We are doing a 30 day trip to Ireland. In the south east we are trying to decide if we want to stay in Kilkenny or Waterford. We are old and don’t hike. We are going in October and love small towns and scenic drives. We do plan on going to Waterford to see the Crystal makers and put to Hook head lighthouse for a drive.
Which would you choose and why ?
Thank you all for any advice. I want to make this trip perfect for my mom.
I see you haven’t had any responses yet so I will give my two cents for what it’s worth. I did not go to Waterford, as my research led me to believe the only thing worth seeing was the crystal factory, otherwise, the town was boring(according to people who had been). But, I was also travelling by train and bus, and it was a little out of the way for me. I did spend a couple nights in Kilkenny, and wished I had more time. There is a nice castle there, you can climb the tower at St. Candice’s, and it’s just a nice, quaint town to wander around.
Kilkenny. More interesting.
Like Anita, (hello, Richmond, BC---where I was raised) I have not been to Waterford, but loved Kilkenny. My husband and I loved Kilkenny, and also wished we had more time. It's a lovely little town with posibilities for side trips. We crammed a lot into a day and an evening. We had a great tour guide in St. Mary’s Medieval Mile Museum, visited the craft center, castle, lots of shops, etc., and found a great couple of restaurants, including a good pub for evening music.
YouTube has 100s of travel videos. Some are well worth watching. This is what we do when deciding where to go. We just watched one on Kilkenny and it looks fabulous. We are very excited to go there. The bonus for us is it’s an easy train ride from Dublin.
Thanks guys. I was leaning towards Kilkenny. Mom definitely wants to see Waterford because her ancestor is from there but a quick visit is great in her mind.
What side trips from Kilkenny did you all do ?
We are also spending a month in Ireland mid Septermber to mid October. We have reserved a cottage for a week 20 mins outside Waterford with plans to go to Kilkenney Castle (45 min drive), Jerpoint Park to view a sheep dog demonstration, the Waterford Crystal Factory, a day cycling the Waterford Greenway (we enjoy being active even if we end up renting E-bikes), maybe a visit over to Wexford's Heritage Park, etc. We visited Kilkenny briefly years ago and I thought it was quite nice but was looking for a place centrally located to explore the southeast of Ireland which is new to us. As long as it's not more than an hour's drive from where we stay, it's fine. We usually divide our time between 4 bases (a week each) and enjoy the pace. Our favorite so far has been the Galway area which included the School of Falconry at Ashford Castle, Aran Islands, Connamara, Cong, and a dinner in one of the train cars from the original Orient Express.
Kilkenny for sure. We just got back from a 12 day trip to Ireland and spent 4 days in a cottage just outside of Kilkenny and on a previous visit we rented a place nearby for a full week. There are lots of things to do within a 60-90 minute drive and I love the nightlife in Kilkenny itself. Our favourite place for music was Bollards, although Kyteler's was reliable as well. We did Waterford as a day trip from Kilkenny and felt like a day was more than enough.
I found Kilkenny more pleasant in the evenings for walking around and visiting pubs than Waterford. There are a number of sites to visit in town.
Both Waterford and the Rock of Cashel are about an hour away, so you can do a day trip to either one as well.
I enjoyed exploring these places outside of Kilkenny:
Jerpoint Abbey, Kilree Irish Round Tower, Kells Priory, Killamery High Cross
All the best,
Raymond
Kilkenny, without a doubt!
