EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

ARTHURSTOWN , on the estuary near the neck of the peninsula, is a tiny village offering a handful of good B&Bs , namely Clogheen (tel 051/389110; £26-33/33.01-41.90), the comfortable Arthur's Rest (tel 051/389192; £33-40/41.90-50.79) and spacious Glendine House (tel 051/389258; £40-55/50.79-69.84). There's also an An Óige hostel (closed Oct-May; tel 051/389411) in the old coastguard station - ring ahead to book. The Waterfront Restaurant (tel 051/389534) has a good reputation.

About five miles east of Arthurstown (take the R733), near the muddy Bannow Bay, scene of the first Norman landing in 1169, stand the ruins of Tintern Abbey (mid-June to late Sept daily 9.30am-6.30pm, though times may vary; call 051/562650 if you want to be sure; £1.50/1.90; Heritage Card), built in 1200 by William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke. Another fine Cistercian edifice, it owes its existence in this unprepossessing spot to a vow made by the earl while he was caught in a storm off the south coast. Praying that he might be saved, he promised to build an abbey wherever his boat came ashore. The presbytery is based on the foundation's more famous namesake in Wales.