IT MAY be the country’s oldest city — celebrating its 1,100th birthday this year — but as a tourist destination Waterford city has, perhaps unfairly, suffered from a perception as the poor cousin of the likes of Dublin and Cork.

Billing itself as a top Waterford city four-star hotel, the modern-build Fitzwilton comes for sale with a €2 million price guide, just in time for the city’s 1100-year anniversary celebrations.

Under the light of the same North Star that guided the Vikings on their expeditions of conquest and terror over a millennium ago, Waterford came out in force on Saturday night to mark the start of 1,100 years since the city’s foundation.

IT’S one of the most magical hotel arrivals in Ireland. There you are, driving across the country with the weight of the world on your shoulders, when all of a sudden, you pull up at a little slipway dipping into the River Suir.

The final week of the inaugural 24-day Winterval festival in Waterford is under way, with thousands of visitors expected as the city goes into full festive mode.

For the first time in more than 1,000 years a foreign invader made his way onto our shores via longboat yesterday — but, unlike the Vikings, this one was welcomed with cheers and waves by the natives.

Funding has been announced by the Government to upgrade one of the country’s oldest urban areas, which can trace its history back to 914AD.

Waterford company Zolk C was the first to enter the market with an electronic hand-held tourist guide, bringing heritage sites to life and is now turning its attentions to the lucrative North American tourism market, writes Trish Dromey.

A MASSIVE redevelopment and rebranding of Waterford’s Viking Triangle and an iconic pedestrian bridge connecting the Clock Tower with the city’s north quays are the centre-pieces of Waterford’s pitch to the Government under the Gateway Innovation Fund.