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Spring Tonic Foraging Tour
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From €60 per person
Howth sits at the end of the DART line with a headland, a harbour, and a surprising amount of wild food growing on its cliffs and hillsides. Nicole knows these wild edges the way most people know their own back gardens - and over two and a half hours she’ll share all of it with you.
You’ll learn to confidently identify at least ten edible plants and fungi growing right here on the Howth peninsula, hear how they’ve been used for food and medicine, and get a proper introduction to the pollinators and wildlife that keep the ecosystem running. The walk takes you through Howth’s secret trails and hills, past the grounds of Howth Castle - a site with roots in the Norman and Viking periods - and through the traditional fishing village with its shops and restaurants. You’ll leave with a foraging pack, a head full of recipe ideas, and the kind of practical knowledge that genuinely changes how you look at the Irish countryside from that point on.
Nicole’s tours sell out regularly. Her clients tend to come back.
Meeting point: Next to Howth church in the centre of Howth village. Bus and train both run to Howth.
Take the DART from Connolly or Pearse Station directly to Howth. The journey takes around 30 minutes from the city centre and drops you right in the village - a short walk from the church meeting point. It’s far easier than driving, there’s no parking to worry about, and you can spend the train ride watching the coast open up as you head north.
Wear layers and proper shoes. The headland paths are uneven and can be wet even on a dry day. You don’t need hiking boots, but trainers with any kind of grip are better than flat-soled shoes. The weather on the exposed sections of the cliff path can be a few degrees cooler than the village, even in summer, so a light jacket in your bag is always a good idea.
Take photos of everything Nicole identifies. The species names, the plant characteristics, the habitat - photograph it all. The foraging pack she gives you is a great reference, but your own photos from the actual plants you handled will reinforce the identification skills much faster when you go out foraging on your own afterwards.
After the tour, Howth village has some of the best seafood chippers in Dublin. Beshoff’s and Wrights of Howth both sit close to the harbour and are genuinely good - not tourist-trap good, but the-locals-eat-here good. The east pier walk after lunch takes about 20 minutes and gives you views back across the bay to the Dublin mountains.
Book early if you’re planning a spring visit. Nicole’s tours fill up quickly in March, April and May, which is when the widest range of edible plants are growing on the headland. Autumn is also good for fungi, but spring is the sweet spot for variety and for understanding the “spring tonic” concept the tour is built around.