The Copper Coast: A Driving Day Trip from Waterford

The Copper Coast runs along the south Waterford shore between Tramore and Dungarvan, a stretch of about forty kilometres of cliffs, coves and old mine workings. It has been a UNESCO Global Geopark since 2004, and a European Geopark before that, recognition that rests on the geology rather than the scenery: the rocks here record over 460 million years and the line of an ancient continental collision, the Iapetus Suture, that once ran from Newfoundland to Norway. You do not need any of that to enjoy the drive, but it explains why the coast looks the way it does, all folded and layered cliffs.

The name is more recent. In the 19th century this coast was mined for copper, with up to 1,200 men working the seams at the peak. The mines are gone, but the engine houses, shafts and the village of Bunmahon that grew around them are still here. A day along the coast is half scenery, half industrial ghost story.

The shape of the day

This is a car day. There is no train along the coast and bus links between the villages are thin, so a hire car or your own is the practical way to do it. The natural direction is east to west, starting in Waterford, finishing in Dungarvan, then a fast run home on the N25. Allow a full day if you want to stop and walk; you could rush it in half a day, but rushing the Copper Coast misses the point of it.

The coast road itself is the R675 for most of its length. It is narrow, twisting and not fast. Build that into your timing rather than fighting it.

Tramore

Start at Tramore, ten kilometres south of the city and the eastern end of the coast. The five-kilometre beach and the high dunes behind it are the headline, and the promenade has the seaside-resort trimmings: amusements, cafés, a playground. Tramore is a good first stop for coffee and a beach walk before the road quietens down to the west. It is also the busiest place you will pass all day, so if you want the quiet coast, do not linger too long here.

Annestown and Boatstrand

West of Tramore the villages get small. Annestown is a sheltered horseshoe cove with layered cliffs on either side and a cliff path running on towards the quieter Benvoy beach next door, good for rock pools at low tide. Annestown beach has a local quirk worth knowing: it is one of the few coastal villages in Ireland without a pub. Boatstrand, a little further on, is a working harbour rather than a resort, and the better of the two for a sense of how the coast actually lives.

Bunmahon and the mining heritage

Bunmahon is the heart of the Geopark and the place to understand the copper story. The Geopark visitor centre sits in a former school building in the village and runs a free geological and mining heritage exhibition: rocks, fossils, mining tools and photographs from the copper era. Check its opening days before you build the day around it, as the hours are seasonal.

The most striking relic is the Tankardstown engine house, about two kilometres from Bunmahon: two roofless stone buildings that once held the steam engines that pumped water out of the mines, standing now on the clifftop with the sea behind them. The clifftop path from Bunmahon towards Stradbally runs past mine ruins, sea stacks and blow holes and is the best walk on the coast if you have an hour. Bunmahon beach itself is a wide, south-facing strand backed by dunes, exposed to a real Atlantic swell, so respect the sea here.

The Mahon Falls detour

If you want to break the coast with something inland, the Mahon Falls sit in the Comeragh foothills a short drive north of the coast road. The falls are an eighty-metre drop on the southern slopes of the Comeraghs, and the walk from the car park to the base and back is just over three kilometres on an easy gravel path, well under an hour, fine for families. It is not strictly part of the Copper Coast, but it is close enough to fold in and the views back towards the sea on the way up are worth the detour.

Dungarvan

The coast finishes at Dungarvan, the largest town in west Waterford and a proper place to end the day with food and a walk around the harbour. It is also the western terminus of the Waterford Greenway, so if anyone in the car is a cyclist they will recognise the name. Dungarvan has more restaurants and pubs than anywhere else on the route, which makes it the sensible dinner stop before the drive home.

Practical notes

Fuel up before you leave the city or in Tramore; the villages in the middle of the coast are small and you should not assume a petrol station. Bring walking shoes, because the best of the coast is on the cliff paths rather than from the car. The clifftops are unfenced in places and the drops are real, so keep children and dogs close. From Dungarvan, the N25 gets you back to Waterford in around forty-five minutes, so you can stay out late and still be home at a reasonable hour.