Three of the eight entries here sit within a few minutes’ walk of each other in Waterford city. Parade Quay runs along the River Suir at the front of the Viking Triangle, taking in Reginald’s Tower, a full-size replica Viking longboat and the tourist office at No. 120, and it costs nothing to walk. Merchants Quay carries on along the same river at the edge of the old city, five minutes from the bus station, with pay-and-display parking and a food market. The Waterford Crystal tour on The Mall is the paid stop in that group, an hour from the furnace through the blowers and the cutters.
The rest want a car. Ardmore is down on the south-west coast, where Saint Declan founded a monastery before Patrick reached Ireland; between the 12th-century round tower, the Blue Flag strand and the cliff walk past the wrecked crane ship, it is the longest day out on this list. Passage East sits downriver from the city on Waterford Harbour, a fishing village of 634 people whose car ferry runs across to Ballyhack in County Wexford.
Inland and west, Portlaw was laid out by the Malcomson family for their cotton mill workers, its streets fanning from a central square, with a heritage centre that opens on summer Saturday afternoons. Kilrossanty lies in the Comeragh foothills on the R676, and Tallow is near the Cork border, at its busiest for the September horse fair.
An hour-long factory tour on The Mall running from the 1,400°C furnace through the blowers and cutters to the world's largest crystal collection.
Early Christian Ireland on a headland, a 12th-century round tower and Romanesque cathedral carvings above a Blue Flag strand and a long cliff walk.
The riverfront of the Viking Triangle, free to walk, holding Reginald's Tower, a seaworthy longboat replica and the entrance to the Waterford Treasures museums.
Where Strongbow landed in 1170, now a small fishing village whose car ferry crosses Waterford Harbour to Ballyhack in County Wexford.
A Quaker mill village planned on Robert Owen's New Lanark model, streets fanning from a central square, with Curraghmore demesne just to the west.
8 of 8 shown — tap a pin for the place.
Waterford City, waterford
The hour-long factory tour on The Mall runs from the 1,400°C furnace through the blowers and the cutters – the Apprentice Bowl alone takes 600 cuts – to the world's largest collection of Waterford crystal. The showroom and café are free to enter; the guided tour is €12.
Ardmore, waterford
Saint Declan founded a monastery on this Waterford headland decades before Patrick reached Ireland. Ardmore pairs that early Christian heritage – a 12th-century round tower, a cathedral with Romanesque carvings – with a Blue Flag strand and a cliff walk that passes a coastguard station, a WWII lookout and a wrecked crane ship.
Waterford, waterford
Parade Quay runs along the River Suir at the front of Waterford's Viking Triangle. On it you'll find Reginald's Tower, a full-size seaworthy replica of a Viking longboat, the city's tourist office at No. 120 and a Georgian row that includes Waterford's oldest Methodist church. It's the way into the cluster of Waterford Treasures museums, and free to walk.
Passage East, waterford
In 1170 Strongbow landed at Passage East with an army and launched the Norman conquest of Ireland. Today it is a fishing village of 634 people whose continuous car ferry, The Tintern, shuttles up to 28 cars at a time across Waterford Harbour to Ballyhack in County Wexford.
Portlaw, waterford
Portlaw was laid out by the Quaker Malcomson family in the 19th century to house workers at their cotton mill, its streets fanning out from a central square in a plan borrowed from Robert Owen's New Lanark. A small heritage centre tells the story on summer Saturday afternoons, and Curraghmore – Ireland's largest private demesne – sits just to the west.
kilrossanty, waterford
Waterford, waterford
Tallow, waterford
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