Boyle Itineraries
Half a day or a full weekend. Here are the best ways to spend your time in Boyle, planned step by step.
Whether you have a few hours off the train or a full weekend to explore, these itineraries give you a local’s route through Boyle. Each one links directly to the restaurants and activities along the way.
Half a day in Boyle town
The town on foot, for anyone off the train or the Route 23 coach with a morning to spend. Everything here is within a few hundred metres of King House. Built for the Easter to Halloween season, when both the house and the abbey take walk-in visitors.
- 110:00·45 minutes
Breakfast in the King House courtyard
The tea rooms open at nine, Monday to Saturday. On a Saturday the Courtyard Market is setting up outside from ten, so this is the morning to do it.
View The Tea Rooms at King House - 211:00·1 hour 15 minutes
A tour of King House
Tours start at eleven. Four centuries in one building: the Kings, the Connaught Rangers, the jail cells, the art collection and the Maureen O'Sullivan exhibition. Closed on Mondays in April, May, September and October.
View King House - 312:30·1 hour
Lunch on Bridge Street
Walk down to the river and over to Lovage at the Gate Lodge, the stone lodge on Bridge Street. Hours change with the season, so check that morning.
View Lovage at the Gate Lodge - 413:45·45 minutes
Boyle Abbey
About 400 metres east of the bridge. Allow half an hour for the gatehouse exhibition and the nave, and look for the capital carved with two cockerels. Open from spring to mid-September.
View Boyle Abbey
A full day: Boyle to Lough Key and back
The day that makes the most of where Boyle sits: the abbey in the morning, then the cycleway out to Lough Key, the park in the afternoon, and back to town for dinner. Bring a bike, or walk it and allow more time.
- 110:00·45 minutes
Boyle Abbey first
Start where the town starts. The OPW opens at ten in season, and half an hour covers the gatehouse and the ruin.
View Boyle Abbey - 211:00·45 minutes by bike, about 2 hours on foot
The cycleway to Lough Key
Pick up the route at King House and follow the Boyle river out to the harbour, along the canal and through the Rockingham woods to the visitor centre. 7.9 km; easy to moderate.
View Boyle to Lough Key Cycleway - 312:00·1 hour
Lunch at the Lakeside Café
Window tables or the heated terrace, looking across to Castle Island.
View Lakeside Café, Lough Key - 413:15·1 hour
Rockingham Remembered
Down into the servant tunnels, up the Moylurg Tower on the site of the house, and along the canopy walk through the treetops.
View Rockingham Remembered Tour and Tree Canopy Walk - 514:30·1 hour
Out on the lake
In July and August the Trinity sails at 13:30, 15:00 and 16:30 from the Old Harbour, an hour past the islands and McDermott's Castle. Outside the season, walk the lakeshore trails instead.
View Lough Key Boats - 616:00·45 minutes by bike
Back to Boyle
Ride or walk the cycleway back to King House.
View Boyle to Lough Key Cycleway - 719:00·1 hour 30 minutes
Dinner on The Crescent
Yomari, beside the clock tower, does Nepalese and Indian dishes every evening except Tuesday.
View Yomari
Ready to plan your visit?
Check live train departures and the weather forecast before you head out.