52.65° N · 7.24° W
Ireland's medieval city: the Butlers' castle, St Canice's Cathedral with its round tower and the Medieval Mile, an hour and a half by train from Dublin.
Part of Irish pubs
What to do
Each plan says how long it takes, who it's for and whether you can book.
Self-guided visit · 1 h 30 · adult €8 · restored rooms and the picture gallery, with a free park all around
Visit · 1 h · from €12 with the tower · the Gothic cathedral and the round tower, climbed by internal ladders
Guided visit · 45 min · from €21 with a pint · 300 years of Kilkenny's red ale in a former abbey
Itineraries
Days and weekends already planned out, with how to get between each stop and who to book with.
Plan the trip
Each choice narrows the next: the season shapes how best to travel, and how you travel decides where you stay and where you eat.
When to go
From April to June and in September. In summer there is more music and there are more guided tours, and also more people. In winter St Canice's Cathedral is closed on Sundays, and the Medieval Mile Museum is open only Wednesday to Sunday all year round.
How you travel
Choose how you're travelling and we'll tell you where to stay, how to get around, where to eat and which services you'll need. We only show the ways of travelling that make sense here.
For Kilkenny you fly to Dublin, with direct flights from many Spanish cities. From the airport, take the coach to Heuston station (the Dublin Express stops there) and an Intercity train to Kilkenny, an hour and a half to an hour and three-quarters. With a hire car it is a little under two hours along the M50 and the M9.
Kilkenny is the most comfortable train trip from Dublin: a good hour and a half from Heuston, and from the station everything is done on foot, from the castle to St Canice's Cathedral along the Medieval Mile. With the 7:20 or the 10:15 train you have the whole day; if you sleep one night, you see it without rushing and with music at Kyteler's.
Who you're with
A trip with a toddler is not the same as one with a teenager. Pick yours to see what works and what to bear in mind.
Kilkenny is small and flat, and with children that is worth a lot: from the castle you walk to the other sights, and the castle park is free and enormous. One day is plenty; one night lets you add early music in a pub.
Teenagers take to Kilkenny through its stories: a woman accused of witchcraft in 1324, a round tower you climb from the inside and a medieval city you can cover in a morning.
Where to stay
We show you what suits the way you travel.Change how you travel
Why we like it: Four-star hotel on Patrick Street, two minutes from the castle, with 84 rooms and suites and the Stathams bar-restaurant.
Why we like it: Georgian house on Patrick Street with a walled garden and its own gate to the castle courtyard, with rooms of various sizes, a family room and one that accepts dogs.
Why we like it: Four-star hotel at John Street bridge, over the Nore, with castle-view rooms, family rooms and free parking.
Services for this trip
Where to eat
From set lunch menus to Michelin stars. We mark the price level and what to order at each place.
What to order: the Kilkenny pork sausage with Guinness and leek, from the local butcher, or the Irish stew.
What to order: the early evening menu, between 17:00 and 18:00.
Map
The places to stay and services on the map are the ones for the way you travel. Turn on the layers you want and tap a point to see its details.
Nearby
The closest places, whichever country they are in.
52.52° N · 7.89° W
By planeBy carCar-free
53.01° N · 6.33° W
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53.19° N · 6.17° W
By planeBy carCar-free
53.35° N · 6.26° W
By planeCar-free
Tips
With the 7:20 you are at the castle when it opens.
The Medieval Mile Museum is closed on Monday and Tuesday; the cathedral, on winter Sundays.
Heritage Ireland warns that there are no authorised resellers.
The classic view of the castle is from John Street bridge or the park.
Kilkenny is a small city on the banks of the River Nore, in the south-east of Ireland, and the one that best preserves its medieval layout. In the Middle Ages it was one of the most important cities in the country, and between the Butlers' castle and St Canice's Cathedral runs the Medieval Mile, a street with narrow lanes, merchants' houses, inns and churches. You can walk it from end to end in twenty minutes.
Start with the castle at 9:30, when it opens: an hour and a half for the reception rooms and the portrait gallery. Go out into the park and walk down towards the river. Mid-morning, the Medieval Mile Museum (Wednesday to Sunday) or its guided walk at 11:00. Have lunch in the centre and in the afternoon climb up to St Canice's Cathedral and its round tower. If you like beer, leave time for the Smithwick's Experience before the train back.
With a night, add traditional music at Kyteler's Inn, the inn of the "witch" of 1324.
Be careful if you go on a Sunday from October to April: St Canice's Cathedral is closed. The castle and its park are open every day, the Medieval Mile Museum is open Wednesday to Sunday and Rinuccini serves without a break from 12:30 to 20:30.
Questions
Between an hour and a half and an hour and three quarters from Heuston station, with about eight trains a day.
Yes. The castle, the Medieval Mile and the cathedral can be covered on foot in a day.
€8 self-guided, €4 children and students, €20 families. In summer there is a guided tour for €12.
Yes: by car, crossing the Wicklow Gap, or on Wild Rover Tours' day tour from Dublin.
At Kyteler's Inn, every night in high season: at 20:00 on weekdays and at 18:30 and 22:00 at weekends.
Geocaliahttps://www.geocalia.com/en/ireland/kilkenny
