Two friends and I (three fifty-something academics, two Bulgarian, one American), hope to spend a week in Ireland in July. We will not have a car. Two of us have visited Dublin in the past; the third thinks she might want to spend a day or two there (and I am interested in a Boyne Valley tour) but is more interested in smaller towns, pretty views, and decent pubs. One of us is very taken with the idea of Wicklow because of its reputation as "the garden of Ireland" and its proximity to a walkable coast; she loves the seaside and wants to visit Glendalough as well.
Has anyone stayed in Wicklow? It is not an area that Rick recommends, but my friends are very interested in a low-key town where we can stay in a pleasant guesthouse or hostel, walk in lovely places, and spend time together as we see each other only every few years because of the distance between our homes.