Waterford Top Family Friendly Walks

Ardmore Cliff Walk

Ardmore Cliff walk is a beautiful family-friendly walk in Ardmore County Waterford. Young kids love it. We walked this cliff walk route with our 3 young children. The walk is steep in places and has one small section with steps. Dangerous sections are fenced off.

• 4km loop, Buggy Friendly (except for about 15/20 steps. We carried the buggy up these)
• We parked @cliffhousehotel (try to start early as there are not many car spaces)
• Beautiful Coastal Views
• Coffee horsebox near the end
• It has a road walking section- Care required
• Walks past the round tower

Visit Goat Island Beach after Ardmore Cliff Walk

Goat Island Beach  It is nearby, such a beautiful hidden gem with little caves. (The road down is very long and narrow, I was glad I wasn’t driving 🙈🤪)

• Park here
• Limited spaces
• Very tight access road
• Amazing little hidden gem of a beach

Lismore Castle and Gardens

Lismore Castle is so beautiful and there is also a playground beside the Carpark. The castle and grounds fees can be seen here. Our kids loved exploring the gardens and coffee shop treats.

Dromana Gate

Dromana Gate is a beautiful Hindu style Gothic Gate Lodge. You can park on either side of the bridge but be mindful of oncoming traffic while walking across it.

• Be careful crossing, as it is a live road
• Only 4-5 car parking spaces
• Dromana Gate location here

Mahon Falls

This is one of our favourite walks, that we do every year. Beautiful short flat walk to the waterfall which is also buggy Friendly. Make sure to call in to @crough_coffee before/after for some tasty treats.

• Park here to walk down to Mahon falls (Free)
• Come early on the weekend, this is very busy
• 1.2 km walk to the base of the waterfall
• Buggy friendly- Gravel path
• Have a picnic and dip your feet into the water at the end

Waterford Greenway

The Waterford Greenway is one of Waterford’s famous walks and we love it. We have walked the whole greenway before we had kids. The Greenway is great for kids that love bikes and scooters, even if you only do a small section of it. If this is the case, we recommend walking through the tunnel section and exploring all the fairy doors.

• Park here for the Tunnell Section
• Out and back walk
• Kids love the fairy doors
• The tunnel is fully lit up and the kids love exploring
• We stayed in Kiereys in Kilmacthomas previously,  when we walked the whole Greenway

Waterford Suir Valley Railway.

This is a train ride, great for kids and very fun. They get a little map to tick off all the different things they see along the way, the train stops for a few minutes at a fairy village where you stay on the train and keep an eye out for fairies.

• It cost us €25 for 3 of us, kids under 3 go free
• 10 km train ride
• Stop to view the fairy village on the way
• Bring ear muffs for smaller kids- it is very loud

Anne Valley Nature and Wildlife Walk

Anne Valley Wildlife walk is a beautiful buggy Friendly Walk. We recommend bringing your kid’s scooters/bikes. (Adult bikes not allowed) You can park on either side of the walk- Dunhill or Annestown Village. There is also a parking mid-way at Dunhill Castle. You can climb up into the castle where you will be greeted with spectacular views.

• Mid-way parking available
• Good surface for kids’ scooters
• 5km walk along the river
• Start point here
• Midway car park and Dunhill castle here

The Vee Mountain Pass- Bay Lough

Bay Lough at the Knockmealdowns. This is a Lovely walk to the lake. You can access the lake from the top or bottom car park. We walked up from the bottom car park.

• The walk is not buggy friendly
• It is steep but our 4-year-old daughter walked it all
• 500m from the car park here
• Amazing lake and very quiet
• 1km from this car park here

Knockmealdown mountain and Sugarloaf Hill loop walk –

We previously wrote a blog post here on this so you can decide for yourself if it would suit your family. We hiked the Knockmealdowns in 2017 when we only had one little hiker to carry. Like all mountains climb with care, at the summit, there is a drop to one side, so if it’s foggy then turn around. Have the correct gear, navigation etc with you. There is also a section of road walking if you do the loop. The views are amazing 🤩