Home Exchanging Along Ireland’s Southeast Coast

There is no coincidence that we have started both year’s journeys in Ireland. We love it there! This makes our fourth visit, and definitely not our last. We had yet to explore the east coast of Ireland, particularly County Wicklow, so we made this our first stop on the trip.

Here is a quick overview of our 8-night road trip in Ireland, October 2023

Co Wicklow: Bray, Enniskerry, Wicklow Mounains
Co Tipperary: Cashel, Cahir
Co Cork: Owenahincha Beach, Rosscarbery, Clonakilty, Youghal
Co Wexford: Wexford, Enniscorthy

What is Home Exchange?

Besides our last 2 nights, our entire trip consisted of home exchanges. There are two ways of home exchanging. You can literally swap houses (Yes, like the movie The Holiday) where they stay at your house and you stay at their house, or you can use points to stay at people’s homes, which is how we do it. We have accumulated points from renting out our house. It’s a major part of how we travel on a budget!

There are many other perks to using Home Exchange. It gives us access to a kitchen and laundry during our stays. Having a kitchen is crucial for us when wanting to save money. We would not be able to do these long travels for months if we had to budget our meals eating at restaurants. We also get some insight on what it feels like to live like a local in these areas.

Alright, let’s get to the trip!

COUNTY WICKLOW

Enniskerry

This was our home base for 2 nights. From here, we explored Bray and the Wicklow Mountains. The town of Enniskerry itself is quite small and offers plenty of charm.

On our rainy day exploring, we kept warm and watched sports at Mac’s. One of the guys randomly bought big plates of sandwiches for the place; we all passed the plates around grabbing sandwiches. It was funny and a little weird, but nice. I’m telling you... people in Ireland are the best!

Bray

Bray is the longest established seaside tourist town of Ireland. It was just about a 15 minute drive from where we stayed in Enniskerry. Our first day was rainy… very rainy. Yet, there was a foot race happening! I felt so bad for the runners; it was horrible running conditions. They even had to run down the rainy Cliff Walk! I saw a finisher drinking 2 beers; I asked him the distance of the race; he said “20, 40, or 80, you choose.” I later looked it up and it was the EcoTrail Wicklow Race, and it is true- they have distances varying from 20k to 80k.

We went back the next day, and luckily it was sunny and perfect weather. There were lots of people out sunbathing, walking, biking, playing music, and just really soaking up the lovely day. Bray’s beach is full of smooth rocks (not sand) and is lined with wide pedestrian and bike lanes. There are lots of food vendor stands as well, mostly ice cream. Our highlights include the cliff walk and listening to a young boy play accordion.

Perks of visiting on a Sunday… free parking :)

Wicklow Mountains

This area offers endless panoramic views of Ireland’s green landscape. We were so thankful that we explored on a sunny day. It’s so beautiful! A huge perk of having a rental car is that we can stop whenever we want along the drive and hike up to see views like the one pictured below. We really think getting a rental car is THE way to go when in Ireland.

Want to go to this exact spot? This view is from JB Malone’s memorial site in County Wicklow. Park along the road and follow the trail up.

Wicklow is the filming location for the movie, PS I Love You. We made a stop at the ‘PS I Love You Bridge’ which is where Holly and Gerry met in the movie. After exploring more in the car, we hiked along the Glencree River and had a picnic. There are many many hiking and biking trails here (and really, everywhere in Europe). There were particularly a lot of bicyclists in Wicklow.

COUNTY TIPPERARY

From Enniscorthy, we made our way south to our next home exchange. Along the way, we stopped at Cashel and Cahir.

Cashel

The big thing to do here is visit the Rock of Cashel. It is an impressive hilltop ruin. We parked and walked up, but did not go in. If you’ve never seen something like this, then you definitely should for just 8 euro! The chapel itself is only accessible via buying the ticket that includes the guided tour. Besides this monument, Cashel doesn’t offer much more to do for a tourist. For us, it’s a stop to see this sight, but not a place we’d stay the night on holiday.

Cahir

This is another market town, just about 15 minutes from Cashel. Between the 2, we liked Cahir much more. It’s along the river and offers more to do. We visited the Cahir Castle for just 5 euro each. It’s relatively a small castle and doesn’t take too long to see it all. It was pretty empty during our visit; we even danced in the banqueting hall :) Behind the castle is a free park, the Inch Field Sculpture Trail. There’s also a 2km path along the river to the Swiss Village (a thatched house), but we didn’t go. We probably would have if it was warmer weather. It looked like a super nice path though! From the sculpture park, you can hop into the river and canoe.

For lunch, we split an open face roast beef sandwich and veggie soup at Shamrock’s Lounge. Afterwards, we shopped like a local and bought a family shepherds pie with a free tray of wedges for 15 euro. This was our lunch for rest of the week at our home exchange. Perks of staying in a house instead of hotel!

COUNTY CORK

Owenahincha Beach

This was one of our best home exchanges we’ve done. It was a spacious villa, just across the street from the beach and cliffs. The cliff walk was really nice! It had fantastic view points and led us to the family-friendly beach. It offered a long flat sandy beach, calm water, and a putt-putt course.

Whenever there is flat land (and good weather) on our journeys, I try to get a run in. This area offered many beautiful paths through farms, trails, and dunes. Running is a great way to explore!

We checked out 2 super local pubs, basically in the middle of farm land- Fisher’s Cross and The Four Alls. The Four Alls is one of my favorite pubs in Ireland now! (Number 2 in fact; Courtney’s in Killarney still has my number one) It was very cozy and quaint; we sat right by the fireplace which is always one of our favorite things.

We stayed here 4 nights, allowing us to explore the nearby areas (Rosscarbery and Clonakilty), but also to have lazy time. We had a rainy day inside watching movies by the fireplace, playing games, and getting laundry caught up- something very important on these long trips. We can’t go go go every single day.

Rosscarbery

This was a quaint village very close to the villa. There wasn’t for the typical tourist, but it offered enough for an evening of pints! We checked out all 3 pubs: The Abbey Bar, Nolan’s Bar, and O’Briens. They each have their own unique vibe. O’Briens is a good place to watch sports, Nolan’s feels like a traditional Irish pub, and The Abbey seems liked the best place for an Irish coffee. We really enjoyed talking to the locals and embracing the small-town charm. We even saw a youngster taking its’ first sips of Guinness.

Clonakilty

This is a place we’d want to stay for a night, or even a weekend. Lots of alleys, pubs, shops, and eateries. We visited on a Wednesday evening, hopped along a couple of pubs, ate fish n chips, watched some soccer, and found live music. I’d call that a successful night! Highlights of our visit: live music at De Barras, coffee at Casey’s, and coziness at Fiddler’s Green.

Youghal

Youghal is a fishing town which you may recognize from the movie Moby Dick. We stopped here as a lunch spot on our way to Wexford. Youghal consists mostly of one long road of shops and eateries. If looking for a coastal lunch spot in this area of Ireland, we’d prefer Dungarven (which we have visited on prior trips). There were lots of food options; we just like the feel of Dungarven more.

Fun fact: it’s pronounced y’all

COUNTY WEXFORD

Wexford

This is a big place! Much larger than any of the above towns we’ve mentioned. It’s easily a spot to spend an entire weekend. Surprisingly, it was very empty for a Friday night. One of the barkeeps said that Saturdays are their ‘lively’ nights. When walking the streets, it was eerily empty. But when we walked into the pubs, they (mostly) had good crowds. If you’re looking for a city to pub hop, Wexford is a great option. We had lots of fun!

Quick rundowns of the places we visited:

Casey’s: great outdoor space, dog-friendly
Mary’s: small and cozy, Snowball the Cat likes to sit at the bar, cash only
Simon Lambert and Sons: yummy bbq joint
The Sky and the Ground: eclectic, cool, endless amounts of snugs, whiskeys hanging from the ceiling
Foggy Dew: local, karaoke
Franks Market: delicious food, cute, fancy coffees

We stayed at the Crown Quarter, which is a trendy boutique hotel. I don’t recommend someone to stay here if you need to go to sleep early though. There is a club right below the hotel which is loud until about 1am (although the hotel did provide earplugs in the room). We liked it though! Check in was the easiest thing ever (but also the weirdest); we were handed our keys at the bar and that’s it, literally.

Saturday morning felt like a completely different place. It was bustling with people shopping and eating. We explored town in the morning- walked through the Bullring Market, had a sausage roll and focaccia sandwich from Franks, admired the huge fishing boats, and discovered some US Naval history along the shore.

A unique time to visit Wexford would be during its’ Singing and Swinging Competition. It has a popular opera house and the shows sell out very quick. Every night, the pubs have music competitions. A barkeep told us “the people that can’t afford the opera just go to the pubs to listen to music.” This year’s competition is Oct 24-Nov 3.

Enniscorthy

This was our final stop, just about 30 minutes from Wexford. The entry into Enniscorthy is pretty charming- a flower lined bridge leads you to a flag draped street up to the castle. There are markets on Saturday mornings until about 1pm. We explored the town on foot, had a pint at The Hole in the Wall, and ended the night eating chicken wings and a burger back at the hotel. We didn’t find many food options in the town.

When in Ireland, we like to splurge one night and stay at a ‘fancy’ hotel, lounge at the pool, and eat their gourmet Irish breakfasts. Riverside Park Hotel was a nice hotel, but was not as luxurious as some of the ones we compare it to (such as the Muckross in Killarney). Its’ location was great; right along the river and an easy walk into town. It’s a popular wedding venue. We were there on a Saturday and there were multiple events happening, including a wedding. The pool area consisted of a lap pool, hot tub, and sauna. If wanting to swim in the pool, swim caps were required. Seems like we might need to start packing a swim cap on our travels!

Things to do when in Enniscorthy: see the castle & cathedral, admire the pretty flowers, and walk along the river.