Tip: OPW Heritage Card, Ireland

Want to see Kilkenny Castle but admission costs cutting into your budget? €7 admission to Muckross House making you think twice? Not sure if Dún Aonghasa is worth it (it is)? You don’t have to skip anything, nor feel guilty for leaving bad tours early, with the OPW Heritage Card. This card is amazing. If you plan on visiting 3 OPW sites in Ireland, you have to buy this card. It nearly pays for itself visiting two sites, and definitely will if you visit three. The price is €21 for an adult, and only €8 for a student, and what budget traveler doesn’t have a student id? You have unlimited access to OPW sites for one year.

You can buy the card at almost every OPW Heritage site, but not all sites accept credit cards so make sure you have cash. Check the OPW Heritage website to see if your trip includes enough OPW sites to make the card worth the purchase, and if it doesn’t, maybe you should modify it. Not all OPW sites are worth seeing however, but with the card, at least you won’t stubbornly stick out a horrible tour because damnit, you have to get your money’s worth