Ireland: The Rough Guide (Rough Guide Travel Guides)

Describes points of interest, looks at the history and culture of Ireland, and recommends hotels, restaurants, and entertainment

Where to go

It's arguably the west coast that has the most appeal, where the demonically daunting peninsulas of the northern reaches are immediately contrasted a little inland by the mystical lakes of the Donegal highlands. The midwest coastline is just as strangely attractive, combining vertiginous cliffs, boulder-strewn wastes, and violent mountains of granite and quartz. In the south, the melodramatic peaks of the Ring of Kerry fall to lake-pools and seductive seascapes. Less talked about, but no less rewarding in their way, are the gentle sandy coves that Cork and Kerry share.

In the north of the island, the principal draw is the weird basalt geometry of the Giant's Causeway, not far from the lush Glens of Antrim. To the south of Belfast lies the beautiful walking territory of the softly contoured Mountains of Mourne, divided by Carlingford Lough from the myth-drenched Cooley Mountains.

The interior is nowhere as spectacular as the fringes of the island, but the southern heartlands of pastures and low wooded hills, and the wide peat bogs of the very centre are the classic landscapes of Ireland. Of the inland waterways, the most alluring are the island-studded Lough Erne complex of Fermanagh, and the River Shannon, with its string of huge lakes.

Some of the country's wildest scenery lies just offshore: the west-coast Aran Islands are the best known of the islands, but equally compelling are storm-battered Tory Island, to the far northwest and the savage Skelligs, off the southwest coast.

For anyone with strictly limited time, one of the best options must be to combine a visit to Dublin with the mountains and monastic ruins of County Wicklow. Dublin is an extraordinary combination of youthfulness and tradition, a modern European capital on a human scale with elegant Georgian squares and a vibrant cultural life. Belfast vies with Dublin in the vitality of its nightlife, while the cities of Cork and Galway have an energy and bustle that makes them a pleasure to visit.

When to go

Ireland's climate, determined by the pressure-systems of the Atlantic, is notoriously variable, and cannot be relied upon at any time of the year. Each year produces weeks of beautiful weather - the problem lies in predicting when they are likely to arrive. In recent years late spring and early autumn have seen some of the best of the weather, with May and September as the most pleasant months.

Geographically, the southeast is the driest and sunniest part of the country, and the northwest is the wettest. But regional variations are not particularly pronounced, the overall climate being characterized by its mildness - the country benefiting from the warming effects of the Gulf Stream. Even in the wetter zones, mornings of rain are frequently followed by afternoons of blue sky and sun - and besides, a downpour on a windswept headland can be exhilarating, and provides as good a pretext as any for repairing to the local pub, the hub of Irish social activity.