Ireland's 10 Best Attractions
Ireland is a small island but it packs in an extraordinary range of natural and historical sites. These ten are the ones that stay with you.
Cliffs of Moher
The Cliffs of Moher stretch for eight kilometres along the Atlantic coast of County Clare, rising to 214 metres at their highest point. They are Ireland's most visited natural attraction and one of the most dramatic coastlines in Europe. Walk the cliff path at dawn or dusk to experience them at their best, with the Aran Islands visible across Galway Bay on clear days.
Most visitors come on a day tour from Galway or Limerick. The visitor centre is well done and the approach walk along the coastal trail beats the car park entrance hands down.
Ring of Kerry
The 179-kilometre loop around the Iveragh Peninsula in County Kerry is one of the great scenic drives in Europe. The route takes in mountain passes, coastal villages, ancient stone forts, and sweeping views out to the Skellig Islands. Kenmare, Cahersiveen, and Waterville are all worth stopping in along the way.
Drive it anti-clockwise to avoid the tour bus convoys that go the other way. Start early, go slowly, and stop at Staigue Fort and Ladies View as a minimum.
Newgrange
Built around 3,200 BC, Newgrange is older than Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids. This passage tomb in the Boyne Valley is aligned with extraordinary precision: at the winter solstice, the rising sun shines directly down the 19-metre passage and illuminates the inner chamber for 17 minutes. The waiting list for the solstice lottery runs to years. The rest of the year, a simulated version runs during tours.
Newgrange is easily combined with the nearby sites of Knowth and Dowth in the same day trip from Dublin, roughly 50km away.
Giant's Causeway
Northern Ireland's only UNESCO World Heritage Site is a geological marvel: roughly 40,000 interlocking basalt columns formed by an ancient volcanic eruption, stepping down into the sea like a staircase built by giants. Irish mythology says exactly that. The coastal path from the Causeway to Dunseverick Castle is one of the best short walks in the country.
Come early in the morning to beat the crowds. Combine it with the Dark Hedges, Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, and Dunluce Castle for a full Causeway Coast day.
Trinity College & the Book of Kells
The Book of Kells is a 9th-century illuminated gospel manuscript created by Irish monks and widely considered one of the finest examples of medieval European art. It is housed in the Long Room library at Trinity College Dublin, a barrel-vaulted hall of oak and 200,000 leather-bound books that is extraordinary in itself. The exhibition is small but remarkable.
Book tickets in advance to avoid the queues. The college grounds are free to walk and worth exploring even if you skip the exhibition.
Killarney National Park
Ireland's oldest national park covers 26,000 acres of mountains, woodland, and three interconnected lakes in County Kerry. The park contains native oak woodland, red deer, and the only wild herd of native Irish red deer in the country. Ross Castle on the lakeshore, Muckross House, and the 18-metre Torc Waterfall are the key landmarks within the park itself.
The jaunting car (horse-drawn trap) through the park is touristy but genuinely enjoyable. The Gap of Dunloe walk is one of the best in Ireland, a 10km route through a glaciated mountain pass with ponies, waterfalls, and silence.
Skellig Michael
A 218-metre rock rising from the Atlantic 12km off the Kerry coast, Skellig Michael is home to a 6th-century Christian monastery that has survived a thousand years of Atlantic storms. The monks built 600 steps up the cliff face and a series of dry-stone beehive huts near the summit that are still intact. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the genuinely extraordinary places on Earth.
Boat trips run from Portmagee and Ballinskelligs between May and October, weather permitting. The crossing is rough and the climb is steep. Permits are required and numbers are strictly limited. Book months in advance.
Blarney Castle
The Blarney Stone is one of the most kissed objects in the world, supposedly conferring the gift of eloquence on those who pucker up while hanging backwards from the castle battlements. Blarney Castle itself is a well-preserved 15th-century tower house, and the grounds contain a spectacular poison garden, a rock close, and ancient woodland that are worth the visit even if the stone is not your thing.
Located just outside Cork city, Blarney is an easy half-day trip from Cork by bus or organised tour.
The Burren
The Burren is a 250 square kilometre karst landscape of bare limestone pavement in County Clare that looks like the surface of the moon and flowers like a Mediterranean garden. Rare orchids, gentians, and mountain avens grow in the cracks between the rock. The 5,000-year-old Poulnabrone portal dolmen sits in the middle of it, one of the most photographed prehistoric structures in Ireland.
Usually combined with the Cliffs of Moher on a day tour from Galway. Walking the limestone pavement with a botanist guide is one of Ireland's more unusual experiences.
Guinness Storehouse
Ireland's most visited tourist attraction is a seven-floor, pint-glass-shaped building at the original St. James's Gate Brewery in Dublin. The exhibition covers the history of Guinness and the craft of brewing, before rewarding you with a perfectly poured pint in the Gravity Bar at the top, with 360-degree views across Dublin. It is unapologetically commercial and genuinely enjoyable.
Book tickets online in advance to skip the queues and usually get a better price. Combine with a walk through the Liberties neighbourhood and Kilmainham Gaol nearby.
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