Except in the southeast where the Blackstairs Range and Mount Leinster (796 m/2,610 ft) dominate the landscape, the county is mostly fertile, level flatland.

Agriculture is the primary economic activity, with barley, wheat, and sugar beets the principal crops, although dairying and fishing are also important. Food-processing is the major industry in the towns.

The great coalfield of Leinster is in the western part of the county.

The Anglo-Normans invaded Carlow in the late 12th century, and portions of the 13th-century Castle Carlow remain today.

Carlow is as rich in history as it is in scenery, and a whole holiday can easily be spent just exploring this county of Ireland.