Hotels near Bray, Ireland

A little about Bray...

Bray is a town in northern County Wicklow, Ireland. It is a busy urban centre and seaside town of 31,901 people, making it the fourth largest town in Ireland (excluding the five cities). It is situated about 20 km (12 mi) south of Dublin on the eastern coast.

The town is the location of some industry, is home for many who commute to Dublin by car or rail, is a market town for the surrounding area and still attracts tourists particularly from Dublin and at weekends. The town straddles the Dublin-Wicklow border, with a portion of the northern suburbs situated in County Dublin. Bray is home to Ireland's only dedicated film studios, Ardmore Studios.

Transport: Bray is served by a substantial public transport network north into Dublin and south into County Wicklow and County Wexford. Bray is on the DART Rail Network which stretches north to Malahide and Howth and south to Greystones. The town is also on the mainline Iarnród Éireann Rail Network which connects north to Connolly Station in Dublin city centre and further to Drogheda and Dundalk. To the south, the rail line gœs through Arklow, Gorey and Rosslare Europort. Bray's train station is named after Edward Daly, an executed leader of the 1916 Easter Rising. Bray Daly Station was opened on 10 July 1854.

Four bus companies pass through Bray; Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann, Finnegan’s Bray and the Glendalough Bus. Dublin Bus are by far the biggest operator with frequent services to and from Dublin city centre and many services within the greater Bray area. Dublin Bus also provide services to Dún Laoghaire, Enniskerry, Greystones, Kilmacanogue, Kilcoole and Newtownmountkennedy.

Today, Bray is a vibrant holiday resort and boasts fine hotels and guesthouse accommodation, shops, restaurants and evening entertainment. The town also plays host to a number of high profile festival events.

Available in the vicinity are fifteen 18-hole golf courses, tennis, fishing, sailing and horse riding. Other features of Bray are the amusement arcades and games centre. There is also a leisure centre on Quinsboro Road, and a National Sealife Centre on Strand Road. Bray is known as the Gateway to Wicklow and is the longest established seaside town in the country. It has a safe beach of sand and shingle to walk on, which is over 1.6 km (1 mi) long, fronted by a spacious esplanade. The scene is dominated by Bray Head, which rises steeply (241 m, 790 ft) above the sea, affording views of mountains and sea. The name of the town means "hill, rising ground,” possibly referring to the gradual incline of the town from the Dargle bridge to Vevay Hill.

Bray makes an ideal base for walkers, ramblers and strollers of all ages. Walkers can join the many locals who stroll the mile long promenade which stretches from the harbour with its colony of mute swans to Bray Head at the southern end of the promenade from which a well worn track leads to the summit. Also very popular with walkers is the 7 km (4 mi) Cliff Walk along Bray Head to Greystones.

Other attractions in Bray include the Old Courthouse (1841), Victorian sea front and Bray harbour (1891), St Paul's Church (1609) and Bray Town Hall (1881)(now a McDonald's restaurant).

The annual Bray Summerfest is the lead tourism event in the town. Held over six weeks in July and August each year, Bray Summerfest includes over 100 free entertainment events, including live music, markets, sporting entertainment, carnivals, and family fun. Performers who have headlined at Bray Summerfest include Mundy, Brian Kennedy, The Undertones, The Hothouse Flowers, and Mary Black. In 2006, over 60,000 visitors attended the main Bray Summerfest weekend in mid-July.

Bray also hosts one of the largest carnival and festival events to celebrate the annual St Patrick's holiday. The Bray St Patrick's Carnival & Parade is presented by Bray & District Chamber and is a five-day festival of carnival fun, parades, and live entertainment.

Bray hosts an annual international jazz festival in a weekend in May. The event was established in the Millennium year, and has attracted such luminaries as American performers Steve Coleman, Andrew Hill and Mike Stern, as well as the great French bass player Henry Texier and Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stanko.