No land is more enchanting than Ireland. Even if you’re beyond the age when you’re “supposed” to believe in faeries, the moment you step foot in Ireland a feeling of possibility washes over you. You just don’t know what could be at the top of those castle towers or at the end of the rainbow.

Ireland is a perfect place to experience a great vacation. This beautiful island is located in the northern Atlantic Ocean west of Great Britain, divided between the independent Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, which is a part of the United Kingdom. Ireland, being the third-largest island in Europe, is also one of the most beautiful countries and full of natural beauty. There are many areas of Ireland, and each has its own unique features.

Dublin

Dublin is probably best explored on foot, as are most glorious cities. Artistic and architectural renewal has created ever brighter levels of energy. Its history still flows down the streets and whistles through the doorways. While walking take in o’Connell Street, the Abbey Theater (founded by Yeats), hear the newest in music and the most traditional. Visit Trinity College and see the Book of Kells. Wander eclectic Grafton Street, the National Museum containing thousands of years of Irish history, and relax in the wondrous park St. Stephen’s Green. Peruse the pulse and the throb of the Temple Bar area for lively conversation and good music. Shop to your heart’s delight, indulge, explore, and feel the layers of time that exist in this flourishing city, voted the friendliest city in Europe.

The Northern Side

The time of “the troubles” is past. For Americans, this is great news€”many of your relatives came from here. For people from the UK, more great news€”you’re on the same monetary system and just a hop away. It’s time to discover this hidden gem. Belfast is a city filled with lovely gardens and neighborhoods, sublime Victorian homes and buildings, great pubs, and the Ulster Museum. After you’ve had enough of city excitement, head straight to the coast. It is perhaps one of the strangest and most exciting coastlines in the world. You’ll find the volcanic Giant’s Causeway, consisting of 37,000 basalt columns running straight into the sea; fishing and trekking in the Mountains of Mourne; a chance to enjoy the Lake Country of Lower Lough erne.

Midlands and the East Coast

This area is the heart, soul and birth of the Irish Nation. It is the Celtic Spiritual home. This area contains some of Ireland’s most sacred sites. Sacred to those long gone and extraordinary for us today because of the response they engender in us. They are places of pilgrimage, and they serve to awaken our higher self. Much of the Midlands are ignored by tourists, but the gentle lakes, unique bogs, and rolling pastures tell us why the ancient people decided to firmly plant themselves here. The magnetic pull of the Midlands not only attracted the first Celt settlers, there are trails of Celtic crosses, Norman churches, and later castles that tell the tale of all who were drawn to this area. Imagine this: Newgrange, older than both the pyramids and Stonehenge, is only 30 miles from Dublin.