Destination: Ireland

Happiest o’ Saint Patrick’s Day to ye!

Ireland has long been on my bucket list of places to visit, even more so after traveling through Scotland and Wales last Spring. And I am certainly not alone in that. A fair many people, I’m sure, have fantasized about tripping across this bonnie, green country at some point in their lives. Like many people born and raised in Western North Carolina, a large part of my family originally hails from Ireland, so it holds an extra special place in both my heart and imagination.

First things first, if you don’t know the meaning behind the celebration of Saint Patrick’s Day, this is a good light read.

Resources for information and inspiration about traveling in Ireland are abundant. If public transportation is your jam, you could in fact train or bus (or even ferry!) to many locations on this fair isle. However, I highly recommend renting a car. You’d be surprised how easily you can get used to driving on the left side of the road; it only took me about a day to get rid of the sinking feeling in my stomach that I was going to have a head-on collision with someone on the ‘wrong’ side of the road.

For itinerary planning, I always start with the official tourism site.

There are also TONS of sample itineraries online, both from bloggers as well as more well-known publications like Conde Nast and Nat Geo. I have listed some of my favorites below:

Driving Ireland, Coast to Coast – Conde Nast

Ireland – Rick Steves’ Europe

Top 10 Things to Do in Northern Ireland – Nat Geo

Castles of Ireland – Nat Geo

Best of Ireland: An A to Z Guide – Wandering Educators

Things to Do in Dublin – From Shores to Skylines

The Perfect Ring of Kerry Itinerary – Postgrad & Postcards

Discover Ireland in Two Weeks — A Detailed Self-Drive Itinerary – Relocating to Ireland

(Colleen from Relocating to Ireland has copious amounts of valuable information regarding Ireland on her blog, like this Guide to Budget Travel in Ireland.)