I suppose where you should visit also depends on what kind of scenery you have at home, and what you’re looking to see.
Someone from the American midwest might find everything novel, but someone from New England may not find the Glens of Antrim much to write home about, and someone who sees the Rockies everyday won’t be particularly impressed by Errigle.
Our mountains aren’t exactly huge, but they’re ruggedly impressive and easy to climb. The Mournes, in Northern Ireland, have particularly good national parks with walking routes (eg Tollymore Forest park). For others, like Errigle in Donegal, you just park your car in the carpark at the bottom and start walking. Be warned, we like our little mountains amenity-free, if you can’t see toilets and a cafe, it’s because we haven’t built them, not because they’re on the other side of the mountain.
mcms_cricket, thanks for asking. You beat me to it! I’m glad that others have posted links to old threads too.
I hate to seem totally foolish, but is Donegal the best place to buy Donegal tweeds? Any particular place? How about those gorgeous sweaters? Tell me your shopping secrets!
And food! Tell me what I must try while I am there.
Donegal is definitely the place for tweeds. Magee’s factory is probably the best known.
Nassau Street in Dublin is Tourist shopping central, mostly it’s because that’s where all the coaches park for the tour groups going into Trinity. It’s all quite upmarket, the Kilkenny shop has crystal, pottery, jewelry and clothing, the Sweater Shop has sweaters and tweed and the House of Ireland has crystal and Belleek pottery (which is not to my taste- I prefer the more modern stuff from Louis Mulcahy on Dawson St). Bear in mind it’s all designed to appeal to a certain market, so the choice in that area is a little limited.
For antiques and jewelry, the Powerscourt Townhouse shopping centre (just behind Grafton St) and the shops between Dawson St and Grafton St are probably your best bet, although don’t expect many bargains.
Food wise; Guinness, tea and Irish stew are on most people’s lists, but for something a little different you should try one of the good cheese shops. In Dublin, try Sheridans Cheese Mongers on South Anne St, between Grafton St and Dawson St. Ireland has some award-winning cheeses. In Cork, the place to buy food is the English market, but, in Dublin, there isn’t one central place, rather lots of small shops and delicatessans.
When we were there we bought our sweaters on the Aran Islands, from the ladies who made them. We encounter a couple of women who sold them from their homes, and one who was selling from a cart.
Me too, for a year, slap bang in the middle. Never any more hassle than drunken lads singing badly. I find Limerick people are actually extremely friendly as they are trying to compensate for the bad rap they get.
Having said that, I wouldn’t recommend it as a “destination” exactly.
I will loudly second yojimbo’s pub session plan. That’s basically all I do in my spare time, ever, bar reading books. In the west they shouldn’t be too hard to find. If you go to the Cliffs of Moher in Co. Clare you can, for instance, check out the village of Doolin which is wall to wall music sessions. Then again, you could drive ten miles up the road and find a session ten times as good without five millions tourists taking snaps of it.
In a simular vein, though the Ring of Kerry is beautiful, I’d personally pick the Dingle peninsula which is somewhat less overrun with tourists.
If you like cities, both Galway and Cork are well worth it. Bring me some cheese from the English market in Cork, will you.
That’s all from me, but there’s plenty of good advice in these threads.
