The seven places here fall into two groups: the Comeragh and Knockmealdown high ground inland, and the coast around Dungarvan and Tramore. The Vee is the one most people drive, a hairpin on the R668 that climbs to about 610 m above Bay Lough as it crosses from Tipperary. On a clear day the view runs across the Golden Vale to Cashel and the Galtees, and the slopes colour with rhododendron in late spring.
Ballymacarbry, a village of roughly 140 people on the R671, is the road end for the Comeragh walking loops out of the Nire Valley car park. The Monavullagh Mountains are the southern half of the same range and see a fraction of the walkers; Seefin tops out at 726 m, the paths fade and the cloud comes in fast, so take a map and compass.
On the coast, Ballinacourty Point sits on the eastern side of the entrance to Dungarvan Harbour, where the 1858 limestone lighthouse is best seen from the cove and pier rather than up close. Helvick Head, about 14 km south-east of Dungarvan, ends the Ring Peninsula in Old Red Sandstone cliffs. Brownstown Head near Tramore carries the two beacons raised in 1823 and is the county’s most productive birdwatching ground, and Stage Cove on the Copper Coast has a graded path down to its rhyolite columns and copper-loading ruins.
A 13 m limestone lighthouse has guided boats into Dungarvan Harbour since 1858, seen from the cove, the pier and the golf course rather than inside.
The road end for the Comeragh walking loops out of the Nire Valley car park, on a river fished for wild brown trout since the 1800s.
A hairpin on the R668 at about 610 m above Bay Lough, opening on a clear day across the Golden Vale to Cashel and the Galtees.
Two beacons completed in 1823 anchor a rugged headland that birdwatchers rate as Waterford's best ground for migrant and vagrant landbirds.
Old Red Sandstone cliffs at the eastern tip of the Ring Peninsula, the only Gaeltacht on Ireland's south coast, with a working RNLI lifeboat below.
6 of 7 shown — tap a pin for the place.
Ballinacourty, waterford
Ballinacourty Point marks the eastern side of the entrance to Dungarvan Harbour, where a 13m limestone lighthouse has guided boats into the bay since 1858. The tower is on private land and closed inside, but the cove, the pier and the adjoining golf course give clear views of it across the water, with Blue Flag Clonea Strand a short way north.
Ballymacarbry, waterford
Ballymacarbry is a village of about 140 people on the R671 in north-west Waterford, at the entrance to the Nire Valley. It is the starting point for the Comeragh walking loops out of the Nire Valley car park, and the River Nire here has been fished for wild brown trout since the 1800s.
Clogheen, tipperary
The Vee is a hairpin on the R668 where the road doubles back to cross the Knockmealdown Mountains between Tipperary and Waterford, climbing to about 337 m at the gap above Bay Lough. From the top, on a clear day, the view runs across the Golden Vale to Cashel and the Galtees. Rhododendrons colour the slopes in late spring, and Grubb's Monument – a lone grave above the valley – sits a short walk from the road.
Tramore, waterford
Southern tip of Dungarvan Harbour, waterford
waterford
Waterford, waterford
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