Ireland Cities and Regions

One of the liveliest European capitals with over one-million people, Dublin retains the atmosphere of a village – albeit a noisy one. Cultural highlights include world-renowned theatres, free museums and art galleries, and an enormous range of restaurants, coffee shops, and traditional pubs. See our Dublin Travel Guide

Go north of Dublin for ancient megalithic Newgrange and other burial sites, and south to walk the mountainous Wicklow Way or the gardens and golf courses of Wicklow and Kildare. Follow the craft trail in County Kilkenny, visit Medieval Kilkenny city, or go for the Cat Laughs Comedy Festival in May/June.

Walk the winding streets of Wexford during the Opera Festival, check out the beautiful beaches around Rosslare and Courtown, or visit the sunny coastal towns of Dunmore East and Dungarvan. Don’t miss the famed Waterford Crystal factory in Waterford.

Cork City and County is foodie heaven, with lush pastures producing wonderful beef and fantastic cheeses. Many of Ireland’s best-known restaurants, including Ballymaloe House, are here. The villages of East and West Cork are famed for their beauty and food; the county offers crumbling castles and the famed blarney stone.

Located in the extreme South West, Kerry is justly famous for the breathtaking scenery around the Ring of Kerry, the Lakes of Killarney, and the Dingle and Beara Peninsulas. Summer festivals, fantastic food (particularly in the pubs and restaurants of Dingle and Kenmare), and the wild Atlantic coastline are the reasons to visit.

For scenery mixed with traditional craic agus ceol (music and fun) visit County Clare on the Atlantic coast. Don’t miss the 702-foot-high Cliffs of Moher and the dramatic limestone plateau of the Burren, go surfing or golfing at Lahinch, or go to any pub in the county for traditional music seisiúns (sessions).

An energetic college town, Galway offers unrivalled pub culture. It’s the gateway to the soulful, bleak beauty of Connemara – a scarred, rocky landscape filled with peat bogs and lakes. The utterly un-spoilt Aran Islands are just a hop away.

Utter isolation amid soaring cliffs, dramatic coastlines, craggy islands, and great surf breaks mingles with bustling market towns and villages. Visit W.B. Yeats Country in Sligo, climb Croagh Patrick in Mayo, visit spectacular Glenveigh National Park in Donegal, and walk Europe’s highest seaside cliffs at Slieve League.

Visit rural Cavan, Leitrim, Roscommon, and Westmeath counties for unspoiled towns, fishing lakes, inland waterways, and nature trails. Leitrim and Roscommon, ignored by most tourists, are just as pretty as the rest of Ireland, with lakes, bogs, and ubiquitous green fields.