Rick Steves' Europe: South Ireland--beyond the Blarney Stone.(Kilkenny, Rock of Cashel, Waterford and Kinsale)

Many tourists make the mistake of allowing places into their Irish itineraries simply because they are famous--in a song or as part of a relative's big-bus-tour memory--spots like the slobbery Blarney Stone and the clogged Ring of Kerry.

If you've got some time and some wheels, wander from the well-worn paths between Dublin (on the east coast) and the Dingle Peninsula (on the west coast) and discover some of the less-trafficked delights of South Ireland: Kilkenny, often called Ireland's finest medieval town; the Rock of Cashel, a thought-provoking early Christian site crowning the Tipperary Plain; Waterford (beyond the crystal), and the endearing, historic town ...