Cahore Beach Cliff Walk location

Cahore is about 20 minutes south of Courtown. The village of Cahore is best known as a fishing and holiday destination.

The starting point of the Cahore walk

We started the cliff walk at the pier here. There was lots of parking when we arrived but it was a cold windy December day.

As we parked at the pier and we brought a buggy with us (there are steps at the start) we walked back up the road to the strand Cahore restaurant and started our walk beside the coffee shop.

About the Wexford Cliff Walk

• Very Good path over 2 meters wide and perfect for a buggy.

• The walk is 2.5km out and back

• There are Great views of the coast filled with wildlife, beach and Cahore beach

• No large drops, it’s relatively safe for small kids

• Food is available at the start/end. The kids loved being able to get hot chocolate at the end of the walk. We were too early for the Pizza :(

• Lots of parking on the pier and the Strand restaurant

• Beach section optional- You can walk down to the beach at the turn around point

• Loop walk option is also available

• Buggy Friendly- One of our children is 2 years old and is out of her hiking bag and the buggy but the buggy is still being used.

Would we recommend the Cahore Cliff walk?

Yes, this cliff walk is perfect for families, our children are 4 & 2 years old at the minute and they loved this walk. At the end of the walk, you can walk down to Cahore Beach or just return the way you came.

Our Instagram Reel of our Cliff walk

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Please Check With the Covid guidelines and Restrictions before attempting any of these hikes. At present, there is a 5km restriction from your house so adventue and explore within your 5km local area and these hikes will be here for you when its safe to travel again. Stay safe, Thank You

1. Mount Leinster

Mount Leinster is the highest point in County Wexford and Carlow. It sits at an altitude of 795m and has road access to the summit. The walk starts at the 9 stones viewing point.

• Amazing Views from the top
• Tarmac Road to the Top
• Buggy Friendly to the mast only
• Very Steep (But rewarding)
• Allow 2-3 hours including breaks
• Optional hikes to Knockroe, and the Blackstairs

2. Raven point Wood

Ravin Point is situated beside Curracloe beach in County Wexford. The walk is a 7km long lopped walk with an additional option to do the return loop along the beach. The walk starts at the entrance to Raven wood. At the start of the walk, there is a large carpark but it fills up very quickly on the weekends so come early.

This is a lovely walk filled with woodland trails, beach walks and lots of sea views. Visit Wexford has a map available.

• Woodland section only buggy friendly
• 2-hour walk with stops for snacks and sandcastles
• 7km+ walk depending on the route
• Amazing quite beach
• Large car park

3. Edenvale

We only recently discovered Edenvale and it was by chance. We drove past the entrance one day and spotted the walk sign, so we decided to explore it. Edenvale is situated between the N11 to Wexford town and Castlebridge. The Walk is through a woodland trail that follows along the River Sow to a water pumping station. If you decide to explore the water plant bring straps to keep the kids safe. It is buggy-friendly until you reach the water plant at the end. A metal platform leads you to the rear of the plant where there are stairs that allows you to walk alongside the waterfall to the top. There you will see an old bridge and the ruins of an old building.

• 2.5km long
• Buggy friendly
• Bring straps for small kids
• Flat walk

4. Oulart Hill – Tulach A Tsolais 

At the top of Oulart Hill is a monument to the United Irishmen’s uprising of 1798 called Tulach a’ tSolais. The car park at the start of the walk is large with lots of information signs. The monument is a 500m walk away from the carpark and is buggy friendly out to the monument. The walkout to the monument is filled with 360-degree views of Wexford and surrounding counties. Additional walks can be done but they entail road walking and are not buggy friendly see our previous blog post and Wexford walking trails for more information.

• Large Carpark
• Easy walk to the monument
• 1km is the shortest walk
• Hilltop walk
• Buggy friendly
• Large Carpark
• Great views
• Kids love exploring the monument
• Additional walks available

5. Lackin Hill

Lackin Hill is situated just outside New Ross. The walk to Lackin Hill starts at the Dunbrody Forest Walk and is fully signposted with large information boards at the start see here. Our Kids love the 5km walk up to the top of Lacken Hill. It’s filled with a large fairy village 100m away from the start and Ourlittlehikers loved every step of this. The route to the top of Lackin Hill is not buggy friendly but is sprinkled with fairy doors painted onto trees to help motivate little legs. There are 4 walking routes available to walk in Lackin Hill.

• 5km walk
• Fairy village
• Large Cross at the summit
• Not buggy friendly
• Large Car park
• Additional walks available

6. Cahore Cliff Walk

The Cahore cliff walk starts beside Cahore pier. We walked up Cahore Strand road until we got to the start of the trail. The trail is 2.5km in total and is an out and back walk. The path is wide and in good condition. There are amazing views of the sea, lots of sandy beaches and lots of birds overhead. We went on a winter’s day, so lots of layers were essential to keep warm. You can walk on the beach at the end if the weather permits. We decided on a nice hot chocolate at Cahore Strand instead.

• 2.5km long out and back and an optional 5km looped walk
• Buggy friendly
• Great sea views
• Beach section at the end
• A coffee shop at the start/finish with pizza :)
• Lots of parking

7. Tintern Abbey

Tintern Abbey is a great stopping point if you plan to visit Hook lighthouse. Use Eircode Y34 KR64 to get to the carpark.  There is an admission fee into the Abbey and walled garden but there are amazing FREE walks around the grounds. This is a great place to explore. The grounds are filled with lots of distractions for children to explore and wander around. There are 4 walks available at the Abbey.

• Free admission to walks
• Free large carpark
• Buggy friendly walks
• Wood carvings/distractions
• Good paths/signs
• Woodland walks
• Nice bridge/river walks

8. Tara Hill

Tara Hill is a lovely forest walk in the village of Tara. There are 2 walks available and both require some road walking. The views from the top of Tara Hill are amazing and well worth an out and back walk if you do not want to do the road sections. This walk is not buggy friendly. The start of the walk can be accessed from here.

• Limited parking
• Not buggy friendly
• Great views from the top
• Road sections
• Poor signposts

9. Carrigfoyle Quarry

Carrigfoyle Quarry seems to be a bit of a hidden gem in Wexford. The walk around the quarry is currently receiving a facelift but you can still walk down to the lake and around sections of the higher forest. We still used the old car park at the side of the road but the new sign at the trailhead shows a new carpark here.

• Limited Parking but being extended
• Buggy friendly
• Amazing lake views
• Short loop walk
• 15 minutes from Wexford Town

10. Sliabh Coillte

Slieve Coillte is opposite the JFK Arboretum. The access road to the top of Slieve Coillte has opening times but access to the top is free. The road is 3km long to the top and can be walked or drove. There are a number of stopping and viewing points along the way to the top. At the top, there are nice loop walks around the summit along with a 1798 memorial and a trig point. Sliabh Coillte has stunning views and is a great starter high point to get young children interested in walking and hiking.

• Stunning views
• Free access
• Large carpark
• A short walk around the summit
• Visit JFK Arboretum after
• Great picnic location

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This was the very first Mountain that we hiked as part of the 32 Peak county high points with Ourlittlehiker but we didn’t record much information from that adventure, we decided to hike it again but this time with our 2 little hikers. This will be our baby hikers first time up Mount Leinster and Ourlittlehikers second time.

Our Babyhiker is 7 weeks old and we pushed her to the top of Mount Leinster in her Quinny Buzz and carrycot. Ourlittlehiker is now 2 years old and she walked a good section of the road herself. When she got tired, we put her into her own buggy. This is the first time we brought the kids pushchairs on a hike. We previously hiked Mount Leinster with Ourlittlehiker, when she was 6 months old, the photographs are a mixture of both hikes.

Why Hike Mount Leinster?

Mount Leinster is an easy mountain to hike, as there is a tarmac RTE access road leading from the carpark at the nine stones the whole way to the summit. This is similar to Kippure, Truskmore and Cornhill, county high points. Out of all the access roads to the county high points, Mount Leinster is definitely the steepest hike to the top.

As this was our first hike to a County High Point with Ourlittlehiker, it was more of a recce mission than actually trying to complete a full hike to the summit. We really wanted to see how comfortable OutlittleHiker would be in her Deuter baby hiking bag, especially for a long period of time, potentially 2-3 hours in warm conditions.

2017 Hike to Mount Leinster

Hiking Mount Leinster

We walked around the metal barriers and started walking uphill. The road is fully tarmacadamed to the top of Mount Leinster. We initially walked beside a wood to our left that seemed to be filled with flies. We put some insect repellent on Ourlittlehiker, which seemed to be doing a good job of keeping them all off her and projecting them onto her parents.

As this was our first CHP with a baby, we wanted to see were we able to hike up these hills with a baby on our back and wanted to make sure that our baby daughter was enjoying herself. After walking halfway up toward Mount Leinster, we quickly realised that our fitness levels were not as good as they were in 2015, but we were loving the challenge and more importantly, Ourlittlehiker was amazed by all the views, wildlife and other families out hiking.

We reached a gate and cattle grid, we decided to swap the bag over to give Mammy an opportunity to carry Ourlttlehiker up the side of the mountain. Gina did a super job and carried her the remaining way to the summit. This section after the gate was definitely the steepest section of the Mount Leinster hike.

We reached a left bend in the road and then reached a right bend, we could see another long steep section of road ahead. When we reached the final corner we could eventually see the compound for the TV mast in front of us. The summit is to the right-hand side of the compound gate of the mast. We quickly ran over and got a few pictures at the top.

The verdict of Mount Leinster Hike

We were super nervous about this whole hike. As this would be the first proper mountain that we would hike with our baby daughter. We were initially afraid that it would be too warm for her in the bag, we then were afraid of all the flies. The higher we got, we started becoming fearful of the wind and cold but we quickly realised that we had chosen the right hiking bag in the Deuter. (Ourlittlehiker was 6 months old at the time of writing this)

When the wind started to become cold and stronger we put blankets around Ourlittlehiker and installed the windbreaker cover. This is a godsend and we definitely wouldn’t attempt mountain hikes without it.

The hike up Mount Leinster is very easy. Okay, it is steep but the road brings you straight to the summit and we were reasonably sheltered from the wind until we reached the summit.

Conclusion on hiking Mount Leinster with a buggy or baby Carrier?

After hiking Mount Leinster once before with our Deuter Baby Carrier and once with the Quinny buzz buggy, we found it far easier with the Deuter baby carrier. We found it hard to push the buggies up the steep incline and the kids seemed far more content in their carriers. Our new addition to the family (babyhiker) loves her Ergo Carrier and sleeps constantly in it but she doesn’t seem to sleep in the baby buggy. When she is in the Ergo carrier she is nestled up against her Mammys skin and can even breastfeed while walking, she sleeps 90% of the time when she is in it.

Ourlittlehiker likes being up high and looking around her in the Deuter carrier when she gets tired from walking. She didn’t really like been in her buggy and she kept trying to get out. She kept saying she wanted to be on her daddy’s back, we assume this is toddler code for the baby carrier.

In future, we are going to stick to the Deuter kids comfort for hikes.

Mount Leinster Map

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Tintern Abbey is on the Hook peninsula and was built in 1203. The Abbey itself is semi-restored with parts of the building still in ruins but there are still good facilities on-site, such as a coffee shop and toilets. Tintern Abbey is ranked as one of the major tourist attractions in Wexford and it does not disappoint, the abbey and gardens are a must see when visiting Hook lighthouse as you will essentially drive past the entrance while going to hook lighthouse. The grounds around the Abbey and Tintern Abbey Hikes are free to roam around, to get access to the Abbey itself will cost €5.00. For updates on opening times on the Abbey visit their site here.

When driving into the Abbey you drive down a long private road until you get to the side of the Abbey, the day we were here there was ample parking beside the abbey. We walked down to the side of the Abbey passing the Coffee shop and toilets on our left-hand side until we reached a small bridge and a signpost showing all the walking routes on the grounds.

Tintern Abbey Hikes

There are 4 signposted walks available at Tintern Abbey, they are;

• The Blue arrow walk called the Gardeners trail 0.9km long
• The Red arrow walk called the Tintern Demesne Trail and is 2.4km long
• The White arrow walk called the Foxboro Trail and is 3.5km long
• The Green arrow walk called the Bannow Bay Trail and is 7.5km long

We decided to walk all the trails in Tintern Abbey and as usual, we went for the longest trail to hike first, which was the green signed trail.

Tintern Abbey Hike – Green Signs

The green signed hike is the longest of the Tintern Abbey hikes with a distance of 7.5 km and an expected walking time of 1.5 hrs to 2 hrs. The signpost highlights that the majority of this walk is done on small roads.

The green walk starts by walking across the small bridge at the signpost and then taking a sharp right into the woodland on a good wide gravel footpath until you reach the Abbeys large bridge that resembles the top of a castle. We walked through the deal park and on to the ‘Brickfield’ this is where the bricks were made to be used in the walled gardens.

Continue walking straight and follow the river towards Saltmill town, the trial will gradually rise until the small walking trail slowly starts to turn into a small local car access road with a tarmac surface.

While walking up to the top of the small hill we walk parallel to an estuary and are greeted with views of Saltmills bridge, which made for some nice views with the low winter sun shining through it.

Halfway to Saltmills about 1-2 km into the hike we came across a little pub called “Vine Cottage Bar” we didn’t go in as we felt we just got going and it’s just easier to keep walking instead of taking off the baby rucksack and taking our little hiker out so soon into the hike. We continued walking towards the town and then came to a T junction on a busy road. Be careful on this road as some cars are going extremely quick, so always assume the car has not seen you and stand on the grass verge and let the car pass.

We now cross Saltmills bridge, the footpath stops before you cross the bridge so if you meet a car you will have to walk on the grass. The bridge is called Tintern bridge and was built in 1817 it provided nice views of the Abbey and the Sea, can you imagine the traffic this bridge has witnessed over the years.

We continued on the side of the road passing the red galvanized sheds on our right-hand side going toward the next corner, this is possibly the most dangerous section of the walk as there is limited room to stand off the road when cars are coming toward you.

On the walk toward the next corner which is about 150m from Tintern bridge, St Marys ‘first fruit’ Church is on our left after this, we then came to a Y junction and at this junction, we walked down the small little road toward the Sea.

This road is a very small road with a lot less traffic, we did meet cars but they all slowed down to pass us. The road becomes quite muddy and I imagine it is prone to flooding in bad weather but on the day of our hike, it provided a nice level surface to experience the nice trail.

On right 100m down the road, we start walking along Bannow bay which also has a section of a nature reserve. We continue walking and on the left is an old IRA memorial.

This section of the walk meanders around the bay and the road sweeps in and out following the formation of the bay. Most of the road is visible around the bay so it gives you a good idea what is ahead. In the distance, we can see an old dredger boat that seems to have run aground or maybe even misplaced. The dredger is our visual goal for this section and provided some nice backdrop photos.

It was so relaxing walking beside the sea, listening to the waves crashing against the rocks and the odd bird flying overhead. Unfortunately, our little hiker had fallen asleep at this stage of the hike and missed the dredger and the wildlife, she might see it next time.

As we walked this section of the Tintern Abbey hike it provided much-needed family time and we started to talk about our little hiker’s weekly advances in life. So we decided to try every week on our hikes to make a private video while we are out on the hike detailing her weekly changes and new habits. This took many different attempts but we had good fun doing it.

The road turns 90 degrees soon after the boat and the gradient of the road starts to increase slightly, nothing our little hiker’s Mammy cant handle.

The road continues past a couple of farms and rural houses. We are now starting to walk back towards the Abbey and most of the best sights are behind us.

After about 10 minutes on this road, we come to a T junction at a slightly busier road, the signs point toward a corner on our left.

After the initial first corner, the road is reasonably straight with wide grass verges to stand on if cars are coming. There is not much to see in this section of the walk but it’s only about 15 minutes long and there is a nice little hill to take your mind off the lack of views. After the small hill, there is another T junction, this is the main road so take car approaching it. Opposite the main road, there is a gate back to the grounds of Tintern Abbey where you can walk over the wall or climb the gate to get access to the trail.

This section of the walk seems to have received a new layer of gravel lately and is a very nice surface to walk on. The path leads downhill through a wooded area leading past ruins of an old church and graveyard.

We took some time to explore the ruins of the old church and graveyard. We then continued down the hill and started walking back towards the second bridge that we initially crossed at the start of the walk.

We turned right here still following the green arrows, which eventually brought us back to the Abbey just in time to see a dog looking out a window and get some treats in the coffee shop.

Would we recommend Tintern Abbey Hike–Green Signed Walk

The Bannow Bay Green trail gave us a taste of all that Saltmills and Tintern Abbey had to offer. The majority of this trail is walked on roads but this is highlighted on the signpost at the start and they are quite roads, so it is hard to complain about this.

This walk gave us quite country paths, a town stroll which passed nearby pubs,  historical memorials, nature reserves, wrecked ships and churches along with graveyards. There were less entertaining sections of road but every walk has sections like this. Overall we enjoyed the hike but it is probably not buggy or small child-friendly due to the sections of busy road.

Tintern Abbey Hike – White Signs

Tintern Abbey Hike – Red Signs

Tintern Abbey Hike – Blue Signs 0.9km

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Tara Hill is a hill dominating the landscape over Gorey, Court town and Castletown. Tara hill is only 253m high but as it sits beside the gorgeous Wexford coastline it provides extensive panoramic views of the sea and distant larger mountains. Tara hill village seems like a small Irish village with the usual small Irish town facilities. Tara Hill hike is perfectly situated as it is only a 10-minute drive off the N11 road, which is the main road from Wexford and Dublin. This hike can provide a perfect 45-minute break from the monotony of motorway driving.

Tara Hill looped Hike Start Point

We did the usual thing of just putting’Tara hill’ into google maps to find the location, occasionally, this doesn’t work and it brings us to the wrong location but this time it brought us straight to the starting point of the intended hike. We took exit 22 from the N11 motorway, for Gorey/Inch and drove towards Gorey on the R722 until we got to the road junction L5032 road for Ballymoney or the Seafield hotel. We continued on this road for about 4-5 km and turned left at a Y junction with a sign for Tara hill on a stone. We drove 1 km up the road then took the next left. We continued driving up the hill until we seen the Tara hill lopped walk signs.

There is a small car park at the start of the hike that fitted about 3-4 cars maximum, so try to come early. As we walked, we saw that there was another car park available closer to the village beside the national school. We were lucky and parked the car safely in the one small remaining space at the start of the blue hike.

The sign for the Tara hill hike shows two possible routes, the red lopped walk, and the blue looped walk.

• The red loop is 5km and goes around the base of the hill.
• The blue loop is 5.4km goes up the hill and gives amazing views.

When we go hiking we always seem to go instinctively for the longest and highest hike and this hike was no different, we decided to go for the blue looped walk. We started walking from the car park following the signpost going up the small cul-de-sac residential lane. This part of the walk was very quiet, with no traffic to worry about, as we gained elevation we started to get views of the sea and the lovely Wexford coastline.

We walked to the end of the tarmac lane where the blue and red loop split, the blue loop enters the wood and has 4-5 large rocks entering a cleared forestry.

Within 1-2 minutes of walking into the forestry, the trail will gain in elevation quickly. The trail will follow a zig-zag pattern up to the top of the blue looped.

There is a small seating area among a rocky area of the trail that provided us with the best views of the day. When we hiked this walk there was a bad wind chill so we didn’t hang around here too long as it was quite exposed. This seated area would be perfect to relax and take in the amazing Irish landscape, as the views don’t get much better than this.

After this seating area, we continued further up the hill, we came to a T junction but unfortunately, the signpost was knocked down. We stood there and tried to guess which was the right direction but I think we guessed the wrong route. We continued straight ahead until we came to another T junction where we could see windmills in the Sea in the distance. There was another blue arrow pointing us right at this junction, we followed it and started walking downhill again.

This was another nice section of the hike as we were walking towards the sea views, the cold winter wind was behind our backs and the forestry has been replanted with eucalyptus trees. We walked downhill for a couple of kilometers unaware that we had taken a wrong turn somewhere.

Halfway through the downhill section, we had a small picnic but as it is winter and VERY cold we just kept walking and eating. Our little hiker LOVES mandarin oranges at the minute so we all had some fruit to keep our energy levels up.

We continued walking downhill until we got to an open yellow metal barrier but there were no more Blue arrows to be seen, only one red arrow pointing into the wood. We walked down to a carpark at the bottom of the lane about 50m away but there were no more blue arrows to be seen here either. We walked back to the Red arrow sign, which cut through the bottom of the wood on a muddy footpath, we followed this sign as we knew it would bring us back to the start.

We walked on the muddy path until we came to a farm gate, which also brought us onto a small country lane but thankfully the red arrows were very consistent at this stage of the trail.

Like most small hikes in Ireland, there will be a section of road walking and the Tara hill hike was no exception. This section was on a very tight country road with limited stand in sections when cars came, the road was very busy when we were walking it, we probably met 5-6 cars in the 500-600 meters of road.We didn’t mind this too bad as this section of the trail brought us past Tara village Catholic church, which we walked in around to admire the building.

We were delighted that the church doors were open as we always love walking into churches for a quick break. The church is called Saint Kevins and was built between 1939-1941. St Kevin’s church is a small church which gives it a very welcoming warm feeling. The Christmas nativity scene was still up when we visited and our daughter seemed very impressed when we gave her a closer look at all the detail. The church had amazing vaulted ceilings with exposed beams and is well worth a visit when hiking this trail.

We walked back out of the church and walked towards the junction beside the national school, where we saw another Red sign. We continued past the national school up the hill on a footpath where there was another carpark, which the red loop could be walked from.

We continued up the road but the footpath quickly disappeared and we were back to walking on the side of a very small busy country road, this section might not be suitable for a pram. Another Red sign appeared about 1km on this road and we turned onto an even smaller road which was another cul-de-sac and was very quiet.

Turn left here onto a cul-de-sac

This small cul-de-sac road starts to rise sharply and follows the edge of the side of the hill contours, the road starts to turn muddy but also becomes very sheltered as the hill is now to our side and it blocks the cold sea air.

This was a very enjoyable section of the walk as it was reasonably flat and it felt like we were walking through the middle of the Wexford countryside, you could nearly imagine these roads were used with horse-drawn carts maybe a century ago.

The grassy country lane continued for another couple of kilometers and was slightly overgrown but this added to the character of the hike. The lane then turned back into a tarmac road again which quickly revealed our car around a corner.

Conclusion of our Tara Hill Hike

To be honest, when we set out to do the Tara hill hike we didn’t have high expectations, as we couldn’t find much information online about it. As we got lost it was hard to give an accurate distance but we clocked it at around 7.5km with the mixture of the Blue and Red looped walks, this took us 2 hours to complete but we had a lot of stops and breaks to admire the views when we could.

The hike has amazing views and is nicely challenging without the need to climb a larger mountain. Boots are necessary for winter, I’d imagine you would get away with hiking shoes in summer as there were only a few areas that had mud in the depths of winter. If you are passing Gorey and need a break this hike is a must, and we highly recommend it.

There were only a few problems we found with the hike;

• Signposting was very poor and sporadic in places
• Where we parked it was only limited to 3 cars
• Road walking for a couple of Km’s on very tight roads.

The issues above would not stop me from recommending this hike.

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