Choose your Kilkenny tasting around food or whiskey
A Kilkenny tasting is a way to explore the city through its food businesses and drinks, with different formats serving different interests. A food walk includes all its food and drink tastings; a whiskey outing combines several locally produced whiskeys with food; the food and brewery combination adds the Smithwick’s visitor experience. Choose the subject you want to spend time on rather than treating every tasting as the same kind of visit.
The starts are useful for planning: the food walk meets at the Courthouse on Parliament Street, while the whiskey and food/brewery outings meet at the Castle gates. Allow room around the activity for a separate city walk. Our Medieval Mile guide compares historical walks when architecture and city stories matter more than tastings.
Kilkenny tastings
The food walk includes food and drink tastings; the other experiences combine snacks and ale or local whiskey and food.
Hand-picked tours, booked through GetYourGuide and Viator. Prices are indicative starting prices in euros (as of October 2026). Tap a tour for live availability and the current price in your currency.
Kilkenny tastings and ale experience
- Pre-booked tastings
- Snacks
- Welcome Irish Coffee
The experience also includes the Smithwick’s visitor experience.
Check availability →
Kilkenny food and drink walk
- Food and drink tastings
- Information from small businesses
- Tour tote bag
A guide introduces local food and drink.
Check availability →
Local whiskey and food tasting
- Several locally produced whiskeys
- Food from Kilkenny producers
- Whiskey information brochure
Water and a tour memento are also included.
Check availability →Food walks and whiskey tastings
Compare a food walk from Parliament Street, a whiskey outing from the Castle gates and a food visit with the brewery experience.
A food walk with the samples included
The guided food walk lasts 2.5 to 3 hours and includes all food and drink tastings, a tote bag and information from local small businesses. This format suits visitors who want the food itself to lead the afternoon, with the guide connecting the stops. Additional products you decide to buy and gratuities are separate, so distinguish the included samples from shopping along the way.
The Courthouse start gives this outing a different meeting point from the Castle-based alternatives. Put Parliament Street into your day plan before adding another timed activity. The product offers tastings rather than a fixed menu on this page: choose it for the range of participating businesses and the guided format, leaving individual dishes to the actual visit.
Whiskey tasting and pub stops
The whiskey outing takes 120 to 180 minutes and starts at the main gates of Kilkenny Castle. It includes several locally produced whiskeys, food from local producers, bottled water, a memento and a brochure describing the whiskeys tasted. This is the more direct choice for someone interested in comparing whiskey while keeping food part of the experience.
History and pub stops give the outing its setting, but the practical comparison is what you taste and how long you spend. No fixed number of whiskey varieties is promised here. A pub stop also has a different purpose from a scheduled concert: build any separate evening entertainment into your own plans rather than expecting a music programme from the tasting.
Food with the brewery visitor experience
The three-hour combination starts at the front gate of Kilkenny Castle on Dukesmeadow Street. Its inclusions are pre-booked tastings, snacks, a welcome Irish Coffee and the Smithwick’s Brewery Experience. It suits a visitor who wants food and the existing brewery attraction within one outing. The welcome drink and snacks distinguish it from a standalone ale visit.
For a visit focused on ale, use the brewery tour comparison. Smithwick’s Experience is a visitor attraction; the combination is not a promise of active industrial brewing. From November to February its tours run Thursday to Monday, with no tours on Tuesday or Wednesday, and it closes from 24 to 26 December. Bar and shop opening are separate from tour days.
Farmers Market on Thursday
The Farmers Market takes place on The Parade in front of the Castle on Thursday from 09:30 to 14:30. It makes a useful independent food stop if your city visit falls on that day. Keep the market and a booked tasting as separate plans: the food products described here do not promise a market visit.
Savour Kilkenny ran from 22 to 26 October 2026 and is already past as of 2 November 2026. Those dates describe that edition, not a future annual timetable. For a visit outside an event, a guided tasting gives your day its own food focus. Add the city sights around it, and use arrival planning to leave a comfortable margin before the meeting time.
Questions about your visit
Which tasting includes food?
The food walk includes all food and drink tastings. The whiskey outing includes food from local producers, while the brewery combination includes snacks, tastings and a welcome Irish Coffee.
Is a market visit included?
Plan the Thursday market independently on The Parade, from 09:30 to 14:30. The tasting products have their own starts and included activities.
Where do the outings start?
The food walk starts at the Courthouse on Parliament Street. The whiskey outing starts at the main Castle gates; the food and brewery combination uses the front Castle gate on Dukesmeadow Street.