Dungarvan Castle: Dates from the 12th Century & inc an informative exhibition on the history of the castle. Admission is free.
The Waterford & County Museum: Also situated in Dungarvan the contains interesting and educational information about the town, county and country. Opening times are 10am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.
Towers of Waterford City:
In Waterford City, you can see six towers and large sections of city wall left over from medieval times.
The French Tower – located along the top of Castle Street
The Double Tower – further along Castle Street, this tower gets its name from the two interior rooms
The Watch Tower – Manor Street, this tower’s cyndrical shape suggests that it dates from the 13th C
Reginald’s Tower – on corner of the Mall and the Quays, one of Waterford’s most famous buildings.
The Beach Tower – in Jenkins’ Lane, this is one of the finest towers on the circuit with its 15th century Irish crennalations
Semi-Lunar Tower – behind the DeLaSalle School on Patrick Street. Like the Double Tower, this tower is a flanking or “on the wall tower”.
Bishop’s Palace – Treasures of Georgian Waterford: The Bishop's Palace in Cathedral Square was magnificently conserved in 2010/11 and opened as a museum in June 2011, displaying the treasures of Georgian and Victorian Waterford. The ground and first floors are laid out as a historic house with some of the finest displays in Ireland of 18th century glass, silver, furniture and paintings. The oldest piece of Waterford Glass in the world is a highlight. The top floor continues the story up to 1970 ending with the Hucklebuck shoes. The Palace is a fine Palladian building faced on both sides in Leinster limestone.
The House of Waterford Crystal: Take a fully guided for 1 hour with your own dedicated tour guide. The guided tour will take you through the home of Waterford Crystal’s manufacturing facility. During the factory tour you will hear and see in detail exactly how our stunning crystal is made. Our Master craftsman will demonstrate to you the traditional methods that are still used to this day and you will learn all about crystal making from modern day back to our beginnings in 1783. Cost of €8.00 per person.
Book Store:
Browse some books at The Book Centre, a fabulous book store with a great kids’ reading area and free facepainting on Saturdays between 3.30 and 4.30 p.m, where you can enjoy a coffee while browsing the books.
Head to the Beach:
Tramore: Tramore which has 5 km of golden, sandy beach with surfing, sailing, sea kayaking.
Dunmore East: is a Blue Flag beach where you can swim or snorkel in the sheltered and picturesque coves.
Clonea Beach, Dungarvan: blue flag beach is safe for swimming, and also offers some lovely cliff walks.
Whiting Bay: A great expanse of beach, that is very quiet, is an ideal place for a family play & picnic.
Ardmore Beach: Nestled in the bay, has a children’s playground nearby & farmer’s market on Sundays.
Copper Coast: This designated European Geopark, has several beautiful coastal landmarks, dunes, cliffs and clean beaches. It offers small, sheltered beaches surrounded by rugged cliffs – ideal for quiet getaways.
Go Walking:
There are so many walks taking in the beautiful scenery – cliffs, woods, forests, mountains and trails.
Ardmore Cliff Walk: Stunning scenery around the cliff seeing the views and possibly a whale or dolphin if you’re lucky. Not ideal for toddlers.
Colligan Woods: A beautiful forest in the valley of the Colligan River, Dungarvan providing lovely scenic walks for families.
Mahon Falls: A beautiful walk and magnificent waterfall. Also “The Magic Road”. Stop at the fairy tree and turn off the engine. Magically your car will travel backwards up the hill.
Lismore: Apart from the walks through the Castle Gardens and town there are several walks through the stunning scenery, through forests or in the Knockmealdown Mountains.
Parks:
Millennium Park, Lismore: Situated right in the centre of the town the park has lots of interesting features including walkways, water features, waterfall, beautiful planting and trees
People’s Park, Waterford: The park contains a Victorian-era bandstand, the Goff cycle track, a children’s playground, a spherical monument and water feature and an old painted iron bridge connecting the park to the grounds of the Court House. The park has been renovated and upgraded in recent years and a baby playground area has been built plus a skateboarding park. There is a cafe and toilet facilities too.
Fenor Play Park: A community play park in the rural village of Fenor, County Waterford. It is located on the Copper Coast a short drive from Tramore tow.
Outdoor Activities
Mount Congreve Gardens: Situated in Kilmeaden, Co. Waterford, in Ireland’s Ancient East is home to one of “the great gardens of the World”. Mount Congreve House, home to six generations of Congreves, was built in 1760 by the celebrated local architect John Roberts. The Gardens comprise around seventy acres of intensively planted woodland, a four acre walled garden and 16 kilometres of walkways. Planted on a slight incline overlooking the River Suir, Mount Congreve’s entire collection consists of over three thousand different trees and shrubs, more than two thousand Rhododendrons, six hundred Camellias, three hundred Acer cultivars, six hundred conifers, two hundred and fifty climbers and fifteen hundred herbaceous plants plus many more tender species contained in the Georgian glasshouse.
Waterford and Suir Valley Railway: Experience the beauty of the Suir Valley from a period carriage and take in the wonderful panoramic views of the River Suir. This family friendly railway runs mostly along the picturesque banks of the River Suir offering views of the world-famous Mount Congreve Gardens. This is an area rich in history and is only accessible by train.
