RSA School of Motoring · The Garden County

Driving lessons in Wicklow

Wicklow is the only Leinster county with real mountain roads. Two coastal test centres, the mountains behind them, the Sally Gap on the EDT route. Bray and Wicklow town each ask different things. Bray runs the coastal-suburban traffic; Wicklow town runs a smaller-town set of streets. Pretest practice maps to whichever you book.

EDT, automatic, pretest with car hire. RSA ADI instructors at the Bray and Wicklow town centres, with pickup across Greystones, Arklow, Blessington and the mountain villages.

51 Wicklow towns and mountain villages

2 Coastal test centres (Bray + Wicklow town)

925m Lugnaquillia, Leinster's highest peak

Book a Wicklow lesson Call 01 902 3100

51 placesWicklow towns and mountain villages

2 centresBray + Wicklow town catchments

Mountains + coastTwo driving environments (Leinster's only)

4.7 / 5814+ school reviews

Review and rating figures are RSA School of Motoring brand-network averages, not Wicklow-specific.

Garden county, mountains and coast

Two coastal centres. The mountains behind them. The Sally Gap during EDT.

Wicklow is the only Leinster county with real mountain-road terrain. Lugnaquillia rises to 925 metres in the south-west. The Sally Gap road, Glencree and the route into Glendalough cross genuine upland country, the kind no other Leinster instructor can teach you on the actual ground.

Wicklow runs from the Dublin border down to Wexford. The coast holds Bray, Greystones, Wicklow town and Arklow on the eastern edge. The Wicklow Mountains form the interior, with Lugnaquillia at 925 metres as Leinster's highest peak. The Sally Gap road, Glendalough and Roundwood sit in the upland centre. West Wicklow holds the Blessington reservoir, Baltinglass and the southern valleys around Tinahely and Shillelagh.

Wicklow's two driving test centres each have their own approach. Your Wicklow pretest practises whichever centre you book. The two coastal centres at Bray and Wicklow town are twenty-five kilometres apart on the N11. Each examiner pool runs different local roads; the EDT-to-pretest sequence depends on which one you book.

Your Wicklow Approved Driving Instructor lives in your part of the county. Bray-side instructors know the north-coast suburbs and the Dublin-edge traffic; Wicklow-town-side instructors know the smaller-town streets and the southern villages; west-Wicklow instructors run the mountain crossings into the Blessington area. EDT, automatic and pretest with car hire all run from each catchment.

Two coastal centres

Bray or Wicklow town

North coastal, Dublin-edge

Bray test centre

Bray sits on the north coast just south of the Dublin border. The centre's approach reads as a coastal-suburban exercise: the town's main streets, the local junctions, the routes toward Greystones and the N11 ring. Examiners use the Bray-area roads for most of the test loop.

Your Wicklow pretest with car hire for Bray runs the local approach into the centre on the suburban side, where most of the centre's local routes start. North-Wicklow and Greystones-side learners typically book here.

Mid-coastal, smaller-town

Wicklow town test centre

Wicklow town sits twenty-five kilometres south of Bray, mid-coast. The centre's approach involves smaller-town streets, the local junctions and the routes from Rathnew and Ashford on whichever side you come in from. A different driving environment from Bray, on the same county hub.

If your home is closer to Wicklow town, Rathnew, Ashford or the Arklow-side villages, your Wicklow pretest works the routes around that centre instead. Same dual-controlled car, different centre, different practice loops.

EDT with real mountain roads

Twelve lessons that include the Sally Gap

Wicklow EDT carries content that no other Leinster county can teach on the actual ground. The Sally Gap road, the Glencree crossing, the run into Glendalough: these are real mountain roads, and Wicklow is the only Leinster county with them. We work them into the rural-driving phase of EDT for learners who want the upland competence, not as a textbook chapter but with the dual-controlled car on the actual road.

The early EDT lessons happen close to home, the same as any Wicklow village would expect. North-Wicklow learners on the Bray side spend those lessons on the coastal-suburban streets; Wicklow-town learners spend them on the smaller-town streets. The lake-side and mountain content lands later in the programme.

The two-centre choice (Bray or Wicklow town) shapes the back half of EDT. Bray-bound learners get more north-coast approach work; Wicklow-town-bound learners spend more time on the smaller-town streets and the Rathnew-Ashford routes. The mountain content is optional in the sense that it is not on either test centre's loop, but most Wicklow learners take it because it is what they will drive on weekends after they pass.

The full EDT programme is twelve hours wherever in Wicklow you start. For Wicklow pricing across packages, see the price list.

The N11 spine and the mountain crossings

N11 north and south, the mountain roads, the western R-routes

The N11 north out of Bray to Dublin

The N11 leaves Bray north and feeds straight into the Dublin commute. Most north-Wicklow commuters drive this every working day. Bray-side EDT learners get the Dublin-edge stretch as standard practice.

The N11 south to Wexford via Arklow

The same N11 corridor runs south through Wicklow town and Arklow toward Gorey and Wexford. South-Wicklow commuters use the southern stretch. The road type stays the same; the destination is different.

The mountain crossings (Sally Gap, Glencree)

The Sally Gap road and the Glencree route cross the Wicklow Mountains from coast to interior. These are not commute roads; they are the upland content that goes into late-stage EDT for learners who want the mountain-road competence.

West toward Blessington and Baltinglass

The R-roads west out of central Wicklow lead to Blessington, the reservoir villages and on toward Baltinglass and the south-west valleys. West-Wicklow commuters who work in Naas or Dublin use these routes daily. Mountain-side learners run them in EDT.

Coverage from the coast to the mountains

Bray, Wicklow town, the mountain villages and the western valleys

Bray and the north Wicklow coast

The Bray catchment plus the north-coast commuter belt. Bray test centre pickup, lessons that work the suburban-coastal streets and the N11 north toward Dublin.

Bray

North-Wicklow lessons cover the coastal-suburban roads and the run into the Bray centre.

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Enniskerry

North-Wicklow lessons cover the coastal-suburban roads and the run into the Bray centre.

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Kilmacanogue

North-Wicklow lessons cover the coastal-suburban roads and the run into the Bray centre.

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Greystones

North-Wicklow lessons cover the coastal-suburban roads and the run into the Bray centre.

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Delgany

North-Wicklow lessons cover the coastal-suburban roads and the run into the Bray centre.

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Kilcoole

North-Wicklow lessons cover the coastal-suburban roads and the run into the Bray centre.

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Newcastle

North-Wicklow lessons cover the coastal-suburban roads and the run into the Bray centre.

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Newtownmountkennedy

North-Wicklow lessons cover the coastal-suburban roads and the run into the Bray centre.

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Kilpedder

North-Wicklow lessons cover the coastal-suburban roads and the run into the Bray centre.

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Wicklow town and the south coast

The Wicklow town catchment plus the southern coastal villages from Rathnew through Arklow. Wicklow town test centre pickup.

Ashford

South-Wicklow lessons cover the smaller-town streets and the run into the Wicklow town centre.

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Rathnew

South-Wicklow lessons cover the smaller-town streets and the run into the Wicklow town centre.

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Glenealy

South-Wicklow lessons cover the smaller-town streets and the run into the Wicklow town centre.

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Killincarrig

South-Wicklow lessons cover the smaller-town streets and the run into the Wicklow town centre.

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Arklow

South-Wicklow lessons cover the smaller-town streets and the run into the Wicklow town centre.

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Avoca

South-Wicklow lessons cover the smaller-town streets and the run into the Wicklow town centre.

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Brittas Bay

South-Wicklow lessons cover the smaller-town streets and the run into the Wicklow town centre.

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Redcross

South-Wicklow lessons cover the smaller-town streets and the run into the Wicklow town centre.

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Woodenbridge

South-Wicklow lessons cover the smaller-town streets and the run into the Wicklow town centre.

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Mountain interior (Glendalough + Sally Gap)

The upland Wicklow villages. Pickup local; lessons that work the mountain-road EDT terrain and connect to whichever coastal centre you have booked.

Glendalough

Mountain Wicklow lessons cover upland R-roads and the run east to a coastal Wicklow centre.

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Laragh

Mountain Wicklow lessons cover upland R-roads and the run east to a coastal Wicklow centre.

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Annamoe

Mountain Wicklow lessons cover upland R-roads and the run east to a coastal Wicklow centre.

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Roundwood

Mountain Wicklow lessons cover upland R-roads and the run east to a coastal Wicklow centre.

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Glencree

Mountain Wicklow lessons cover upland R-roads and the run east to a coastal Wicklow centre.

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Greenan

Mountain Wicklow lessons cover upland R-roads and the run east to a coastal Wicklow centre.

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Aghavannagh

Mountain Wicklow lessons cover upland R-roads and the run east to a coastal Wicklow centre.

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Ballinaclash

Mountain Wicklow lessons cover upland R-roads and the run east to a coastal Wicklow centre.

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West Wicklow (Blessington and Baltinglass)

West Wicklow. The Blessington reservoir catchment plus Baltinglass and the western R-roads. Pickup local; centre-approach work runs east through the mountain crossings.

Blessington

West-Wicklow lessons cover the reservoir R-roads and the run east through the mountains.

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Hollywood

West-Wicklow lessons cover the reservoir R-roads and the run east through the mountains.

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Lacken

West-Wicklow lessons cover the reservoir R-roads and the run east through the mountains.

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Manor Kilbride

West-Wicklow lessons cover the reservoir R-roads and the run east through the mountains.

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Kilbride

West-Wicklow lessons cover the reservoir R-roads and the run east through the mountains.

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Donard

West-Wicklow lessons cover the reservoir R-roads and the run east through the mountains.

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Stratford On Slaney

West-Wicklow lessons cover the reservoir R-roads and the run east through the mountains.

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Valleymount

West-Wicklow lessons cover the reservoir R-roads and the run east through the mountains.

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Poulaphouca

West-Wicklow lessons cover the reservoir R-roads and the run east through the mountains.

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Dunlavin

West-Wicklow lessons cover the reservoir R-roads and the run east through the mountains.

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Grangecon

West-Wicklow lessons cover the reservoir R-roads and the run east through the mountains.

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Baltinglass

West-Wicklow lessons cover the reservoir R-roads and the run east through the mountains.

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South-west valleys (Tinahely + Shillelagh)

South-west Wicklow. Tinahely and Shillelagh pickup, lessons that work the southern valley R-roads and the run east to Wicklow town for centre-approach work.