One of my favorites memories from our Europe backpacking trip is our Ireland Coast Road Trip. Our selected route started in Dublin (after spending three days there) and ended after dropping off our rental car back in Dublin.
Here is a map of the route we took around Ireland:
I wrote about our first day on the road from Dublin to Kilkenny in this post. Today I’m sharing our second day of the road trip which included a full day in Kilkenny and a quick evening drive to Cork.
Kilkenny
Kilkenny, Ireland is a really fun town. We didn’t run into many other tourists and enjoyed the slower pace from Dublin.
After a walk around town and a delicious Irish breakfast, we headed to Kilkenny Castle.
The castle was built in 1195 by the first Earl of Pembroke. In the 1300s, it was passed on to the powerful Butler family (from which one of the daughters married the grandfather of Anne Boleyn), and then the last member of the Butler family gave the castle to the town of Kilkenny in in 1965 for the huge sum of £50. Yes, you read that right – just £50! The State then refurbished the castle and the grounds and opened it to the public. It is now open for visitors every day of the year except for Christmas Day and the day after Christmas. During the summer you may enter on a self-guided tour, but the rest of the year, entrance is by tour only. We got tickets to a morning tour. Unfortunately, I don’t have pictures of the beautiful rooms and paintings to share because photos were not allowed.
We thoroughly enjoyed the tour and learning all about the Butler family. Many original pieces of furniture and artwork are still in the house, but there are also many pieces that have been lost over the years.
After our tour and some lunch at the castle cafe, we explored some more of the grounds surrounding the castle area.
I love the cute rows of shops found all over the streets of Irish villages!
We then made our way to the Smithwick’s Brewery for a tour. The tour is very interactive and media-driven, and we learned a lot about the brewing process. Until reading about this tour online, I had no idea that there was another famous Irish beer other than Guinness, and we liked Smithwick’s even more. It’s very creamy, flavorful, and much lighter than a pint of Guinness.
Pouring ourselves a pint of Smithwick’s!
Then we did some more walking down the charming roads of Kilkenny!
And stopped off at a bookstore, of course….
We ended our day in Kilkenny with a tour of St. Canice’s Cathedral (aka Kilkenny Cathedral). The Cathedral is full of 16th-century monuments and stained glass replicas. It also boasts one of only two round towers in Ireland that can be climbed. Unfortunately, we were way too tired to climb up all those stairs, but I’ve read reviews online saying the view of Kilkenny is stunning!
After that, it was starting to get dark, so we decided to hit the road to our next stop in Cork. And with that, our second day of our Irish road trip came to a close!
Click here to see a guide to Dublin, where we kicked off our time in Ireland.
Click here to see where we stopped along our route from Dublin to Kilkenny as well as a summary of our full road trip around Ireland.
I’ll be back soon with the rest of our Irish road trip!
{Click here to see all of my posts from our Ireland road trip. Our time in Ireland was part of a 2.5 month trip across Western Europe. Click here to check out all of my posts from this adventure!}
{Thanks for reading! Want to know a little more about me? I’m a CPA learning how to balance a career with frequent travel while planting roots at home in Austin, TX. When I’m not exploring my home city with my husband Daniel or cuddling with our chubby orange cat Banana, I’m probably planning, packing, traveling to, or daydreaming about our next adventure. After all, my travel mug collection is never complete. If you have wanderlust too, be sure to follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat(emilya89), or subscribe to my blog!}
This article is now available as a mobile app. Go to GPSmyCity to download the app for GPS-assisted travel directions to the attractions featured in this article.
Like it? Pin it!
