10 things to do in Bray (and what it cost)
Enjoy a bath, while overlooking the sea. Or grab a delicious Gelato and stroll on the Beach. Or hike Bray Head and watch the sunrise. Or bring out your competitive side at the Arcade. Or learn more about our fish and oceans at the Aquarium.
Whatever floats your boat, this little sea-town has something for you!
Bray is a perfect little holiday stop for tourists and locals alike.
1. Stay at The Palm
📍The Palm, has a stunning view of the waves through their massive ocean-facing windows. Enjoy a relaxing soak in their massive steel tub, while sipping on a Nespresso you made in the room’s coffee-pod machine. And when you’re done relaxing, step out onto the beachfront, surrounded by lovely restaurants and the best view of Bray Head. Or eat in at their in-house restaurant and bar.
We really enjoyed our stay here. The king-sized bed was perfectly comfortable and well-dressed with soft covers and pillows. We had our own mini fridge, coffee-pod machine and radio. The cost for 2 mid-week nights was €396. (Ours was a last-minute booking, but if you book a couple of weeks in advance, you can get the rooms for about €50 cheaper a night.)
You can check out our full review of The Palm here:
[Link]
Once unpacked (and by unpacked I, of course, mean once the bags were thrown onto the floor in no particular matter), we headed out to dinner. (You can also eat at The Palm and we did – I recommend the house burger!)
Just a 2-minute walk away is Butler & Barry, an up-market restaurant and bar, with the most stunning windows to look out onto the sea.
COST: €396 (2 nights)
2. Eat Seafood Chowder on the Beach
“There is no better place to eat seafood than right by the sea” – me.
We ordered seafood chowder from 📍Butler & Barry, a restaurant on the beachfront. This was my first time trying seafood chowder and it was DELICIOUS! I’ve rarely been so satisfied with a meal as I was with this one.
We also ordered a pizza from 📍The Dough Box – which is the attached pizzeria below, that also features on the Butler & Barry menu. We ordered the Wicklow Wolf pizza (because when in Wicklow…) which had venison sausage and caramelised onion, topped with fresh rocket. It was soo cheesy and good.
No dessert tonight because we were stuffed from our gorgeous meals, but if you have a bigger stomach than ours, let us know which you liked!
The total for our 1 starter, 1 main and 2 ginger ales came to: €34.80
COST: €34.80
3. Eat Gelato while walking on the Beach
There is something soul-full about walking along a beach. Even though Bray in April is not necessarily bikini weather (meaning that we were tightly bound in our winter jackets), we thoroughly enjoyed walking along the beachfront and did it several times over our 3 day stay.
There is a 📍Gino’s Gelato right on the beach, and while we know that their gelato is so good, we found another little place one street back and decided to support the old couple running their small business. AND LET ME TELL YOU, it’s some of the best Gelato we have ever had! The place is called 📍Gelateria and they are also stocked on other lovely Italian goods, like homemade biscuits and Cannolis. We did grab ourselves a couple of their €1 mini-cannolis, every day that we were there. I recommend the lemon flavoured one!
For €3 you can get a small cone, that fits 2 scoops of your choice of Gelato. Then take a stroll on the pebbly beach, taking in all the beauty of Bray Head ahead of you and the vast ocean behind you.
COST: €6
4. Enjoy Sea Life Aquarium
There is nothing quite as magical as being able to watch the wildlife of the sea – while being safely behind a thick pane of glass, of course. All jokes aside, visiting aquariums is one of my absolute favourite things to while at the coast, and visiting 📍Sea Life Aquarium was no exception.
Now, I’ve been spoilt by the incredible Aquariums in both Durban and Cape Town, South Africa; but that’s not to say that the little aquarium in Bray isn’t worth the visit.
Their collection of sea animals is lovely, even showcasing some I hadn’t seen before. Enjoy getting up close to some sting rays, make friends with Banana the puffer fish or sit and watch the black-tip reef sharks swimming around in their big tank.
Sea Life is dedicated to helping our oceanic wildlife survive by educating people on endangered species, using their funds to sponsor wildlife research and recovery and encouraging an anti-pollutant lifestyle. The tickets need to be pre-booked online and cost a few extra euros if you want a flexible ticket. We just booked ours about 20 minutes before we wanted to go.
If you’re a fish lover, or want a memory for your memory box, then I highly recommend this exhibit.
Cost: €31 (2 tickets)
5. Get coffee with a view
Right on the beachfront (in fact, attached to the Aquarium and Butler & Barry) is📍Finnbees – a coffee house with the best view around.
Grab yourself a coffee or hot chocolate, climb one and a half flights of stairs and enjoy letting time pass you as you watch the methodic motion of the waves in front of you.
COST: €7
6. Go Charity Shopping
Along 📍Quinsborough Road in Bray are a few charity/ secondhand stores that are definitely worth checking out while you’re in Bray. We’re always excited for a good bargain and love collecting antiques. Our house in South Africa was full of thrifted items that had many lives before joining ours.
There are 2 stores along the main street and one down the little street to the left before the church. These little stores were filled with all types of clothing, books, dvds and antique goodies.
Don’t go looking for anything specific, instead just pop in to see what grabs your interest. And give yourself a bit of time to dig through the boxes and collections to find something interesting. (I nearly bought a vintage writing desk but had no idea how to bring it back on the train with us).
COST: Varies
7. Win the Jackpot at Bray Bowl
Now, you might not be as competitive as we are, winning the jackpot at the clown-hitting game twice, but the arcade is always great fun for anyone!
This building-of-fun is well-equipped with games for all ages and interests. The ticket-winning games are plenty and generous. Each game costs around €1 to play and takes real euro coins. Don’t worry if you don’t have a stash of coins on you though, there are plenty of change machines in the arcade.
📍Bray Bowl Arcade is there to give you hours of fun with their arcade machines, bowling alley, bumper cars, claw machines and VR experience. And should you find yourself hungering for lunch or dinner, their Lane 13 cafe is ready to serve you a small range of meals, including freshly made pizzas.
We spent €30 (the last €5 trying to beat our jackpot record again) and ended up with nearly 2000 tickets to spend. Their selection of prizes is great but only above the 3000 ticket price tag. So we’ve kept our slip for when we go back and can add to our bounty.
COST: €30
8. Hike Bray Head
We spent our weekend relaxing from our physically-taxing jobs in Dublin, so a hike was not number one on our list. But it’s definitely on our when-we-go-to-Bray-again list.
Bray Head is 243 metre-high hill that connects to the Wicklow Mountains. It separates the towns of Bray and Greystones and is a lovely yellow-orange colour in the spring. There is a (now) iconic cross that sits at the head of the mountain, which was built there in 1950.
The Hike takes about 20-30 minutes to walk and the top has a stunning view of the ocean and surrounding towns. I can imagine us sitting and enjoying a glass of wine and some chocolate-covered strawberries there at sunset. Or a croissant and mimosa in the morning. Or, if we find ourselves brave enough to brace the cold, sipping hot coffee while we watch the sunrise.
COST: Free
9. Go to the Mermaid Arts Centre
📍The Mermaid County Wicklow Arts Centre is a multi-functional building that showcases some of the best artists and works Ireland has to offer.
Be sure to check out their website to see what’s going on during your stay. https://www.mermaidartscentre.ie/whats-on/all
There was a jazz festival on during our weekend there and if we cared at all for jazz, we would have loved to have seen one of the shows playing (price ranging from €10-€20 per ticket).
But music and art are not the only things to be found at the impressive building. There is also a movie house, showcasing the latest and greatest films. Screenings are limited, so be sure to plan your day around one of these. (Watching a movie costs €9 per adult)
Or if you’re just up for viewing their gallery, then stop by to contemplate whichever exhibit they have on at the time of your stay.
Don’t forget to enjoy a cup of tea at their cafe while you ponder the works you have just admired.
COST: Averages around €20 (2 tickets)
10. Tour Killruddery House & Gardens
The closest historical house to Bray is 📍Killruddery House and Gardens. This stunning 17th Century architectural property is number 1 on our list of things to do when we return to Bray. The 800-acre estate has a beautiful set of gardens inspired by the Palace of Versailles, maintained by the heirs of the first Lords of the property.
Access to the garden and house cost €8.50 per person, but if you just want to sit and check out the restaurants or market in their yard you’re welcome to do so free of charge. There is a pizza shed and breakfast/lunch restaurant on the grounds, and many creative workshops are held there.
These historic gardens are not only a spectacle for the soul, but also where many fresh ingredients are grown for the restaurants on site.
We’re so excited to take in this wonder for ourselves and will be sure to update you on our experience as soon as it happens 🙂
COST: €17 (2 tickets)
Cost Breakdown:
● The Palm Accommodation: €396
● Dinner at Butler & Barry: €34.80
● Gelato: €6
● Sea Life Aquarium: €31
● Coffee on the beach: €9
● Bray Bowl Arcade: €30
● Bray Head Hike: Free
● Mermaid Arts Centre: €20
● Killruddery House Tour: €17
TOTAL COST: €543.80
3 days in Bray
Seeing all 10 things we’ve listed here will fit into a relaxed 3-day itinerary. Of course, you’re more than welcome to stay for longer and enjoy just being at the sea!
We hope you enjoy your next trip to Bray, Ireland.
Full YouTube video coming soon!
