The first time I heard about Blessington was when I was looking for places to kayak near Dublin and I found the words kayak, lake and bus in close proximity on a post on boards.ie.

Before I left, out of curiosity I checked about Blessington on the Lonely Planet but the small paragraph did little to encourage me to go. With lack of a better alternative I decided to stick with the plan and go there.

Dublin Bus number 65 runs a regular service to Blessington, roughly every hour, from Eden Quary in the city centre. After little more than an hour on the bus, I arrived in the town centre which was as nondescript as Lonely Planet said it would be. After asking around for directions to the lake, an elderly man pointed to a side street off the main road that lead to the main man lake in a few minutes. While the lake will not impress the Finnish, the scenery is nice and the Wicklow Mountains make out a nice backdrop in the horizon. It is possible to walk around the lake and also to kayak, but the walking path and the kayak rental place are on different sides of the lake.

For yet another time I had to give up kayaking because when we only saw the kayak rental place after we had already walked too far away on the other side of the lake. Instead of turning back we spent the rest of the afternoon reading near the lake.

Anybody with a short stay in Ireland shouldn't bother with Blessington but if you want a quick very accessible escape from Dublin avoiding the more touristy places like Howth and Bray, than Blessington's Lake is a nice place to spend a relaxing Sunday afternoon.