Best Backpack for the Wicklow Way: Five Packs That Earn Their Place

The best backpack for the Wicklow Way is a 30–40 litre pack — big enough for rain kit, spare clothes and a day's food on a 129 km inn-to-inn walk, small enough to keep you under 9 kg. Our top pick for most walkers is the Fjällräven Abisko Hike 35; ultralighters should take the Zpacks Arc Scout 37L.

Pack choice on the Wicklow Way is about matching volume to your accommodation style. B&B walkers carry 6–9 kg; campers using the trail's three shelters carry 12–14 kg; luggage-transfer walkers carry 3–4 kg. Those are three different packs. We've matched five from the HikeLoad gear database to the way people actually walk this trail — with real weights, because a pack's empty weight is dead weight you carry for six days through Wicklow's 900–1,200 mm-a-year rainfall.

The five picks at a glance

Best for most walkers: Fjällräven Abisko Hike 35

The Abisko Hike 35 is the size the Wicklow Way was made for. Thirty-five litres swallows a full Irish rain system, two changes of clothes, lunch and 2 litres of water with room to spare, and its simple top-loading design with a tough G-1000 fabric shrugs off six days of being dropped on wet forestry tracks. At around 1.2 kg it is the heaviest pack we'd still call justified — the payoff is durability and a frame that keeps an 8 kg load quiet on the 26 km Roundwood–Glenmalure day.

Best ultralight: Zpacks Arc Scout 37L

Same capacity class, less than half the weight. The Arc Scout 37L uses Ultra fabric that is functionally waterproof — a genuine advantage on a trail with rain one day in three even in summer — and its tensioned arc frame carries the 7–9 kg B&B load it was designed around. It costs roughly three times the Fjällräven; whether 700 saved grams justify that is a question only your knees can answer. If you're optimising at this level, weigh the rest of your kit in the base weight calculator first — a 480 g pack under a 4 kg clothing bag is solving the wrong problem.

Best for campers and winter walkers: Osprey Atmos AG 50

Using the trail's three Adirondack shelters, or walking November–March with extra insulation, pushes loads to 12–14 kg — territory where the Atmos AG 50's suspended Anti-Gravity backpanel earns its 2 kg. Fifty litres takes a mat, sleeping bag and stove alongside the rain kit, and the hipbelt transfers weight well enough that the long southern stages stay comfortable. Overkill for a summer B&B walk; the right call for everyone else.

The specialists: fastpacking and daypack setups

Walkers compressing the Way into 3–4 days increasingly run it: the Salomon ADV Skin 20 vest holds bottles, calories and a minimal rain kit against your back with zero bounce, and at ~290 g it disappears once moving. At the other end, with luggage transfer booked (€10–15 a stage as of 2026), the ~300 g Bagger Ultra 25L carries the day's needs and packs flat into your transferred bag at night. One warning from Met Éireann's climate data applies to both: the Djouce–White Hill crossing gets winter-grade wind chill in any month, so even the minimal setups need space for a real shell, not a pocket poncho.

How to choose between them

Decide your accommodation style first, then your budget. B&B walking: Abisko Hike 35, or Arc Scout 37L if grams matter more than euros. Camping or winter: Atmos AG 50. Transfer or running: Bagger or ADV Skin. Fit matters more than brand at every price: load each candidate with 8 kg in the shop, walk stairs for ten minutes, and reject anything that creaks, sways or rubs your hips — on a trail maintained to the national waymarking standard documented by Sport Ireland Trails, your pack is the only piece of infrastructure you bring yourself. The same logic transfers to other inn-to-inn trails — our pack guides for the Camino Francés and the Abel Tasman Coast Track reach similar size conclusions for similar walking — and whatever you buy for Wicklow will serve unchanged on the 214 km Kerry Way, which is the trail most Wicklow finishers book next.

Frequently Asked Questions

What size backpack do you need for an inn-to-inn trail?

30–40 litres covers inn-to-inn walking in wet climates like Ireland: rain jacket and trousers, one spare clothing set, warm layer, lunch, 1.5–2 litres of water and toiletries come to 6–9 kg. Go to 50 litres only if you camp or walk in winter with extra insulation.

Is a waterproof backpack worth it for Ireland?

It removes a failure point. Dyneema and Ultra-fabric packs like Zpacks' stay dry without a cover, which matters in Wicklow where rain falls one day in three even in summer and rain covers snag in wind. With a standard nylon pack, a €2 rubble-sack liner achieves 95% of the same protection.

Can you run the Wicklow Way?

Yes — the 129 km route is popular as a 2–3 day fastpack or a single-push ultra (the Wicklow Way Race covers it nonstop). Runners use 12–20 litre vest packs carrying mandatory rain kit, and resupply at Roundwood, Glendalough and Tinahely, the only reliable shops on the route.

How heavy should your pack be on the Wicklow Way?

Under 9 kg including water for B&B walkers — a 6–8 kg base weight plus lunch and 1.5–2 litres of water. Campers using the trail shelters land at 12–14 kg. Above that, the 600 m climbs over Djouce and Mullacor turn from steady work into a grind.