Tours in Ireland

Ireland is a country where the weather changes its mind twice before lunch, and nobody thinks that is worth mentioning. You learn to carry a coat, stay out anyway, and duck into a pub when the rain gets serious. Most of the best moments here happen like that, a little by accident.

Start in Dublin, because most people do. It is a city you can take in at a human pace, with the Liffey cutting through the middle and the north and south sides each claiming to be the real one. Cross Ha'penny Bridge, wander the lanes around Temple Bar, then walk out past Trinity College and onto the Georgian squares where the doors are painted every colour going. St Stephen's Green and Phoenix Park give you room to breathe when the centre gets busy. Dublin is flat and compact enough that a bike suits it well, and an e-bike takes care of any hills and headwinds. You see far more in a couple of hours than you would on foot, and you can stop wherever a street catches your eye.

Leave the capital and the country opens up. The Wicklow Mountains are close enough for a day out, all bog, heather and quiet lakes. Galway in the west is a city of buskers and seafood and late evenings. Cork has its own pride and its own accent, and its covered market is worth a slow morning. Then there is Kerry, with its winding coast roads, and the Cliffs of Moher, where the Atlantic does most of the talking. Up north, the Giant's Causeway and the Antrim coast are an easy trip from Belfast.

We only list one tour here so far, but Ireland is much bigger than that. If you want a guide for Kilmainham Gaol, the Book of Kells, a Guinness brewery visit, a food walk in Cork or a drive around the Ring of Kerry, ask. A local guide can take the request and build the day around you.