KILKENNY IRELAND

Kilkenny would be a very long drive for a day trip. I'm not sure you'll find a bus tour or anything out of Dublin, but you could check with the Tourist Information once you get to Dublin. And yes, it is typically crowded with tourists, and you'll be traveling in August, which is still tourist season.

If you like historical sites, you might enjoy Newgrange or Glendalough, both easily available as bus tours from Dublin.

Ive been in Kilkenny and while its ok there are much better places.Newgrange is much nearer to Dublin and a far better place to visit.In fact it was one of our favorite places in Ireland.

So many people have told us we need to go to Newgrange. I was shying away from it since we saw a site very similar in Sweden; however, everyone says it's wonderful. I was looking for a place that would give me a sense of the Irish countryside (that we could do by train or bus) and that wouldn't be too crowded. Probably not realistic since we will be there in August which is still tourist season.

You might find a tour of Glendalough and the Wicklow Mountains that includes Avoca, which is a cute little Irish village. Located there is Avoca Woollen Mills, the oldest mill in Ireland. You can even go right into the weaving area and watch as they work, and take as many pictures as you want.

The Boyne River valley, which is very picturesque, is included in tours of Newgrange and the Hill of Tara. Newgrange really is worth a visit, particularly to learn about the engineering that the ancient people who lived there were capable of. It's just not something that you expect.

For the best scenery, though, you have to go to the west.

Kilkenny is a great city. Sure there are other sights to see in Ireland, as others have suggested, but you'd be fine with Kilkenny. The castle is one of the most intact in Ireland and its grounds are spectacular. The shops across the street are nice (touristy, obviously, but with some better quality things than you'll see in some other places).

The city that surrounds the castle is large enough to meet your every need but small enough to keep its historic charm. Unfortunately, we only spend one night there; I could easily spend more.

A day trip from Dublin could be very nice. Maybe a loop of some sort so you don't see the same things on the return that you saw on the way there.

Have a great trip!

By bus it looks like Dublin to Kilkenny is about 2 hr 15 min, with 10 or 11 stops in little towns along the way. The earliest bus leaves Dublin at 9:00. Assuming the same length of time back, that doesn't leave much time for sightseeing in Kilkenny. You'll spend half the day getting there.

Kilkenny is wonderful! The castle is amazing and the town itself is very charming. We only spent one day there but could've easily filled another one if we'd have had the time.

Kilkenny was our favorite spot, although we still need to explore more of Ireland. We stayed in an old self-catering place called Moongate, which is just outside of Borris. Kilkenny is where we bought our food to cook and went there ofter over the next 8 days. Great pubs, great Irish feel. Great castle, and absolutely the best shopping for sweaters etc. We wound up staying in a room for another day above a bar called Lawlors, right across the street from the train station. The room was A-1, but the town was rowdy.

It was the night before the Kilkenny Cats were playing for the 118th All-Irish hurling championships. It was like the night before the superbowl. Kilkenny was buzzing for 3 days. We're Cat fans now.

You should plan on sleeping over for a day.

I've been day tripping out of Dublin for a few years now (my in-laws are there) and my favorite trips have been to the National Stud in Kildare which also has the Japanses Gardens and a drive through the Sally Gap (incredible scenery, very dramatic, waterfalls, sheep, tiny roads) to Glendalough which was busy with tourists but very large and wide-open. A super close trip out from Dublin is Powerscourt featureing a huge estate and gardens that have been handed through English/Irish royalty and finally handed over to Ireland in the early 20th century. There is also the small obigitory Avoca shop there too.