Mount Usher Gardens: why and how to visit this stunning corner of Ireland

All you need to know to plan a visit to Mount UIsher Gardens, one of the most famous and beautiful gardens in the country.

Garden visits are not really my thing, however, there are some gardens in Ireland that are so beautiful, they turn even my gardening-averse personality into a garden-loving one: Mount Usher Gardens in Ashford, Wicklow, are such a garden.

Mount Usher Gardens are a world-renown garden, often praised by local and international visitors and publications as one of the loveliest in Ireland and are a true pleasure to visit.

Nestled into a sheltered valley along the river Vartry, in Co Wicklow, they have a lovely collection so trees, shrubs and flowers and are a wonderful place for a contemplative walk in nature.

This is why and how we recommend them as one of the best and easiest day trips from Dublin.

Practical info for visiting Mount Usher Gardens

• Location: Ashford, Co. Wicklow, Ireland, about 45 km South of Dublin.
• Open: year round (best time to visit are spring, fall and summer)
• Type of attraction: garden in Robinsonian style
• Facilities: Cafe’, restaurants, gourmet, local furniture, clothes and garden shop
• Parking: yes
• No dogs allowed
• Official website: www.mountushergardens.ie
• Hotels nearby: Hunters Lodge and, a bit further, Tinnakilly Country house Hotel and Restaurant

How to get to Mount Usher Gardens

Mount Usher Gardens are in Ashford, County Wicklow, and are easy to reach with or without a car.

If you are driving, the drive from Dublin takes less than an hour and is along a main road /motorway. Parking is available onsite although, at busy times, you may find yourself having to park farther down the road.

If you don’t have a car, you can also reach Mount Usher catching bus 133 from Dublin airport via the city center. The stop is a short walk away from the gardens’ entrance and info on schedule and prices are here

What is special about Mount Usher Gardens

Mount Usher Gardens are special on several accounts, their beauty being only the most apparent.

What makes the truly special is the fact that they are one of the best examples of Robinsonian Garden, a special type of garden that was born in Ireland and that is unique in style and vision.

‘Robinsonian‘ is an adjective derived from the name of one of Ireland’s most famous garden designers William Robinson (1838 – 1935).

In Robinson’s times, the dominating style of gardens followed a very strict canon of rules.

Victorian gardens were a way for the wealthy to showcase their social position and both the plants and their displays were designed to project at every moment the ‘worth’ of their owner.

Plants and shrubs were constantly maintained by numerous members of staff, their presence bearing witness of the wealth of the owners who could afford such an expense.

Robinson challenged this approach and proposed a radical idea: take away the excessive intervention of gardeners and, instead, create spaces that follow more closely the natural features already present in the environment.

He wanted gardens to come together organically and be in harmony with the doings of nature: he suggested embracing local species, more informal flower planting scheme and a more organic quality to the whole design.

The result is wonderful and what makes Mount Usher Gardens so easy to enjoy for all types of visitors.

The gardens strike an incredible balance between manicured and natural, where nature comes first but casual visitors feel welcome and serene.

Things to do in Mount Usher Gardens

Mount Usher Gardens are a lovely place to visit on a sunny afternoon and have plenty of things to keep you entertained.

Follow the Garden trail

The main things to do here visiting the garden itself something that can be easily done following the main path meandering through the.

The gardens are vast but the walk is easy and pleasant and you don’t need any special level of fitness to enjoy them. Good walking shoes are, however, recommended.

A map is available at the entrance of the garden and I do recommend you take it as it has info on the different parts of the garden and the types of plants and species in each.

The walk is all beautiful but we all have a favourite bit: I loved the stretch along the river most of all, our kids adored the wobbly bridge (see below) and we all found the small and pretty pet cemetery very touching.

Relax at the onsite cafe

Mount Usher Gardens are now part of a welcoming cluster of hospitality facilities gathering immediately outside the gardens’ entrance.

A lovely cafe and restaurant are here and they make for a great place to fuel up and rest before or after the garden walk. The cafe has both indoor and outdoor tables and a pretty shabby -chic style.

If going for lunch on a weekend, I recommend you make a booking for a meal however, bookings are usually not necessary just for a coffee or tea break.

Browse the shops

As well as food facilities, Mouth Usher also has some nice shops worth a stop.

Beside a good gardening center, you have a gourmet shop (if you are in a self-catering rental for the summer or you want a take out lunch, it is perfect!), local furniture, clothes and decor shops, which are handy for local travel items and decorations you may want to bring home to remind you of your trip to Ireland.

Visiting Mount Usher Gardens with small kids

Mount Usher Gardens are a contemplative type of garden, not a playground-style one, however, they are very pleasant to visit with kids, once the expectations are correct.

We visited when our two were still preschoolers and out them in charge to lead the way.

The garden is designed around the banks of the Vartry so you are naturally drawn towards a certain direction (it has a flow not dissimilar to those of Japanese gardens) but we handed the map to the children and told them to be our leader, an idea that filled them with pride and excitement.

The garden is 22 acres long so some walking is required, but there is plenty of things to keep kids interested: my daughter’s favourite sentence is ‘I don’t want to walk!’ and she only started muttering it at the end of the trail, so this should reassure you about the feasibility of it!

The gardens host over 5000 species of plants, from flowers to shrubs and trees and this variety makes for an incredible mix of colours and shapes.

As well as plants, the garden has some interesting structures, built by engineer Thomas Walpole and they also grabbed the attention of the kids. One of them, in particular, is built to be quite wobbly when crossed: loads of fun, but do not jump!

My kids love maps and a good way to keep them interested in sightseeing is to put them in charge of the itinerary

I hope this quick overview of what to expect when visiting Mount Usher Gardens is useful and it helped you decide whether you should add these gardens to you your Ireland itinerary. Safe travels!