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Waterford has better-preserved city walls than anywhere else in Ireland besides Derry. You can spot one of the remaining portions of the city walls along Spring Garden Alley, off Colbeck Street. Initially, the slightly run-down commercial center doesn't look promising. You need to park your car and proceed on foot to discover the city's proudly preserved heritage, in particular the grand 18th-century Georgian buildings that Waterford architect John Roberts (1714–96) built, including the town's Protestant and Catholic cathedrals.
Waterford's compact town center can be visited in a couple of hours. Most visitors consider the Waterford Glass Visitor Centre and the impressive pair of history museums as must-sees in any city tour.
While you can't go inside, you can get close to the remains of this genuinely medieval abbey and get a sense of how impressive it once was. This ruined tower belonged to a Dominican abbey that was founded in 1226 and returned to the Crown in 1541 after the dissolution of the monasteries. It was used as a courthouse until Cromwellian forces destroyed most of it in the 17th century.
