Waterford and the Copper Coast from Rosslare

Editor's note

One night in Waterford. The Viking Triangle puts three sites within five minutes' walk of each other: Reginald's Tower, the oldest urban building in Ireland; the Medieval Museum, where the Waterford Treasures include Henry VIII's cap of maintenance; and the Bishop's Palace, with its 18th-century silver. Then head out to Newtown Head for a swim. The Guillamene and Newtown coves are cut into the rock, with concrete steps, iron railings and diving boards bolted to the cliff. The Guillamene was men-only until the early 1980s, and the old sign is still there. People swim here daily, right through the winter.

Editor's note

Two nights on the Copper Coast, the first geopark designated in Ireland. Start at the visitor centre in the old church at Knockmahon and walk the cliff path to the engine house at Tankardstown, left by 19th-century copper mining. At Ballydowane the sea has cut stacks free of the cliff, and fossil-rich beds can be read straight off the face; the coastal path links Stradbally, Ballydowane and Boatstrand coves. Give the second day to the Waterford Greenway, cycling west from Kilmacthomas over the Durrow Viaduct and through the 400-metre Ballyvoyle Tunnel to finish at Dungarvan harbour, beside the castle.

Editor's note

One night between Ardmore and Lismore. Tradition says Declan brought Christianity to Ardmore before Patrick arrived. On the hill above the village stand a 12th-century round tower 30 metres high, a cathedral with a carved arcade across its west wall, and an 8th-century oratory said to be Declan's burial place; the cliff loop runs round the head below. Lismore Castle stands on a bluff over the Blackwater and is still the Irish home of the Duke of Devonshire. The castle is closed to visitors but the gardens are open, including a walled garden cultivated since the early 1600s, and Lismore Castle Arts is in the west wing.

Editor's note

Two nights in Kilkenny to finish, the last before the crossing home. Walk the Medieval Mile from the castle, with its Long Gallery of Butler pictures, past Rothe House and the Black Abbey of 1225, to St Canice's, whose 9th-century round tower is one of only three medieval ones in Ireland you can still climb. The Smithwick's Experience is on the old St Francis Abbey brewery site, and the Kilkenny Design Centre fills the former castle stables. On the second day, take the guided tour into Dunmore Cave, 11 kilometres north, where the annals record a massacre in 928 and a calcite column stands over 19 feet high.