Travel

Two counties named best places to visit in Ireland in 2024

TWO Irish counties feature on a newly published list of the best places to visit in 2024.

Compiled by the luxury travel guide Condé Nast Traveller, both Wexford and Waterford feature in the Best Places to Go in 2024 list.

Curated through nominations by expert contributors, the guide highlights the up and coming places to visit for the year ahead with 24 destinations chosen.

“At the end of each year, we look ahead to what’s coming next in the travel world as we pick out the top destinations we’d recommend to our fellow globetrotters for the following 12 months,” Condé Nast Traveller explains.

“Our expert contributors nominate the destinations that are on the up right now, because of a flock of hotel openings, perhaps, or murmurings of Michelin arrivals, shiny new museums or a concerted conservation effort taking root,” they add.

“These nominations make up the Best Places To Go in 2024, in which we shine a light on the places that are due their moment in the sun.”
Twelve destinations feature in the travel guide’s Best Places to Go in the United Kingdom and Ireland 2024 list.

Counties Waterford and Wexford are among them, highlighted as the place to go for “smart reimaginings of grand country manors”.

“Ireland’s southeastern corner has always been something of a go-to for local holidaymakers, but not so much for outsiders,” Condé Nast Traveller’s Aoife O’Riordain explains.

Hook Lighthouse in the Hook Peninsula, Co Wexford

“Later in 2024, Wexford’s Hook Peninsula will set the scene for one of the country’s buzziest hotel openings, from the owners of The Dean hotels.

“With its roots in the 12th century, Loftus Hall had the dubious accolade of being one of Ireland’s most haunted mansions, but it will soon be shaking off its spooky associations when it reemerges as the lavishly done Ladyville House.

“Sitting pretty with views of the sea, an outdoor pool and direct beach access, it’s also close to the 800-year-old, black-and-white-striped Hook Lighthouse.”

Travellers are also urged to “hop over the border” and visit Waterford while in the vicinity.

Where another “palatial pile” awaits, namely the recently restored Mount Congreve House.

Overlooking the River Suir, with vast gardens and a café run by The Pantry at Cliff, the hotel is a spin-off of the Cliff House Hotel in Ardmore.

“When the gates close, you will have the gardens all to yourself if you bed down at Mount Congreve’s fairytale gate lodge, which is available to rent,” Ms O’Riordian says.

“And the Waterford Greenway, an off-road hiking and biking trail along a disused railway line between Waterford City and Dungarvan, passes right by the edge of the estate,” she adds.