House of Waterford Crystal: Explore the Making Process with Guided Factory Tour

Discover the artistry behind Waterford Crystal at the House of Waterford Crystal. Take a guided factory tour to witness the skilled craftsmen in action and explore the largest display of Waterford Crystal in the world.

Duration: 1 hour
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • House Of Waterford Crystal - At the House of Waterford Crystal, there is a manufacturing plant, and brand experience in Waterford, where we produce crystal and give visitors an opportunity to visit the factory and see how we make our beautiful products.
    On the tour, guests visit the mould room where they witness mould making
  • a technique that…
What's Included
  • Visit a charming cafe
  • Explore an opulent retail store
  • Enjoy a guided factory tour
What's Not Included
  • Parking
Additional Information

The Waterford Crystal House includes a manufacturing unit, a visitor hub and a commercial storefront. Guests can explore all stages of production via the factory visit, and understand both past and present production techniques through direct dialogue with artisans and multimedia resources. The production unit houses a state-of-the-art continuous melt…

Location
House of Waterford Crystal
The Mall
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.6
(2194 Ratings)
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Jmk-pittsburgh
Sep 29, 2024
Outstanding VIP Tour - My wife and I took their VIP tour which was great. We were lucky as we were the only people on the tour. It was nice having our own personal tour. The tour lasted an hour. It covered the history of the company and we walked through the various production areas. It was both informative and entertaining. It was surprising how labor intensive their processes are. Some of the high-end pieces were incredible (e.g. Starry Night). A great tour and highly recommended.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
John_l
Jun 12, 2024
Informative. Educational. Excellent. - Our guide was so informative and so patient with photographers. A truly educational and superior experience.
Review provided by Viator
Bigtool
Apr 30, 2024
An almost obligatory tour stop for your first Irish trip. - I dislike the notion of paying for a company tour, especially when your know you'll spend a small fortune at the company store after the tour. But the House of Waterford tour was done properly. We saw workers at each stage of the process, design, glass-blowing, glass-cutting, etc. It's all very fascinating. Thankfully, I was approved for a second mortgage to pay for all the crystal The Wife bought.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Lorimcgrath
Jul 14, 2023
GREAT tour!!!! - The tour was very informative. It was an authentic, behind the scenes tour of Waterford and their amazing production process. We were up close and could actually talk to the artists as well. Highly recommend!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Devoraeisenberg
Jul 11, 2023
Deep respect for this craft after this tour! - Sean Maher was a incredible tour guide and is a national Irish treasure for MANY reasons as we learned later (thank you, Sean!). His long history as an glass cutter with Waterford Crystal gave the tour depth and insider knowledge which he thoughtfully shared. I had no idea how much skill and craft went into these beautiful pieces! It was an intimate and wonderful tour and if you're lucky, Sean will share a bit more about his other life's adventures after the tour.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
209debbit
Jul 5, 2023
Tour was so interesting and James was a rock star tour guide! - This tour was very interesting and you get to see craftsmen and women actually producing products. The absolute best part was James, our tour guide. He was the best we have ever had! You could tell he took great pride in Waterford and that he highly respected the craftsmen. He had such enthusiasm about not only Waterford Crystal, but his country. What a pleasure to experience this with him!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Thomascy2075ws
Sep 28, 2022
Most engaging tour guide, Jamie. - We had a recently hired guide, Jamie, who was so engaging. I thought I would get bored because I have seen glass blown many times, but Jamie hooked me in 5 minutes and the tour became a wonderful learning experience. Jamie, you make a great ambassador for Waterford Crystal, you’ll always be remembered by the tourist that are in your groups. I thank my wife Donna for encouraging me to go😁.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jana
Jan 21, 2023
Also for people that are not particularly interested in glass making - at the factory tourFor some reason, almost must-see place when being around these parts of Ireland. And I agree that the tour is worthy of the time and money that it costs. The tour guide guiding our tour made it very interesting with his explanation and information provided. We saw people directly at work, also the environment where these people work, with all the machines and forms used, plus some products that were created at the place. At the end of the tour, the guests come through the shop. After the tour, I was tempted to buy something as a reminder of the place. There is a café inside of the building, close to the cash desk at the place where you can wait for your tour to begin. I recommend to buy the tickets in advance, if you have tight schedule. Otherwise it might happen that you wait few hours until there is some free spot in free tours ahead.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Edistogirl63
Oct 11, 2023
Take the tour; Don't have tea - The tour of the factory is awesome and quite enjoyable. We made reservations for "tea" in the Crystal Cafe afterward. Very disappointing. We were seated in a corner of the restaurant, and a server put a tray of tired-looking finger foods on the table. None of it looked appealing, and everything tasted bland. The server never returned to check on us or refill water glasses. We expected a very special experience. Should have had tea in a nice hotel. Take the tour; skip the restaurant!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Ellieabby
May 27, 2023
Wanted to like it - Very disappointed that Waterford is mostly made abroad. They still push their items as quintessentially Irish. The tour guide stated they have a hundred patterns. Then they only carry Lismore. We found our entire visit to Ireland to be so wonderful, this is the unauthentic part of the entire tour
Review provided by Tripadvisor
From $18
up to 10 guests
1 Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).