Kilkenny or Glendalough?

What is it that you wish to see? Urban or rural? A town and a castle or a grave yard with celtic crosses, a round tower and the gorgeous drive via the Sally Gap through the Wicklow mountains? In reality If you had enough daylight hours (i.e. not traveling in winter) you could probably visit both.

In addition to the monastic settlement, Glendalough also has hiking to the lakes, if that appeals to you. If the weather was good, it would be a good way to stay awake that first day. You could then go on to Kilkenny, see it in the morning, then head back.

We will have some time in Dublin so I was hoping for a scenic drive to see the Irish couontryside - the sort of scenery an American imagines Ireland to have. Of course it may be raining or foggy and since it is the end of November the days will be short. We prefer not to be trying to find our way after dark so we need to arrive at an overnight stop by 4 ish. Thanks for your help, Janet

In all honesty, the scenery that you expect Ireland to have is mostly in the west, rather than the east. The Wicklow Mountains and Glendalough are beautiful, but it's in the west that you see the little stone walls, and the Norman tower houses and the "forty shades of green" hills. You'll see some of that en route to Kilkenny, but not as much. You might also be a little hard-pressed to get to Kilkenny by 4-ish if you stop at Glendalough. If you arrive at noon, it will be at least an hour (probably more) by the time you have gotten your bags, done the rental counter paperwork, and set out. The drive straight to Kilkenny will be at least two hours without any stops at all. You could probably stop somewhere closer to Glendalough, then continue on to Kilkenny the next morning, then head back to Dublin in the afternoon.

Glendalough is very nice but you'll need good weather to really enjoy it. You could easily spend a full day hiking, etc. or you could hit the highlights in about 2 hours. Kilkenny is worth about half a day in my opinion. The high point is the castle which is really reconstructed to be 18 or 19th century. There is a moderately interesting church where all the Butlers seem to be buried. They lived in the castle for centuries. After that, there isn't much I'd recommend. You could easily do a two day loop and hit both. If it's raining, you probably won't stay at Glendalough for 2 hours.

I agree with Ken's assessment of Kilkenny. If you have never seen any other medieval cities, it's worth a visit. But it's not on a par with York IMHO. Glendalough, on the other hand, is enchanting. We saw it in a light rain (typical Ireland) and it was very atmospheric. If you only have one day for your trip, have you considered instead heading north to New Grange? It's also lovely that direction and it's a lot closer to the airport.

Thanks for the suggestion of New Grange. I suppose we could stay at a B&B near the site and see it in the morning or stay at Drogheda and then go to the tomb in the morning. The only thing my husband has mentioned wanting to see is bogs - just because he thinks of bogs when he thinks of Ireland. We don't have time to go to the Burren even though we both enjoy nature areas. So right now I am thinking of Glendalough unless I change my mind and head north to New Grange. Any more ideas out there. You all are very helpful. Thanks! ps, I hope to get back to Ireland some day to spend a longer time but we figured three nights was better than nothing. We are going over for a meeting in London the following week and were only able to add these few days to the beginning of the trip.

If you decide on Newgrange I can recommend the Newgrange Lodge for accommodation. It is a short walk to the site. You can see the bogs near Clonmacnoise but the tour was discontinued four years ago. A highlight of our October trip to Ireland was the visit to the National Stud Farm near Kildare-if you are interested in race horses-a beautiful place and the Japanese Garden within the grounds is not to be missed.