Things to Do in Ireland

Ireland's most dramatic coastal walk — 214m sea cliffs, 30,000 nesting seabirds and views to the Aran Islands on a clear day. Arrive early or late to avoid the crowds.

A Gothic Revival castle beside a Connemara lake, built in 1868 as a gift of love and now home to a Benedictine community.

UNESCO World Heritage Site on the Antrim coast — 40,000 hexagonal basalt columns formed by ancient volcanoes, freely accessible at any time. The cliff-top walk to Dunseverick is outstanding.

The world's largest Titanic visitor experience, built on the exact Belfast slipway where the ship was constructed. Nine immersive galleries — allow a full half-day.

26,000 acres of ancient oak woods, three glacial lakes and the MacGillycuddy's Reeks on the doorstep. Jaunting cars, boat trips, Ross Castle and Muckross House — the most varied national park in Ireland.

St Kevin's sixth-century monastery in a glacial Wicklow valley — a round tower, roofless cathedral and two mountain lakes, 50km from Dublin. Go on a weekday to beat the coach tours.

A 250 km² limestone karst landscape where arctic, alpine and Mediterranean plants grow side by side — unlike anywhere else in Europe.

Three Irish-speaking islands at the mouth of Galway Bay, with Iron Age forts, limestone pavements and no traffic to speak of.

Ireland's only true fjord — a 16 km glacial inlet walled in by the Maamturks and the Sheeffry Hills. Boat tours leave from Leenane village; the Aasleagh Falls cascade at the eastern end.

The oldest known field system in the world — 5,500-year-old Neolithic field boundaries buried under the north Mayo bogland.

Sea cliffs rising to 601 metres — nearly three times the height of the Cliffs of Moher — on the southwest Donegal coast.

A Victorian castle on the shore of a remote mountain lough, surrounded by 16,000 hectares of Donegal wilderness — the walled gardens have rhododendron walks and the herd of red deer is one of Ireland's largest.

A ruined medieval castle perched on a basalt sea stack on the Antrim coast — one of Ireland's most dramatically sited buildings.

A rope bridge 30 metres above the Atlantic — spectacular, a little nerve-wracking, and one of Northern Ireland's most photographed experiences. Book online in advance; it sells out in summer.

The official Game of Thrones studio in Banbridge, 30 minutes from Belfast — walk the original Winterfell Great Hall set, handle real props and see 87 original costumes. Allow three to four hours.

Ireland's most famous scenic drive — 179km around the Iveragh Peninsula with mountain passes, glacier-carved lakes and views of Skellig Michael. Drive anti-clockwise to avoid the tour buses.

A narrow glacial pass through the MacGillycuddy's Reeks — 11 km of mountain valley with five small lakes, taken on foot, by bike or by jaunting car.

A rugged Atlantic peninsula with early Christian monuments, Slea Head's views over the Blasket Islands, and the town of Dingle as a base.

The Blarney Stone and a 15th-century tower house near Cork — but the Rock Close gardens are the real underrated gem. Arrive at opening or after 4pm to skip the tour bus queues.

A steeply terraced Victorian port town — Titanic's last stop before New York in 1912, and home to 2.5 million emigrants during the Famine.

Ireland's most south-westerly point — a signal station on a cliff-edge island connected by a footbridge, with Atlantic views in three directions.

Ireland's finest garden estate — 47 acres of formal terraces, a Japanese garden and the Great Sugarloaf as backdrop, 30 minutes from Dublin. Separate entry for the waterfall 6km away.

A 5,200-year-old passage tomb older than Stonehenge and the Egyptian Pyramids — aligned to illuminate the inner chamber at winter solstice sunrise.

A roofless cathedral, round tower and Romanesque chapel perched on a natural limestone outcrop above the Tipperary plain — seat of the Kings of Munster for 600 years.

Norman castle at the heart of Kilkenny's medieval city, with 50 acres of riverside parkland that's free to walk. Base yourself in Kilkenny for the best midlands day-trip coverage.

Seven floors of Guinness history at the St James's Gate brewery, ending with a pint in the Gravity Bar with 360° views over Dublin.

The jail where the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising were imprisoned and executed — the most visited OPW heritage site outside of Dublin Castle.

The 9th-century illuminated Gospel manuscript displayed in Trinity College's Long Room — a barrel-vaulted library of 200,000 ancient books.

The original Jameson distillery in the Smithfield district — a guided tour through 250 years of Irish whiskey history, ending with a tasting.

An interactive museum in the vaults of the Custom House Quarter telling the story of 10 million Irish emigrants across 20 themed galleries.

The seat of British rule in Ireland for 700 years — the State Apartments, medieval undercroft and chapel on the site of a Viking and Norman fortress.

Ireland's largest church — a 13th-century Gothic cathedral with Jonathan Swift buried inside the west door and his wit preserved in the epitaph he wrote himself. The medieval choir stalls are worth lingering over.

A rocky peninsula 15 km from Dublin — the cliff walk from Howth village to the East Pier takes 90 minutes with open sea on three sides. Stay for fish and seafood straight off the trawlers at the harbour.

The ancient ceremonial and political seat of the High Kings of Ireland — a low hill above the Meath plain with earthworks spanning 5,000 years.

The largest Anglo-Norman castle in Ireland — Hugh de Lacy's 12th-century fortress on the River Boyne, used as a filming location for Braveheart.

A sixth-century monastic settlement on a sea stack 12 km off the Kerry coast — a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Star Wars filming location.

A 15th-century tower house on the shore of Lough Leane — the last stronghold in Munster to hold out against Cromwellian forces in 1652.

A star-shaped 19th-century fortress in Cork Harbour — an island prison that held 2,000 Famine convicts and was voted the world's best tourist attraction in 2017.

The original Jameson production site in County Cork — home to the world's largest pot still and an immersive whiskey experience in a working distillery complex.

A small harbour town widely considered to have the best restaurant scene outside Dublin — surrounded by 17th-century fortifications and a beautiful estuary.

The world's oldest licensed whiskey distillery, in operation on the Causeway Coast since 1608 — tours include the production floor and a tasting.

The largest megalithic cemetery in Ireland — over 30 passage tombs in an open landscape below Knocknarea, the oldest dating to 4,300 BC.

A working lighthouse on a Donegal headland between Lough Swilly and Mulroy Bay, guiding ships since 1817. The surrounding coastline has sea caves accessible at low tide and views south over Portsalon's Blue Flag beach.

A 15th-century tower house with fully furnished state rooms and a 19th-century folk park of 30 authentic rural buildings. The nightly medieval banquet runs year-round — a convenient first or last night stop near Shannon Airport.

The westernmost tip of County Clare — a working lighthouse on dramatic sea cliffs where the Shannon estuary meets the Atlantic.

One of Ireland's largest and best-preserved medieval castles — a three-ward fortification on a rock island in the River Suir, built by the Butler dynasty.

A sixth-century monastic city on the River Shannon — the most important early Christian site in the Irish midlands, with round towers, carved high crosses and cathedral ruins.

The working home of Waterford Crystal — guided factory tours follow molten glass through blowing, cutting and engraving by master craftspeople in Waterford city centre.

Ireland's west coast city — a medieval walled town with a surviving Latin Quarter, traditional music in almost every pub, and the Claddagh fishing village at its edge.

A group of uninhabited islands 3 km off the tip of the Dingle Peninsula — evacuated in 1953, and the source of three of the most significant works of 20th-century Irish literature.

The only completely walled city in Ireland — a 1.5 km circuit of 17th-century walls enclosing the historic core of Derry/Londonderry, with the Bogside murals visible below.

A Norman lighthouse tower that has guided ships around the Hook Peninsula for over 800 years — entry is by guided tour through 115 steps to the lantern room at the top.

The historic core of Ireland's oldest city — three museums covering Viking, medieval and Georgian Waterford within a compact quarter centred on Reginald's Tower.

A full-scale replica of an 1840s famine emigrant ship moored on the New Ross quayside — the experience uses costumed actors to recreate the emigrant journey to America.

Northern Ireland's only inhabited offshore island — a 25-minute ferry from Ballycastle with one of Ireland's largest seabird colonies at its western cliffs.

Cork's covered food market trading since 1788 — butchers, fishmongers, artisan producers and the famous tripe stall under a Victorian iron roof in the heart of the city.

A 19th-century Gothic Revival prison in Sunday's Well — its cells and corridors now tell the story of Irish imprisonment, the Famine era and the struggle for independence through life-size recreations.

Cork's most iconic landmark — a 18th-century church tower where visitors can climb to the top and ring the famous eight bells themselves. The two-tone salmon-and-limestone facade is the city's most photographed image.

A walk-through wildlife park on Fota Island in Cork Harbour where cheetahs, giraffes and 30+ species roam with minimal barriers across 100 acres of former estate grounds.

A 13th-century Anglo-Norman castle on the banks of the Shannon in Limerick city — one of the best-preserved examples of Norman military architecture in Ireland, with excavated Viking-era settlement visible within the walls.

Ireland's most picturesque estate village — a street of thatched cottages, medieval abbeys and the grounds of the Adare Manor estate. Frequently photographed and deservedly so; easy 90-minute stop from Shannon.

A privately managed cliff viewpoint near Portmagee with some of the most dramatic coastal scenery in Kerry — sheer drops to the Atlantic, sea stacks, and on clear days a direct view of Skellig Michael on the horizon.

A Victorian mansion built for Queen Victoria's 1861 visit, surrounded by Killarney National Park — the house, the lakeside gardens and the working Traditional Farms nearby are three of the most visited sites in Kerry.

A medieval tower house on the north Dublin coast occupied by the Talbot family for nearly 800 years — guided tours through the original furniture and portrait collections, and 22 acres of walled gardens outside.

A Greek Revival mansion on Sligo Bay where W.B. Yeats spent childhood holidays — best known as the family home of Constance Markievicz, the first woman elected to the British Parliament and Ireland's first female cabinet minister.

An 18th-century domed library perched on a 120-metre cliff above the North Antrim coast — built by Frederick Harvey, Bishop of Derry, who reportedly allowed local Catholics to use the library for Mass. One of Ireland's most dramatically sited structures.

Private steam baths filled with hot Atlantic seawater and freshly harvested kelp, in a purpose-built bathhouse directly on Strandhill beach. The best seaweed bath experience in Ireland — a Sligo tradition since the 19th century.

Surf lessons on one of Ireland's most consistent and beautiful beach breaks, with Benbulben and Knocknarea as the backdrop. Strandhill has been forming Irish surfers since the 1960s — the waves are powerful enough to be real surfing, manageable enough for beginners.

The restored tower house and Jacobean manor of the O'Donnell clan, dominating the centre of Donegal Town. One of the finest examples of medieval Gaelic lordship architecture in Ulster — and still standing in the middle of a working market town.

An outdoor folk museum of thatched cottages representing Donegal rural life from 1700 to 1900, founded by Fr James McDyer in the 1960s as a community development project. Set in one of the most remote and beautiful valleys in Ireland — the glen runs to the sea stacks at Glen Head.

A boat trip from Teelin harbour under the 600-metre face of Slieve League — the tallest accessible sea cliffs in Europe. From the water you see the full scale of the cliffs in a way the clifftop path cannot give you.

A limestone cave system beneath the Burren holding Europe's largest free-hanging stalactite at 7.3 metres. Guided tours run throughout the day from the visitor centre above Doolin village — an excellent complement to the Cliffs of Moher and The Burren.

A cave system in the heart of the Burren with guided tours past stalactites, a frozen waterfall and a hibernation chamber used by brown bears 10,000 years ago — combined with Ireland's largest Birds of Prey Centre, with daily flight demonstrations of hawks, falcons and owls.

A 15-acre Italianate garden on a small island in Bantry Bay — created from bare rock between 1910 and 1953 by Harold Peto for Annan Bryce. The ferry crossing passes seals on the rocks; the island has a Martello tower, a Grecian temple and plant collections from five continents.

The only cable car in Ireland — a small box suspended over Dursey Sound at the tip of the Beara Peninsula, carrying 6 passengers (or a cow) the 500-metre crossing to Dursey Island. Remote, raw and genuinely unlike anything else in the country.

An 18th-century Anglo-Irish mansion overlooking Bantry Bay, with one of the finest formal gardens in Ireland — seven Italian terraces descending to the sea. Still lived in by the White family, with the original art collection and furnishings intact.

Sea kayaking on Ireland's only marine nature reserve — a salt-water lake connected to the Atlantic by a narrow tidal rapids. Night kayaking in summer reveals bioluminescent plankton. One of the most distinctive water experiences in Ireland.

A 17th-century star fort on a headland at the entrance to Kinsale harbour — one of the finest examples of military star-fort architecture in Europe, built after the Battle of Kinsale (1601). Still largely intact, with substantial walls, bastions and views over the harbour.

Whale watching from the picturesque village of Courtmacsherry in Seven Heads Bay — humpback whales feed regularly in these waters from September to November, alongside fin whales and large pods of common dolphins. A quieter alternative to the Baltimore boats.

A high-speed RIB boat safari around Dingle Bay and the Blasket Sound — sea stacks, caves, grey seal colonies and bottlenose dolphins in the bay that Fungie the wild dolphin made famous. The fastest and most exhilarating way to see the Dingle Peninsula from the sea.

Ireland's state thoroughbred stud farm — stallions worth hundreds of millions of euros, a horse museum tracing Irish racing history, and one of Europe's finest Japanese gardens laid out between 1906 and 1910. An hour from Dublin, on the edge of the Curragh.

A 46 km traffic-free trail along a disused railway from Waterford city to Dungarvan — the longest off-road cycling route in Ireland. Nine viaducts, three tunnels (including one 400-metre tunnel requiring lights), and views of the Comeragh Mountains throughout.

A 35-acre outdoor museum of full-scale reconstructed settlements spanning 9,000 years of Irish history — Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age, Celtic, Viking and Norman — in woodland beside the River Slaney at Ferrycarrig outside Wexford.

A 120-acre demesne in the midlands town of Birr containing the restored Great Telescope — the world's largest telescope for 70 years — and Ireland's finest private historic garden, with the tallest box hedges in the world. The Parsons family have lived here since the 17th century.

A Viking-themed river cruise on the Shannon at Athlone — costumed guides, views of Athlone Castle from the water, and a run out onto the approaches of Lough Ree. One of the most enjoyable heritage experiences in the Irish midlands.

A 350-acre forest park on the shores of Lough Key in north Roscommon — woodland walking trails, a Victorian walled garden, ruins of a castle on an island in the lake, and the Boda Borg activity centre. One of the best family parks in Connacht.

A Palladian Georgian mansion, a 4-acre walled garden, and the National Famine Museum — the most important famine heritage site in Ireland outside Dublin. The Mahon family papers archived here provide the most complete documented record of a single estate during the 1845–52 famine.

A Victorian cliff path of bridges, tunnels and caves cut into the basalt sea cliffs at Islandmagee — originally built in 1902 by Berkeley Deane Wise of the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway to attract visitors to the Antrim coast. Restored and reopened in 2015.

The highest mountain range in Northern Ireland — 12 peaks over 600 metres, dominated by Slieve Donard at 850m. C.S. Lewis grew up looking at the Mournes from Belfast and said they 'swept down to the sea'; the walk from Newcastle beach to the summit is one of the finest in Ulster.

The 'Stairway to Heaven' — a 7.5 km boardwalk trail up Cuilcagh Mountain through blanket bog and cloud, with a raised walkway on the upper section that gives access to the summit plateau in all weathers. One of the most distinctive walking experiences in Ireland.

An outdoor museum tracing 250 years of Ulster emigration to America — reconstructed Irish thatched cottages, a dockside quay, and a recreated 19th-century Pennsylvania street. Built on the site where the Mellon banking family originated; their restored cottage is the centrepiece.

A state forest park in the Vale of Avoca containing the birthplace of Charles Stewart Parnell and a 1.5 km elevated treetop walk — 'Beyond the Trees' — that rises through the forest canopy to a viewing tower. One of the finest forest experiences in Leinster.

Ireland's first long-distance greenway — 42 km of traffic-free trail from Westport to Achill Island through Connemara foothills, coastal bog and the shores of Clew Bay. One of the finest greenways in Europe.

Ireland's national museum of rural life — free entry, housed in a striking modern building within the Victorian grounds of Turlough Park outside Castlebar. Covers 150 years of Irish country living from 1850 to 2000, with exceptional textile, tool and craft collections.

A working hill sheep farm on the shores of Killary Fjord offering live sheepdog demonstrations, shearing and lamb feeding. One of the most enjoyable family experiences on the Wild Atlantic Way — and a real working farm, not a heritage show.

Hawk Walks and falconry sessions in the ancient woodlands of the Ashford Castle estate — the oldest and most established falconry school in Ireland. You carry a Harris hawk through old-growth forest beside Lough Corrib; no experience needed.

A grand 18th-century house above Clew Bay, built by the Browne family on the foundations of pirate queen Grace O'Malley's castle — Georgian interiors, a marble staircase, and a lakeside Pirate Adventure Park in the grounds.

A 3,000-year-old semicircular stone fort on the edge of a 100-metre Atlantic cliff on Inis Mór — the most spectacular prehistoric monument in Ireland, ringed by a defensive field of jagged standing stones.

The first new whiskey distillery to open in Dublin in over 125 years (2015), in the historic Liberties — a working distillery whose guided tour ends in a tasting of its small-batch Irish whiskeys.

Ireland's largest and earliest Palladian house, built from 1722 for William "Speaker" Conolly — a Georgian masterpiece on the Liffey with state rooms, a famous print room, and free-to-roam parklands.

A 12th-century Cistercian abbey near Thomastown with one of the finest surviving cloisters in Ireland — its pillars carved with knights, bishops, dragons and a cast of medieval figures.

An interactive museum of Viking and medieval Dublin in the Victorian Synod Hall beside Christ Church Cathedral — reconstructed streets, a Viking longship and the city's archaeology, linked to the cathedral by a covered stone bridge.

Dublin's oldest cathedral, founded around 1030 by the Hiberno-Norse king Sitric — home to the largest medieval crypt in Ireland and the mummified "cat and rat" found in an organ pipe.

The 82,000-seat home of Gaelic games and the third-largest stadium in Europe — a GAA Museum and behind-the-scenes stadium tour, on a ground central to modern Irish history, including Bloody Sunday 1920.

Ireland's national cemetery — the resting place of Daniel O'Connell, Michael Collins, Éamon de Valera, Parnell and 1.5 million others, with a museum and guided tours that read the nation's history over the graves.

The most photographed castle in Ireland — a compact 16th-century tower house on a rocky spur in Kinvara harbour on Galway Bay, open for daytime visits and famous for its evening medieval banquet.

Ireland's only theme park and zoo (formerly Tayto Park) in County Meath — home to the Cú Chulainn Coaster, one of the largest wooden roller coasters in Europe, across a 55-acre site of rides and animals.

Family-run boat tours from Blacksod Pier at the tip of the Mullet Peninsula — sea safaris to the uninhabited Inishkea Islands and along the wild Erris coast, with seals, dolphins and seabirds.

Wild bogland, mountains and Atlantic coastline across 2,957 hectares — the heart of Connemara, with Diamond Hill as the main hike.

Ireland's largest island — reached by bridge from Westport — with horseshoe-shaped Keem Bay tucked beneath towering cliffs, a 5 km Blue Flag beach at Keel and the ghost village of Slievemore on the mountainside.

A wild Atlantic headland with a sea stack (Dún Briste) that separated from the cliff in 1393 — one of Mayo's most dramatic coastal stops.

Ireland's most northerly point — a windswept Donegal headland with a Napoleonic signal tower, sea stacks called the Devil's Bridge and Hell's Hole, and the raw North Atlantic weather that puts Malin in the shipping forecast.

Granite mountains, blanket bog and glacial valleys beginning 20 km from Dublin — the Wicklow Way long-distance walk passes through the heart of the park, and the Sally Gap road is one of Ireland's finest upland drives.

A 5-kilometre sand spit pushing into Dingle Bay — one of the longest beaches in Ireland, with excellent surf and a legendary pub at the entrance.

A 526-metre flat-topped mountain above Sligo Bay — W.B. Yeats country, with the poet buried in its shadow at Drumcliffe churchyard.

Ireland's holiest mountain — St Patrick fasted on its summit for 40 days in 441 AD; 25,000 pilgrims climb it on the last Sunday of July each year.

An Iron Age stone ringfort on a hilltop above Lough Swilly — seat of the O'Neill kings and one of the best-preserved hill forts in Ireland.

An 18th-century avenue of intertwined beech trees on Bregagh Road, Armoy — one of the most photographed landscapes in Ireland since its use as the King's Road in Game of Thrones.

An intact dry-stone Early Christian church on the Dingle Peninsula — a small corbelled oratory built without mortar between the 6th and 9th centuries that has remained waterproof for over 1,000 years.

The highest mountain pass in Ireland at 456 m, crossing the spine of the Dingle Peninsula with panoramic views north to the Castlegregory lakes and south over Dingle town and harbour.

Europe's largest enclosed urban park — 1,750 acres of woodland, open grassland and a resident herd of 600 wild fallow deer, with the Irish President's residence, the US Ambassador's home and the Dublin Zoo all within the walls.

One of the great small museums in Europe — a mining millionaire's extraordinary collection of manuscripts, prints, scrolls and religious objects from Islamic, East Asian and European traditions, housed in Dublin Castle. Free entry.

A 327 m hill above Sligo Bay topped by a massive Neolithic passage tomb — Queen Maeve's Cairn is visible from most of the northwest and the 45-minute ascent gives views over Strandhill beach, Sligo Bay and Benbulben.

A 5th-century monastic settlement in County Louth with two of the finest high crosses in Ireland — Muiredach's Cross is considered the greatest example of Celtic high cross carving, with 50 biblical scenes carved in full relief.

A UNESCO Global Geopark in County Fermanagh with guided underground cave tours through stalactites, flowstones and subterranean rivers — one of the most accessible showcave systems in the British Isles.

A dramatic Atlantic headland overlooking a perfect horseshoe harbour, with Classiebawn Castle (former home of Lord Mountbatten) rising above the beach. On big winter swells, Mullaghmore becomes one of the world's premier big-wave surf spots.

A 15-metre waterfall tumbling into a wooded ravine on the Sligo–Leitrim border — the waterfall immortalised by W.B. Yeats in "The Stolen Child". Free to visit, with a short walk through old woodland from the car park.

A 300-metre mountain pass cutting through the Slieve Tooey range between Ardara and Glencolmcille — one of the most dramatic and least-visited scenic drives in Ireland. The road descends in a series of switchbacks into the valley with views that open suddenly at the top.

A quartzite headland rising to 180 metres above the Atlantic on the northwest Donegal coast, with views from Malin Head to Slieve League on clear days. The cliff drive around the head is one of the finest 10 km circuits in Ireland.

A 13 km loop from Clifden along a narrow cliff-edge road above the Atlantic — arguably the finest short scenic drive in Connemara. The views take in the Twelve Bens, Clifden Bay, and the outline of Turbot Island on the horizon.

Two back-to-back curved beaches south of Roundstone forming a tombolo — a sliver of land with Atlantic on both sides. Dog's Bay is composed of foraminifera shell rather than quartz sand, giving it a unique white colour. Free to visit, rarely crowded outside July/August.

A 5,500-year-old portal tomb standing in the open limestone of the Burren — one of the most iconic prehistoric images in Ireland. Free to visit, accessed by a short walk from the road through the limestone pavement. The remains of at least 33 people were found here.

Guided whale and dolphin watching from Baltimore harbour — fin whales (the second-largest animal on earth), humpbacks, minkes and large common dolphin pods in the waters off west Cork. Ireland's most reliable whale-watching location, with sightings on most trips from August to October.

A 7 km cliff-edge loop at the northernmost tip of the Mullet Peninsula — one of the most remote headlands in Ireland, with views north to Donegal and west toward Iceland on clear days. No entry fee, no facilities, just raw Atlantic edge.

A free man-made tidal sea-water pool on Blacksod Bay at Belmullet, built in 1984 by the women of the local swimming club — a beloved year-round swimming spot at the gateway to the Mullet Peninsula.