Spending only 1 day in Kilkenny? Here’s 6 of the best things to do.
But first, picking up our car rental…
First stop out of Dublin on our Ireland adventure was Kilkenny. We chose to rent our car through Conn’s Ireland Car Rental, which we picked up at Dublin Airport (we recommend not driving in Dublin!). We took a taxi to the Hertz Rental at the airport to pick up our automatic car. Yes, Renee reserved an automatic. It was a bit more expensive, but I’m sure she will tell you that the extra expense was totally worth it. I certainly did not care. She was going to do all the driving while we were in Ireland. This turned out to be a blessing since my right arm injury from my fall the night before hurt like hell and there was no way I would be able to drive.
It was a learning curve to get out of the airport, and Renee was a bit nervous, but I had my phone with data so I was in charge of the navigation. BTW, we HIGHLY recommend Conn’s for car rental. They made it so easy. Anyway, we were on the road on our first stop in Kilkenny.
After a somewhat nervous first driving experience, we arrive in Kilkenny.
We arrived late afternoon to our B&B. We pulled up at Bridge View B&B. Located right along the river in Kilkenny, we ended up being the only guests for our one night stay. It was a comfortable stay in our room with a double bed and twin bed. We had a private bath with shower. Perfect for a nights rest. The best part about our stay was the excellent breakfast we had the next morning. This came with the very economical price of 80 euro a night. At this time we could only pay in cash, but we knew this ahead of time so I was loaded up with the extra cash to cover our night.
Checking out downtown Kilkenny at night.
By the time we arrived, had an early dinner, and got settled, it was dark outside. One disadvantage to traveling to Ireland in November is the limited daylight hours. That really didn’t stop us from exploring the town.
NOW! 6 Best Things To Do In Kilkenny In One Day
- Kilkenny Castle You cannot miss Kilkenny Castle. It overlooks the whole town. This was the only castle tour we did in Ireland. I’m told it is one of the best and I can see why. The tour was a little over an hour, so it fit into our timeline perfectly. Our guide was so informative and gave us a great history about the Butler family and it’s descendants that called this castle home for so many years. Each room on the tour was full of period pieces that helped you to imagine what life was like when the castle buzzed with activity. You can read more here. The bonus for us was it was the first Wednesday of the month, which meant FREE ADMISSION!
- Kitty’s Cabin Kitty’s Cabin is like no other candy store you (or I) have even been in! Kitty’s Cabin satisfies every sweet tooth with a small space full of treats from Ireland and beyond. If you are missing classic American treats (sour patch, skittles, and even pop tarts), chances are you can get them here. But why ever would you want to go to Ireland and buy sweets we can get here? I prefer stuff that I can’t find in my local grocery store. Butlers Chocolate, Guinness Fudge, and my favorite, the Guinness Toffee. Yum!!! Seriously this is a fun place and worthy of a stop whether or not you have children with you. HINT: Stock up on edible souvenirs to bring back home!!
- Kilkenny Design Center To get your shopping fix all in one place, you have to stop at Kilkenny Design Center. Located right across from the castle, This place features local artisans and is just a part of Kilkenny’s Castle Yard which was the castles stables and coach houses. It sure shows that Kilkenny is Ireland’s craft capitol when you stop in here. I’m not gonna lie, we spent probably close to an hour in the shop. There was so much to look at. I ended up coming home with a Kilkenny matted print for Megan and some cool earrings for myself.
One of the windows of- Smithwicks By now you must be getting a little thirsty and since we’re in Ireland and specifically Kilkenny, why not pay a visit to Smithwick’s for the Smithwick’s Experience. After all this is home to the popular Irish brew. Take a tour and find out about the history and the process of this 300 year old brewery. Smithwick’s is located right in the heart of Kilkenny. We did not do this on our day in Kilkenny, but I am gonna definitely visit next trip! There’s a reason this is number 5 on Trip Advisors list of things to do in Kilkenny.
- Murphy’s Ice Cream I’m listing Murphy’s cause if you are traveling around Ireland and staying in a town with a Murphy’s (2 in Dublin and one in each of the cities of Kilkenny, Galway, Killarney, and the home shop of Dingle), then you have to stop! It’s easy to fit in a quick ice cream stop on a one day stop in Kilkenny!
- Lunch at Fig Tree Restaurant We were literally starving by the time we arrived in Kilkenny from Dublin. Renee had a list of Gluten free options for every city we were staying at. She sure did her research! So when we were looking for a spot for our early dinner/late lunch we consulted her list and found Fig Tree was within walking distance. With an emphasis on fresh food prepared daily, we figured we could not go wrong. The menu offers lots of options from a traditional Irish Breakfast to burgers, salads, and lasagna. I chose the pulled pork with a chai latte to wash it down and was very pleased.
So I know there is much more to do in Kilkenny than what I have listed. This one day itinerary suited us just fine. We checked off our 1 castle that we intended to visit and got some shopping done. There is only so much you can do with less than 24 hours. We were set to leave for Dingle which was a 4 hour trip and wanted to have the bulk of the driving done by nightfall. If we arrived earlier, we could have easily done the brewery tour. Plus we had a very late night the last night in Dublin due to the concert.
Thanks for stopping by and reading about my Ireland adventure!!
If you’ve been to Kilkenny and have a must see to add to my list of 6 best things to do in Kilkenny, please share in the comments.
Lori
[…] It’s no secret that the pub in Ireland is the center of social life in any town. It’s a place where families gather and have a bite to eat while the adults enjoy a Guinness or a beverage of their choice while they chat with fellow locals. Since we had long adventure filled days, Renee and I had a hard time staying awake much past 10 pm. We had not been in any pub long enough to listen to any traditional Irish music. Our first night in Dingle, I was determined to catch some trad music. Per suggestion from Brian, our host at Castlewood House, we stopped at John Benny’s for a bite to eat and hopefully catch some music. We walked to the pub on Strand Street from Castlewood and took our place at the mostly quiet John Benny’s at around 7pm. We ordered our food and found out that the music was scheduled to start around 9:30. Would we make it? We were pretty tired from the drive to Dingle from Kilkenny. […]