The glory of Powerscourt is its setting, best seen from the uppermost of the five terraces that drop away to the Triton Lake and its 30-metre fountain in the valley below. From here you look out over the lake, cradled in tall trees, to the peak of the 501-metre Great Sugar Loaf Mountain.

Walking down the terraces between formal gardens, you pass a superb mosaic pavement featuring the planets, created with coloured pebbles and enclosed by elaborated cast-iron screens. Beautiful Austrian cast-iron work appears beyond the upper terrace in the eighteenth century Bamberg Gate.

The peaceful, terraced Japanese Gardens, screened from the Triton Lake by bamboos and shapely conifers, contain delicate temples and bridges. A visit to the Powerscourt Waterfall is refreshing. At 130 metres, this is the highest waterfall in Ireland. The longest might be more accurate, as the River Dargle tumbles from one ferny rock face to the next.