Bray vacation rentals

Bray bristles with life all year around

Charming Bray has been bristling with life since the very first travelers came to enjoy its shingle beachfronts and grassy headlands in the 1800s. Things have changed since then, but the homey taverns sloshing with stout, the half-timbered facades, and the handsome Victorian architecture all still remain. Bray vacation rentals shoulder their way above the town's boat-bobbing harbor, or loom on the wind blasted cliffs of Greystones, each providing a taste of local Irish life, and a gateway to the fabled mountains and coves of County Wicklow.

Bray and its regal Victorian relics

Bray boomed in the middle of the 17th and 18th centuries with well-to-do resort goers out of nearby Dublin. Many raised elegant mansions and buildings in the town, like that grand Town Hall, or the neo-Gothic Killruddery House _ watch out for the film crews there. Back in the center and Bray Harbour is peppered with birding spots, historic pubs, and charming fishing boats, while the town's esplanade quickly turns into Bray Head and the wild clifftop walks there. For rainy days, the National Aquarium Sealife Centre is a safe bet, offering encounters with stingrays and poisonous stonefish.

Enjoy the bounties of the sea in Bray

If you've booked one of the hearty Irish cottages or Bray vacation rentals close to the Wicklow coastline, then it's likely you'll be spending your vacation bracing blustery winds on the clifftops, or looking for splashing dolphins, seals, and whales from the headlands. Long walks on the beach can be interspersed with frothy pints in local Gaelic taverns, too, while more adventures await in the nearby Wicklow Mountains _ think paintballing, hiking, camping, horse riding, and the like.

Seasonal weather averages in Bray

If you're hoping to enjoy some warm-weather activities on your vacation, July, August, September and June are the hottest months to visit, when temperatures average 59°F.

Bray is where the Wicklow Mountains meet the sea

Bray is buffeted by the icy rollers of the Irish Sea to the east, which crashes against the rugged, rocky cliffs of Bray Head all the way south from the town center to Greystones. Meanwhile, the stony grykes and fells of the Wicklow Mountains National Park dominates the land to the west of town. There are plenty of reasons that wilderness is one of the main outdoors attractions in all of Ireland. It's got ancient heaths and bluebell meadows, mysterious mountain peaks that have inspired tales of Irish folklore, and mirror-like lakes that shimmer under the cloudy skies _ it's a walking mecca.

Transportation options to and around Bray

The nearest airport is in Dublin Airport (DUB), located 16.4 mi (26.4 km) from the city center.

If you'd rather travel by train, you can make your way to Bray Station.