The county that gets left off the loop
Almost every American itinerary we are shown runs Dublin, Kilkenny, Cork, Kerry, Galway and back. Waterford sits directly on that line and gets skipped anyway, usually because it does not have a single postcard that forces the stop.
What it has instead is a rare combination: a genuinely old city you can walk in an afternoon, a stretch of coast between Tramore and Dungarvan that nobody has developed, and the Waterford Greenway, forty-six kilometres of former railway line turned into the best flat cycling in Ireland. Those three things together make a two night stop that feels like a holiday rather than a transfer.
It is also the driest and sunniest corner of the country, which is not a high bar but is worth knowing when you are planning a week in April.
The three Waterfords, and which one you actually want
The county divides cleanly along the coast road, and each third asks for something different.
- Waterford city
- Founded by Vikings in 914, which makes it the oldest city in Ireland. The Viking Triangle holds three museums within two hundred metres of each other, the Bishop's Palace is the best of them, and the whole thing is walkable in half a day. The House of Waterford Crystal factory tour is here and it is better than it sounds.
- The Copper Coast and Dungarvan
- Thirty miles of cliff, cove and old mine workings between Tramore and Dungarvan, designated a UNESCO Global Geopark and driven by almost nobody. Dungarvan at the end of it is the food town of the southeast.
- Ardmore and the west
- A round tower on a headland above a curved beach, a cliff walk of about four miles that loops from the village, and the Cliff House Hotel looking straight down the bay. This is the most beautiful hour in the county.
The Greenway, which is the actual reason to come
The Waterford Greenway runs forty-six kilometres from Waterford city to Dungarvan along a disused railway. It crosses three viaducts, goes through a four hundred metre tunnel, and passes Mount Congreve gardens on the way out of the city. It is flat, traffic-free and suitable for anyone who has been on a bicycle in the last decade.
The way to do it is one direction only. Hire bikes in Waterford city, ride to Dungarvan over about four hours with a stop, eat there, and take the shuttle back with the bikes. Every hire company runs the shuttle. Riding both directions turns a lovely day into a long one.
If four hours is too much, the Durrow to Dungarvan section is the prettiest twelve kilometres and takes an easy ninety minutes, tunnel and viaduct included.
Driving Waterford, honestly
Waterford city is roughly two hours from Dublin on the M9, and about an hour and forty from Cork. Both are easy motorway drives, which makes the county one of the least stressful places to start left-hand driving.
The Copper Coast road, the R675, is the one to slow down for. It is narrow in places, there are unmarked pull-ins at the good coves, and the whole thing takes an hour and a half if you stop properly. Do not treat it as the fast route to Cork, because the N25 inland is thirty minutes quicker and half as interesting.
Ardmore is a fifteen minute detour off the N25 and it is always worth it. If you are driving Dublin to Kerry and you want one stop that changes the day, this is the one we send people to.