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Private Day Tour of the Medieval City of Kilkenny
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From €474 per person
This is your private day in Kilkenny - you choose where to go and when. Your driver-guide is there to take care of the logistics and point you in the right direction, but the pace is entirely up to you.
Kilkenny’s medieval core has a lot to work with. Start the morning with a stroll through the castle park, then take a guided tour of Kilkenny Castle itself - don’t miss the famous picture gallery inside. After that, you can explore the medieval craft shops or head straight for lunch.
Kyteler’s Inn (established in 1324) is worth considering - it’s one of Ireland’s oldest medieval inns with a well-documented history tied to Dame Alice Kyteler, who was accused of witchcraft in the 14th century. A pint of Guinness or Smithwick’s goes well with the atmosphere.
After lunch, there’s the Medieval Mile Museum, St Canice’s Cathedral and Round Tower (climb the tower for panoramic views over the city), and the Smithwick’s Brewery with its interactive guided tour and tastings. Before you leave, the Kilkenny Design Centre is a good stop for traditional Irish crafts and gifts.
Kilkenny is the smallest city in Ireland and genuinely medieval in its bones - the streets between the castle and St Canice’s Cathedral were laid out for carts, not cars. Your driver-guide will handle parking, which is the right call: park once near the castle car park and walk everything from there. Castle to cathedral is a 1.5 km stroll and you can do the whole Medieval Mile in either direction.
Kyteler’s Inn at lunch is a good choice for the history, but on a Saturday night it gets coach-busy. Going in at midday gives you the medieval cellars and the story of Dame Alice Kyteler without the evening crowd. Alice was the first person in Ireland accused of witchcraft, in 1324 - she escaped to England; her maid Petronella was not so fortunate. The medieval cellars are still there under the building. For dinner, if your tour runs late enough, Campagne on Gas House Lane holds a Michelin star - French technique, Irish ingredients, and the kind of bill that makes sense when you see the plate. Book two weeks ahead for a weekend.
For the Smithwick’s stop: John Smithwick set up his brewery at the ruins of St Francis’ Abbey in 1710 and the family brewed there for nearly 300 years. The brewery closed in 2013 but the ruined abbey wall that it was built around is still there inside the Experience tour - it’s worth the stop for the medieval architecture as much as the tasting at the end.
If your driver-guide mentions Tynan’s Bridge House for a pint, say yes. It’s a Victorian bar with a tiled floor and a mahogany counter, run by the Tynan family for generations, and the stout is what most locals will point you to if you ask them directly. No food, no music - the room does the work.
The castle parkland is 50 acres of free walking in the middle of the city. The loop along the Nore river through the formal garden and back up past the rose garden takes about 40 minutes and is what you do when the rain sets in - or when you want five minutes of quiet between sites.