Portarlington

Portarlington straddles the River Barrow on the Laois-Offaly border, about 80 kilometres southwest of Dublin. The town grew around a vital river crossing and keeps its 17th-century planned layout intact. Take the M7 to Junction 16, then the R420 straight in, roughly 90 minutes from Dublin. The motorway connections make it handy for longer journeys between Dublin and the southwest, with about 30 fast chargers for electric cars. The French Quarter stands out most, where Huguenot refugees built distinctive stone houses with steep-pitched roofs along French Church Street in the late 1600s.