Hotels in Kells

Kells is a small market town in County Meath whose name is far more famous than the place itself, thanks to the Book of Kells, the illuminated gospel manuscript linked to the monastery founded here by Columban monks fleeing Viking raids on Iona. The book isn't here. It has been in Trinity College Dublin for centuries, and visitors expecting to see it will find a facsimile at most. What Kells does have is genuine early-Christian heritage you can walk among for free: a round tower, several carved high crosses and the stone-roofed oratory known as St Colmcille's House.

Beyond that it is a quiet, working country town on the River Blackwater, with the Georgian Headfort estate and its golf courses on the edge of town and the Boyne Valley's Neolithic tombs within easy driving distance. It works best as a calm base for exploring Meath rather than a destination in its own right, and it lies roughly an hour from Dublin by motorway. Stay in the town centre, within walking distance of the monastic site, pubs and restaurants.