Bray

• Bray Tourist Office

By train

Dart trains run every 10 mins or less from Malahide and Howth through central Dublin (Connolly, Tara St & Pearse stations), the southern suburbs, Dun Laoghaire and Dalkey to Bray; some continue south to Greystones. All these stations are within the Dublin "short hop zone" so the standard flat fare is €3.30 adult single, €6.25 day return, €2.40 single with LEAP card.
A further 3-5 mainline trains per day call on the route between Dublin Connolly, Arklow, Gorey, Wexford and Rosslare, which has ferries from Fishguard and Pembroke.
From Belfast, Newry, Drogheda or Sligo, change at Connolly for the Dart train. From other cities (eg Galway, Limerick or Cork) trains run to Dublin Heuston, take the tram to reach Connolly or Bus 145 to Bray.

By bus

Aircoach 702 runs hourly between Dublin Airport, Greystones & Bray.
Dublin Bus 145 runs between Heuston Station and Bray every 10 mins, taking an hour via city centre Southside, Donnybrook and Cabinteely. It continues to Ballywaltrim.
Inter-city buses bypass Bray so you have to travel into central Dublin and come out again.

By car

Bray is easily accessible by road from Dublin and south from Arklow or Wexford. N11 links Dublin city centre with Bray, and the M50 allows easy access to other major cities.
From the south, the N11 stretches as far as south County Wexford linking up all major urban areas including Rosslare, Gorey, Wexford, Enniscorthy, Arklow, Wicklow and Greystones.
To the west, several roads cross the Wicklow Mountains to towns such as Tullow, Carlow and Kilkenny.

Dublin Bus 84 runs north from Newcastle via Kilcoole, Greystones, Bray, Bride's Glen (for Luas tram) and Cabinteely to Blackrock Dart station. It runs every 30 mins.

• Ardmore Studios

  phone: +353 1 286 2971
  The National Film Studios of Ireland. Braveheart, Saving Private Ryan and My Left Foot were filmed here. Latest productions include the BBC dramatisation of The Tudors.

• The mile long (2 km) esplanadeBegun in 1881, has a quiet Victorian charm, despite the amusement arcades. Singer Sinead O'Connor owns one of the Victorian houses on the seafront.

• The town hallAn exceedingly picturesque building. It was built in the quaint olde English style to celebrate the town's prosperity in the nineteenth century. The wyvern in front of the building is the crest of the Brabazon family. The building is now occupied by a branch of the McDonald's fast food chain.

• James Joyce house

  phone: +353 1 286-0568
  address: 1 Martello Terrace
  Home of the author as a child, from 1887-1891. This house is overlooked by a Martello Tower, owned for a time by Bono (lead singer with Irish rock group U2) during the 1980s.

• Kilruddery House

  phone: +353 1 2863405
  Has been the home of the Earls of Meath for 350 years. The garden was laid out by Monsieur Bonet in 1682, and is one of the few gardens to survive the fashion for romantic naturalistic landscaping. The twin canals, known as the Long Ponds, are 152m in length and are similar to those at the Chateau de Courances.

• Walk the Cliff Walk from Bray to Greystones which takes around 1 and a half hours and is a beautiful walk with wonderful views and wildlife, you may be lucky enough to see the feral goats. The cliff walk follows the route of the railway line, which was a remarkable feat of Victorian engineering. The tunnels run under Bray Head and were necessary because the Earl of Meath would not allow the railway to run through his lands at Kilruddery. The tunnels were designed by engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel and the original brick ventilation shafts are still visible along the route of the cliff walk.
• Go quad biking, clay pigeon shooting or paintballing; there are lots of activity specialists located in the surrounding Wicklow mountains.

• Bray HarbourBray harbour is now a wildlife reserve where you can see literally dozens of Swans and some Chinese geese.

• Festina Lente gardenThis is a two acre restored Victorian walled garden on Old Connaught Avenue. Wonderful double herbaceous borders and vegetable garden.

• Avoca HandweaversThey have a stylish range of homeware and accessories and a good garden shop. They also have quirky children's clothes and toys and an excellent food hall. The cafe is very popular at week-ends, plan to arrive before 12:30 to avoid the queues.

• Geoffrey Healy Pottery

  address: Rocky Valley, Kilmacanogue
  Limited edition and one-off hand thrown ceramic pieces.

• Farmer's MarketA small Farmer's Market is held every Saturday outside Mermaid Centre on the Main Street, at the Town Hall end, from 10:30 approx. to 16:00. Excellent locally produced organic vegetables are available.

• Campo de Fiori

  phone: +353 1 276-4257
  address: 1 Albert Ave
  Authentic Italian Restaurant. Booking is essential, even mid-week. The best Spaghetti Cozze e Vongole, this side of Naples.

• Betelnut Cafe

  address: off Bray Main St
  For coffee and light meals.

• Daata Tandoori

  address: Broadway Strand Rd
  Amazing Indian food. Quality is always brilliant and reasonably priced. The first and best Indian in bray.

• The Bistro

  address: In the Heather House Hotel
  Early bird special for €20.

• The Harbour Bar

  phone: +353 1 286-2274
  address: Strand Road
  One of the oldest, most well known and storied bars in Ireland. The bar is ranked as the "Best Bar in the World" by the Lonely Planet Guide. This bar has an amazingly diverse crowd and a unique look, the bar is littered with original antiques and interesting bric-à-brac, accumulated over 80 years, by three generations of the O'Toole family. The bar itself dates back to the mid 1800s. It offers a truly authentic Irish pub experience. The bar apparently served as the original model for all the worldwide "Irish" superpubs. Over the last century, the bar has been home to a who's who of both an international and national assortment of writers, film makers, actors and musicians. The stuffed moose head in the lounge was a gift from actor Peter O'Toole, when he was filming in Ardmore Studios, (then known as Silverpines) in the 1980s.

• Duff's

  address: Main St
  No televisions and great pint.

If money is no object, then the Powerscourt Estate at Enniskerry.

• Enniskerry — for the Powerscourt Estate which is one of Ireland's most famous houses and gardens, and is located south of Bray in the landlord village of Enniskerry. The house was designed by Richard Castle in 1741, for Viscount Powerscourt, in the style of an imposing Palazzo. The landscaping was remodelled a century later in the fashionable Italian manner. The design is believed to be based on Villa Butera in Sicily. The Japanese garden is an Edwardian addition; look out also for the pet cemetery. The waterfall in the Powerscourt estate is the highest in Ireland at 121 m and there are lots of woodland walks.
• Glendalough — located within Wicklow Mountains National Park. There are a number of early Christian monastic buildings, including several churches and a round tower. The area around the twin lakes is of outstanding natural beauty.
• Wicklow Way — explore all or part of Ireland's longest self-guided walking trail, at 127 km long. Expect the complete route to take 5–6 days. The Wicklow Way combines easy accessibility with a wide variety of scenic experiences, some of them in truly remote upland areas.