A self-guided food trail through Kilkenny

There are two ways to do a self-guided food trail through Kilkenny. If a Mosey food trail is running in the city, you get one ticket covering several places, collect a stamp at each stop and get something for finishing. If not, Kilkenny is compact enough to plan your own: four or five stops within walking distance, small portions at each, and a route from morning coffee to something in the evening.

Why Kilkenny suits a food trail

Kilkenny is a medieval city, and its centre is still built on a walking scale. The main streets, the lanes running off them and the river are all within a short stroll of each other, so you can cover several places in an afternoon without a car or a bus.

That matters more than it sounds. The problem with eating somewhere for a day is that you get one or two meals to choose with, and you will probably spend them somewhere ordinary out of tiredness. A trail gives you four or five smaller choices instead, and a reason to walk down streets you would otherwise skip.

It also works for every kind of visit: a day trip, a weekend, a hen or stag that wants something other than a pub crawl, or locals showing a visitor round.

How does a Mosey food trail work?

A food trail is put together by the places on it. You buy or claim the trail, then visit the stops.

1. Get the trail. Some trails are free and some are ticketed. One ticket covers every stop, and the price and what is included are shown before you buy.
2. Go to the stops. Some trails let you visit them in any order; others ask you to follow a set sequence. Some run for an afternoon, others for weeks.
3. Collect a stamp at each stop. Staff scan a code on your phone, you tap your phone on the tag at the counter, or, on trails where it is switched on, your phone stamps the stop once it confirms you are actually there.
4. Get your treat at each stop from the staff. A stamp records your visit; the place still hands over whatever the stop offers in person.
5. Finish and get something. Depending on the trail, that might be a badge, or a voucher to come back with.

At each stop you can add a photo to a private album for that trail, so you end up with a record of the day. When you finish, you can rate the whole trail, which helps the next person decide whether to do it. Find out more about how food trails work.

What if my plans change?

A few practical details are worth knowing before you buy:

• Refunds: you can refund a trail ticket yourself within 24 hours of buying it, as long as you have not collected a stamp. After that, it goes to the organiser.
• Time limits: if a trail has a completion window, you get a reminder the day before your ticket runs out.
• Paused trails: if the places pause a trail after you have started, the time it was paused is added back to your window when it resumes.

How to plan your own Kilkenny food crawl

If no trail is running when you visit, build your own. The principles are the same ones a good trail uses.

Pick four or five stops. More than that and you stop enjoying the food. Fewer and it is just lunch.

Order small. One thing per stop, shared if there are two of you. The point is to taste several kitchens, not to finish a full meal at the first one.

Follow the day:

• Morning: a café or bakery, for coffee and whatever they bake best.
• Late morning: a deli or a market stall, for something to eat standing up.
• Lunch: the one sit-down stop. Book it if it is a weekend.
• Afternoon: something sweet, or a pause for tea.
• Early evening: a drink and a small plate, or a light dinner if you still have room.

Keep the walking short. Plan the route so each stop is a few minutes from the last, and leave room to wander. Kilkenny's best finds are often down a lane you did not plan to walk.

How to choose the stops

Use what other people have actually eaten, rather than descriptions.

• Start with the Kilkenny page, which shows places people have rated across the city, and the top-rated places in Kilkenny, ranked by ratings rather than by who paid.
• Open each candidate and look at the photographs diners took of the food. Pick the dish people keep photographing, not the place with the best-sounding menu.
• Check opening hours before you set off, and confirm them directly for anywhere you are relying on. Many cafés and bakeries close mid-afternoon, and a listing that has not been claimed by the place may not have its latest hours.
• Mix the types of place: a bakery, a café, a pub, a deli and a dining room give you a better picture of a town than five of the same.

Save your route to a list the night before, with a note on what to order at each stop. Deciding on the pavement is how people end up somewhere ordinary.

Doing it with a group, or alone

Trails work well for groups because nobody has to organise anything. On a Mosey trail, everyone has their own ticket and their own stamps, so nobody is fronting money at each stop, and if two people want to linger over coffee while the others move on, nothing breaks. A trail also ends the usual argument about where to eat: it is several places, so everyone gets one they wanted.

They are just as good alone. A trail gives a solo afternoon a structure (somewhere to be, a reason to be there, a next stop) without it being a group activity.

If you are staying for longer, the food lover's guide to Kilkenny covers the rest of the trip.

Try it on Mosey

Check whether a Kilkenny trail is running before you go. If one is not, build your own five-stop list from the places people have rated, and rate each one as you go.