Waterford

A Day in Waterford, Ireland: Land of Vikings and Crystal

Waterford is a coastal-ish town that was founded by Vikings in the 9th century, making it the oldest city in Ireland. If you are able to work this archeological treasure into your itinerary, you won’t regret it. I’ll admit that I was first compelled to visit this city because of the famed glass manufacturer, Waterford Crystal. However, once I started to learn more about its ancient history, I really wanted in on the Viking fortifications and museums.

My husband and I rolled into Waterford in the late afternoon after spending the earlier part of our day exploring Kilkenny and Kilfane on the third day (out of eight) of our Ireland road trip.

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To read an overview of our full eight-day itinerary through Ireland, click here.

The very first thing we did after after checking-in to the The Fitzwilton Hotel, was hustle over to the House of Waterford for our behind-the-scenes guided tour. The tour runs about an hour and offers an opportunity to see glass making at all stages of production. We loved this tour — and the friendly workers who allowed us to gawk at their craftsmanship.

Above photos: House of Waterford factory tour

Of course, after our tour we spent some time walking about the incredible showroom. We purchased a few small items to take back with us that we felt confident would survive the trip back.

Above photos: House of Waterford Crystal

We chose McLeary’s for dinner, a steak & seafood restaurant with views of the River Suir from Parade Quay. They have a thoughtful menu, with locally sourced ingredients and regional specialties. Afterwards, it was still light outside, so we were able to see Greyfriars, a ruined friary and church just around the corner.

Above photos: Dinner at McLearys

Above photos: Boats on The River Suir

Above photos: Greyfriars

Above photos: The streets and buildings of Waterford

To our surprise, Waterford has a lot of street art and murals. Did not expect that! Colorful painted buildings entertained us during our entire walk back to our hotel. It is really interesting to see the modern art alongside ruins and ancient landmarks.

Above photos: Street art in Waterford

Before continuing our sightseeing activities the following morning, we sat down for a proper breakfast of Waterford Blaa at The Granary Cafe. Blaa is a round bread roll dusted with flour. Waterford is known for it and you simply can’t miss trying it while you are here. There are only a handful of bakeries that still make Blaa and supply the local restaurants and cafes. A breakfast blaa can be ordered with a variety of fillings, such as bacon, sausage, eggs, cheese, jams, etc. It was as delicious as they say!

Above photo: Waterford Blaa

We returned to the Viking Triangle area, where we had walked around a little bit already. But, now the museums and attractions were open and we were able to fully explore the Waterford Treasures Museums and Reginald’s Tower.

Above photo: The Viking Triangle

Reginald’s Tower is Ireland’s oldest civic building. It was originally part of a Viking fort, but has served a number of uses over the past 800 years. Remarkably, it has never fallen into ruin. You can walk up the original spiral stairs and visit the exhibition and remains of a 19th century prison cell. Crazy old mind-boggling stuff. By the way, the OPW Heritage Card can be used here for free admission.

Above photos: Reginald’s Tower

The Medieval Museum holds a fascinating collection of incredibly well-preserved artifacts including the Great Charter Roll viewed by HM King Charles III and the Queen Consort and a set of Medieval church vestments.

Above photos: Exhibits at The Medieval Museum

Waterford has several more attractions that we did not have time to visit during our brief stay. We would have definitely needed another full day to really exhaust the top sites. So, if you are wondering how much time to allow for Waterford, a single day is probably going to leave you having to make some tough choices. Here are a few of the things we missed:

Read about the next stop on our Ireland road trip: Rock of Cashel and Cahir Castle here.

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