept in the hostel but a mile farther thre is place enough along a river to wild pitch. Next day I walked to the campsite some miles from the route in a village (name forgotten). Third day I hiked to short distance to Glendalough (On the campsite I got ill, so the short ditsnace to Glendalough was just fine...). In glendalough I again took the hostel for my illness. But I swa many tents errceted at the green next to the parkinglot. Guess what next morning all campers where summoned to leave immediately. But they have spended the night undisturbed....
Cheers for the info, will give it some thought, just waiting on the cicerone guide to come through at the moment, not overly keen on road walking, so will have to see what variants can be planned into the route, or other walks in Ireland that might be more appealing.
Sorry... missed this due to being away for the past five weeks.
The Wicklow Way, as noted above, does include more road-walking the further south you go. Then again, if you want to avoid roads in Wicklow, then there's plenty of space on the mountains. As for wild camping, people do it in all sorts of places, often surreptitiously, but sometimes as big gangs with bonfires, which obviously doesn't go down well locally.
(the books been ordered).
