Ballyknocken House & Cookery School

This is a beautiful ivy-clad Victorian home, where each of the seven carefully appointed bedrooms has antique furnishings, and some with original, stencilled claw-foot tubs. Besides the home itself, the big draw is Catherine Fulvio’s cooking classes (from €140), which run throughout the year; check the website for schedules. It's 10km west of Wicklow town off the R752.