A stunning two hour clifftop walk from Greystones to Bray, mostly along a well marked path, with great views across the Irish Sea.
Suitable for most people, but children with caution.
BASIC INFO
This walk involves taking the bus or train to Greystones, and walking the clifftop path back over Bray Head and down into Bray, from where return can be made by bus or rail. motorists could park on the seafront at Bray, taken the bus or train to Greystones, rejoining their vehicle on the return.
This is a medium to tough walk of around 7 to 8km, along a marked trail, mostly in reasonable condition, but with a few rough patches, and mostly gentle climbing with some steeper bits.
The walk is best done in the direction Greystones to Bray for two reasons: in order to have the sun behind you rather than in your face, and in order to start of in the location with less frequent transport, and end up at a location where the services are frequent, and your arrival time does not need to be exactly planned.
This walk includes some sections where there are unguarded cliffs nearby, and some sections subject to erosion, children should be strictly supervised, and younger children are not advised.
Taking water or supplies is a good idea, as the walk can take from 2 to 3 hours depending on pace and number of stops.
You should leave Greystones at least 3 hours before sunset.
GETTING THERE
Greystones can be reached both by DART rail and bus 84 from Dublin and Bray. The 84 bus is preferred, as it brings you right to the start of the walk, and does not spoil the trip by taking you along the cliffs on the outward trip!
Avoid the similarly numbered 184, which serves a different part of Greystones.
If you do come out by train, turn right out of the station, and then right again, and keep walking down towards the harbour.
STARTING POINT
The 84 bus stops right at the seafront in Greystones, beside the beach of grey stones which gave the town its name.
THE WALK
Looking towards Bray Head, a laneway runs beside the beach to the local sportsground, and from here the track begins, running at first beside the beach, but gradually getting higher above it as the ground rises. At this stage the railway is off to the left, in a cutting. The track is wide, and runs through grassy land.
Although fairly level, this is the section of the walk which gives the most problems to the local authorities, as in winter the rising land is battered by storms and is subject to massive erosion, with whole sections of land being lost into the sea each year. As you travel along the path, you will sometimes be forced to detour inland where older versions of the path can be seen to have vanished on your seaward side. Keep on the inland side of the fences, and be careful with children.
At one point, what used to be the fence alongside the pathway can be seen hanging in midair where the ground was taken from underneath it.
Various notices giving dire warnings about the nature of the erosion and the state of the pathway will be seen from time to time – the old “path closed” notices don’t seem to be removed when newer versions of the path, further inland come into use.
After about 15 minutes you will pass this section, and begin to climb, with the path shielded on both sides by brambles and hedging, and not much view at this point.
After half and hour or so, the vista back towards Greystones will begin to open out behind you as height is gained.
At this stage, the railway cannot be seen – it is in fact underneath somewhere, in a tunnel blasted through the rock of the headland.
As you continue to climb, the countryside becomes wilder and less sheltered, with Bray Head close on your left, and a fine view of the Irish Sea on your right.
The path will vary in width and condition, from the fairly smooth and wide gravel surface seen in the shot above, to narrower and steeper sections, occasionally with steps.
Gradually, the slope levels out, and you reach the highest point of the walk, with rocky outcrops on the left, and a wall and/orwire fence protecting you from steep cliffs down to the sea on the right.
Continuing on, the path comes to a corner where it turns sharply to the left, with a viewpoint looking straight ahead. From the view you can look directly down two hundred feet or more to where the railway line comes out of its tunnel directly underneath you, you can see the sweep of the path around the hillside to the left, and the railway going under the head again in another tunnel in the distance. To your right you can see rocky outcrops and beaches, and an older railway tunnel, further out to sea, no longer used as the railway line that came out of it collapsed into the sea a hundred years or so ago, neccessitating the moving of the line to its current position and the blasting of new tunnels.
From here it is 10 or 15 minutes walk around the curve of the hillside to the next point of the headland, where you again stand on top of the railway line and can look back in reverse to the other tunnel and viewpoint you have just come from.
Leaving this behind, thepathway, larger now, and still protected from the cliffs on the right by wall and/or wire fencing continues on, slightly downwards, and past some ruined cottages until another corner is turned, and the first sight of Bray is gained.
From here the path slopes ever downward, getting wider and better paved as it descends towards the level of the railway line, which is eventually crossed just before we reach Bray. The approach to Bray is slong a wide concrete paved pathway, leading down to the seafront.
GETTING HOME
Once you come onto the seafront, simply head back along the length of it to where the main road turns left to the railway station, from which frequent DART trains and buses return to Dublin.
There is also a branch of the 45 bus route which leaves from the Esplanade itself, but this is not very frequent.
Hi Steve,
a cousin of mine and I did the walk on last Friday. We had a blast, it was amazing!
The weather was lovely, sunny and warm with a cool breeze. We followed your suggestion and started from Greystones which was an excellent idea because having the sun in your back _is_ definitely better.
It took us around 2 hours while we weren’t hurrying and taking our time to take pictures since the landscape and the view are really beautiful.
Thanks a lot for the detailed description! I would love to get more information, especially about walks you can do without having a car.
Cheers
Jost
massive works taking place at Greystones, and the fence is still hanging in just about not great for small kid ,still a great walk !
we did it on the 30th March 2008 and han four seasons in Four
hours
[…] debe hacerse este camino está perfectamente explicado por un payo ránger en otro blog […]
Great blog.
I did the walk this morning – Bray to greystones (and back again)….absolutely amazing. One of the best walks in Wicklow, without a shadow of a doubt.
The scenery is seriously stunning.
The only down side to the walk is the large development, just past McCarthy’s field on the way into Greystones Harbour. For about 300 metres, you are walking alongside a property development site. It’s less of a drag if you’re walking from Greystones to Bray, but, if you’re coming the other way, it’s a tad of an eyesore.
Apart from that, there is a new bridge on the greystones side of bray head, that makes the walk less precarious – some of the walk way had collapsed because of sea erosion.
Totally agree with your comment about children. There are many precarious points on the cliff walk that are most definitely not child-friendly.
Worth mentioning also that appropriate footwear is recommended. I passed a guy this morning who was wearing sandals. An hour later when I passed him coming back the other way…he was walking almost sideways and very slowly, like a crab and in obvious discomfort.
The cliff walk is well trodden and relatively smooth for the most part, but, the majority is rough underfoot and while it’s not quite hiking-boot terrain, wearing jogging trainers or footwear with a decent thick sole is recommended.
I was in Dublin in Early June and did the Howth lighthouse trail and the next day did the Bray head and trail walk. I used the DART (light train to suburban locations) both trains were fast and cheap. I favored Bray Head since it was more of an adventure and both view were special, it was sunny and clear both days. Thanks for the site.
Hi,
I am right now in dublin and wanting to do this. I am reading at other sites that this walk is closed etc. Is it open now ? Also just wanted to chk whether the walk is safe for just a couple of folks to do ?
Thanks 🙂
Hello Ram,
It was certainly intact and open and walkable 4 weeks ago at the start of July.
It was closed for a while last winter, which is perhaps what the sites referred to.
Fat Steve
@ RAM re: is the walk open or closed?
I do it most weekends now, when I can. I did it last weekend (november 29th/30th 2008) and it’s open, although on the greystones side of bray head, the path is extremely slippery & muddy alongside mc carthy’s field (A long field that runs in parallel to the coast line as you come towards the building site on the greystones side).
I notice locals tend to bypass the normal path and use the side of the field on the other side of the fence, to avoid that path. It’s seriously slippy.
Another tip is that the sign on the building site fence (close to greystones harbour) is a little confusing…you need to follow the fence to the corner of the field, i.e. turn right, rather than go straight on, to get into greystones. Walking straight on will just bring you down to the beach and you can’t get from there into greytones village.
For anyone else thinking of walking the bray-to-greystones route, the walk is easier and the views are more stunning walking from Bray-to-greystones rather than the other way around.
Harbour to harbour, the distance is roughly 4.8 miles o r 7 kilometres. There’s a great pub in greystones harbour that does good “pub grub” meals and carvery’s in the afternoon!!
(LOWER CLIFF WALK is CLOSED)
Feb/march 2009
Just thought I’d mention that the cliff walk is officially closed, because of a rock fall recently. It is possible, with a lot of effort and scrambling through brambles, to get around the falen rocks, but, there is another cliff walk, further up, that is well worth doing.
The (lower) cliff walk you have outlined in your article is one of my favourite walks in wicklow, but, because of the rock fall I decided to take the (upper) cliff walk today and I forgot how amazing the views are from up there.
Brief directions for the (upper) cliff walk would be to walk up to the cross on top of Bray head and follow the track behind the cross, until you come to the pointed rock mound (where walkers have placed a rock on what has become very large pile over the years). Leave the track, descend down (it’s a little steep at this point) to the very narrow dirt track that runs beside the rock mound and follow it until you come to a larger path that runs at right angles to the sea. Turn left and descend down the path towards the sea until you come to a gate…once over the gate, you’re on the (lower) cliff walk and you can follow the directions given above.
It’s a tougher walk than the (lower) cliff walk, but, the views are incredible. Not suitable for children. The track isn’t walled off like the lower cliff walk and there are some unprtotected steep drops on the sea side of the upper cliff walk that wouldn’t suit children running about.
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June1, 2009
The Lower Cliff Walk reopened a short time ago.
Quick update: the lower cliff walk between bray and greystones is passable now. They have fixed up the falling rocks that was the reason the walk was closed for a while. It’s been open for a few weeks now, but, I thought it worth mentioning. Today is june 2nd 2009.
Hi guys was out at bray yesterday, started the walk and did it for about 40 mins, had the kids with me so we didnt go all the way as their safety is paramount, the views for just that part were absolutely amazing, i was just wondering if anyone could tell how to get up to the cross on top of the head or if your able to still get up, my kids were asking saying they’d like to get up there, thank you in advance, Billie
@ Billie.
There’s a few ways to get up to the cross. The obvious route is to go straight up…instead of going around the cliff walk. the track up to the cross is well trodden, so if the kids have the right footwear and don’t mind a fairly steep walk….they will love it.
another way would be to drive up to the bray head golf club car park – on the west side of bray head and walk up from there. That route is less strenuous than going straight up from the promenade. Just ask at the golf club or locals for a pointer if the track isn’t obvious.
yet another way is to drive up to cliff road (I think – check a map) on the greystones side of bray head. There is a track there that leads you over the top of bray head and up to the cross.
Just a note…the walk is closed again about halfway along for works to protect the railway….
Hello,
great website, lots of useful info.
It’s about 7 years since we have walked the cliff walk and
we are hoping to bring our scout troop from Edenderry
there this coming sunday 10th october 2010.
I was wondering if you have any up to date info – path closures, dart not running. Our Scouts are 11 + and for the most part experienced and well behaved.
Thanks once again for a great site.
Mary