Ireland

Ireland is already chosen, and now the trip needs to be put together. This is usually when the practical questions come up: how many days to give Dublin, whether you need a car, which tickets to buy in advance. The main sights are spread across different parts of the country, so the order you visit them in shapes the whole plan. This section is built around those questions.

The core of the section is guides to specific places, castles above all. We look at Blarney Castle near Cork with its Stone of Eloquence and gardens, Birr Castle with the Leviathan telescope, and Ross Castle in Killarney with its tower tour. A separate piece covers Muckross Abbey and Killarney National Park, which are easy to see in a single day. We write about the Guinness Storehouse in terms of choosing a tour, and we cover the Giant's Causeway together with the legend of Finn McCool.

The second group is routes and logistics. Dublin in one day is laid out by its main stops, with the tickets for each. The trip from Dublin to the Cliffs of Moher is treated as a choice between an organized tour and your own car, with the pros and cons of each option. For a longer journey there is a one-week route along the Wild Atlantic Way with two bases, in Cork and in Kerry, and the question of where to stay in the capital is answered by an overview of city neighborhoods with hotels in each.

The third group deals with events and general context. Two pieces are devoted to St. Patrick's Day: one on the history and customs of the holiday, the other on the parade and festival days in Dublin. They are for anyone fitting their travel dates around the holiday. For a first introduction to the country there is a collection of facts about Ireland: about Halloween, the "Titanic" and fairies.

Every piece opens with a short verdict: what kind of place it is, how much time it takes and who it suits. Then come the practical blocks: tickets, opening hours, getting there, the order of the visit. For every price and every timetable we give the source and the date it was checked, and we do not publish unconfirmed data. We state the downsides plainly: queues, dependence on the weather, a long drive for a single sight.

The section is meant for people who plan their trip independently and want to understand what each day is made of. It is useful both for a short visit to the capital and for a week-long road trip along the Atlantic coast. If you expect a ready-made guided tour or want to buy a whole trip as a package, this section is not for you. We provide information for a decision, we do not sell a service.

Start with the format of your trip. For a short visit, the piece on Dublin in one day and the overview of city neighborhoods with hotels are enough. If you have more time, open the Wild Atlantic Way route and add the pieces on Blarney, Killarney and the Cliffs of Moher. Read the castle guides last: they are handy for checking tickets and opening hours right before you leave.

Everything about the capital is gathered in the "Dublin" subsection: hotels, sights and city routes. The section itself belongs to "Europe", which is part of "Destinations". Next to it are the sections for other countries: "England", "France", "Belgium", "Germany", "Denmark", "Finland". They come in useful if Ireland is only one part of a longer route through Europe for you.

The section keeps growing: so far Dublin, Cork, Kerry and Killarney are covered in the most detail, while other regions are not fully covered yet. We update published pieces: ticket prices, timetables and visiting rules are checked against the official websites of the sights, and the date of the check appears in the text. Before buying tickets, open the official website of the sight anyway, because conditions change from season to season. That way your plan stays accurate right up to the day you leave.