Useful Info
London is not known for it’s beautiful mountains and valley. Cause it’s a flatland, with some small hill as you go north. And most of the people that live near London, if they want to take a short trip, they just go camping or visiting the countryside.
But what if you want to go on a mountain and you don’t really know where to head from London. There are two options nearby: Scotland and Ireland.
Scotland does have the Highlands, with peeks of up to 1300 meters, but those are quite rocky and lifeless. However, if you want to try some rock climbing, that’s the place you want to go nearby.
If you just want to walk on a mountain side and see beautiful scenery, you go to Ireland. A lot of the peaks there are small, with only a few going over 1000 meters, but the level differences up to the sea are amazing. In the east, near Dublin you have the Wicklow Mountains, in the west you have the Ox Mountains and south you have the Macgillycuddy’s Reeks and Comeragh Mountains.
Wicklow Mountains are the most accesibile and do have a lot of path you can go and walk for a weekend. They are near Dublin, so you can just get a flight or a boat from London to Dublin and from there to the Wicklow mountains is a half an hour car ride.
I personally tried that route and I can say that the scenery it’s quite nice, if you just want to relax and enjoy the nature. I’ve chosen a guided walking holidays Ireland tour for myself and I didn’t regret a thing. I still have my camera full of photos of stunning ranges and green lush valley of Wicklow Mountains. I never thought that hiking in Ireland would be so relaxing for me, but as a matter of fact, a 5 day trip there recharged my batteries for a full month of agitated London.
If you want to ski or see a glacier, the obvious option remains France or Switzerland, but that’s more than 600 miles away. For that, you do need a full on 2 week vacation in the winter to enjoy the snow and slopes of the great Mountains of Europe.
Do you have any interesting mountains in Ireland or UK to visit ? Any particular spot ? Let us know in the comments.