We spent 2 nights in Kinsale and enjoyed a slightly slower pace there. I do think I went in with expectations somewhat too high, and mid-week in May a lot of shops and some restaurants were closed, so it didn’t wow me. We did the Kinsale Food Tour on our arrival date. Our guide was lovely and we enjoyed the others in our group (an aunt and niece from the US and a solo traveler from Australia). Our guide said the groups are sometimes as large as 25, which seems like a lot of people on a food tour: our group of 5 plus the guide made it easy to eat together and get to know each other a bit. The food itself was good, but again, having heard over and over that Kinsale is a foodie town, I think my expectations were too high (also I think food tours in Italy have spoiled me for life!) The nice thing is that they vary where they take the tours to support many establishments.Our first stop was for tea and a variety of pancakes and sauces; our second was at a gourmet store where we had cheeses and pate on toast; our third was a sit down restaurant with much too much food — oysters, seafood chowder, fish and chips, plus something else I’m not remembering; our final stop was a family run chocolate shop. We were too full for dinner but enjoyed drinks and music at a local restaurant bar in the evening.
We began the next morning with a trip to the farmers market, where we purchased everything we’d need for a picnic later in the day. We enjoyed Dave and Barry’s Kinsale walking tour, then headed out to visit Charles Fort. It was a beautiful day for a walk and when we arrived we picnicked on the grounds before joining a guided tour. No big wow moments but a nice slower paced day after 2 weeks on the go.
We had the best dinner of our entire trip at Max’s. (So many people insist Fishy Fishy is the place to eat but recent reviews suggest it’s hit or miss and riding a bit on the fact they have a Celebrity Chef.) Max’s is small, with a fixed price menu. The menu is limited but we both found appetizers and entrees that sounded good to us, and everything was as delicious as it sounded. We also really enjoyed the service and the relaxed pace of the meal. I would definitely recommend it but encourage anyone interested to reserve your table before you leave for your trip!