Ireland ... not as bad a place as I previously thought

[ZroC]

Maybe it's because I live here but I've always kind of seen Ireland as one of those skippable countries, as in, if I was a tourist I could barely think of two sites really worth checking out. Now I don't think we have anything close to those sites you would literally visit just to see i.e Eiffel tower, Auschwitz, statue of liberty, but I've been doing more digging and I'm kind of starting to think maybe there's more here than most people think.

And yeah, I know Americans and others can be mad about the place but I've always assumed it was more a matter of lineage than anything. Still wouldn't say it'd be on my top places to visit if I was foreign, purely on account of the rain and cold. But anyway I thought I'd make a quick list of some of the gems here not everyone might know about, though some are obvious.

Some of these wouldn't be known to a lot of Irish people, some a very well known. The sad thing is our tourist board seems to be so bad it seems to be hard to find pictures that do them justice on google.

Skellig Island:

Vale of Avoca (google images are sadly lacking)

Freemason Pyramid built in the 17th century

Glendalough

Newgrange

Free gay people

 

[ZroC]

The Skellig Islands are going to feature in the new star wars movie. That's huge. It's such an under appreciated place.

 

[ZroC]

Hill of Tara ... check it out soon cause they want to put a motorway through it

The Burren

The Witches Kitchen

Glendalough

Victoria's Way

 

[GrenadeEffect]

Love how this turned into a CO vs Ireland thread. Before I make my vacation plans, will I get arrested for smoking weed in Ireland?

 

[ZroC]

Powerscourt Garden

Druid's Altar

Sugarloaf (Ireland's only volcano)

Rock of Cashel

Megalthic Cemetary

 

[ZroC]

Love how this turned into a CO vs Ireland thread. Before I make my vacation plans, will I get arrested for smoking weed in Ireland?

the answer is yyyyyeeeeennoooomaaaaybbbbb

 

[AGGAMEMNON66]

I hear the English like it too

 

[HARRISON_3]

Ireland looks beautiful.

I'm planning a trip there later this year hopefully.

Where can I get the most "authentic" experience?

 

[Shokushu Goukan]

Yeah congrats on your progressive stance on gay marriage.

Cheers,

Progressing to what? Nihilism? The deterioration of the dictionary?

 

[2DUM2TAP]

Ireland looks beautiful to me. I love Irish folks. (I'm Canadian and not of Irish descent). I've always wanted to go there. I hold it much higher than England in terms of places I would want to visit.

You should post more pics of the hot gingers though.

 

[Boomb]

I've been in Ireland for 10 days in 01 and I fell in love with the country, the people, the overall atmosphere, even the weather.

 

[ZroC]

Ireland looks beautiful.

I'm planning a trip there later this year hopefully.

Where can I get the most "authentic" experience?

Depends on exactly what you want. Killarney is a bit of a time capsule for old Ireland. Killarney would sort of be the Mt.Fuji/yellow stone place of Ireland. Wicklow is called the garden of Ireland and I think it's probably the county the majority of the places I listed are in. The rest of the country think people from Dublin are practically British so you're probably not going to find that authentic Irishness there. Dublin and Ireland are two completely different cultures.

Roads and the transport system in Ireland are terrible though so don't judge your travel time by what you see on the map. Once you go off the main roads in Ireland you're going to be on what is essentially a one way trail that hasn't seen roadworks since they were built veering left and right near a rather steep drop. I gather if you're from north America they can be kind of hectic. Get used to saying the words "Which corner?" and "what turn?"

 

[El Chimpo]

Going to be the first place i travel to when i can.

 

[gspieler]

Nice pics, TS. Not first on the list of places in Europa I'd visit, but def wouldn't mind visiting there.

 

[bref]

Progressing to what? Nihilism? The deterioration of the dictionary?

 

[A Loser]

I live here too, it's alright. I'm getting out as soon as I'm finished college, though.

 

[bcordova]

I went to Dublin for St. Patrick's Day. I was afraid they would hate me because I was American. Turns out they don't and I got drunk with a bunch of rugby players. Good times.

 

[ZroC]

I've been in Ireland for 10 days in 01 and I fell in love with the country, the people, the overall atmosphere, even the weather.

Going to be the first place i travel to when i can.

Dublin has a lot of hidden gems they don't mention in the tour guides. Not going to ruin it because the fun is about opening up your own eyes and finding them ... and I'm not talking about restaurants and pubs here. Though I have to say having just moved back to Dublin after a long while it does have a shit tonne of wonderful shops to visit. I didn't know Dublin was so varied these days.

 

[ZroC]

I live here too, it's alright. I'm getting out as soon as I'm finished college, though.

Always find it funny how the ultimate goal of every person living Ireland is to get out of Ireland. It's a nice place to see but unfortunately some of us have to live here. I can't remember if we ever had summer or is my memory just playing tricks on me.

 

[ZroC]

Weather could be better though. Ya hear that rain right now?

Was just saying I loved the sound of the rain when I'm inside. Didn't fancy getting saturated in the 5 seconds it took to get my bike in.

 

[HelloJapan]

Yeah congrats on your progressive stance on gay marriage.

Cheers,

 

[method115]

My friend ended up moving to Ireland and meeting his wife there. I've always wanted to go.

 

[ZroC]

Kylemore Abbey

Templebar, Dublin

Allowee Caves

Stephen's Green, Dublin

Cliffs of Moher

 

[sleepwalk]

I liked it. Tried to avoid the touristy shit but my group really wanted to see the Guinness and Jameson tours.

Spoiler

Don't

But just wandering around Dublin, I found the concert hall where Handel's Messiah was first performed, Phil Lynotte's statue on the Ha' Penny Bridge, the oldest active pub in Europe and some damn good sushi.

Westport and Galway were great walking around. Had I more time, I'd definitely have had taken in more ancient and historic sites like in the OP.

 

[Hez]

no offense but those pictures are pretty but nothing that would lure me to visit there. I live in Colorado and have more natural beauty around me that I don't have to pay thousands to see. So I can see why not alot of tourists go there.

 

[ThinkGreen]

We have an intern at my job right now from Ireland and she's a dime. Cheers!

 

[BJ@LW&WW]

giants causeway

 

[ThinkGreen]

no offense but those pictures are pretty but nothing that would lure me to visit there. I live in Colorado and have more natural beauty around me that I don't have to pay thousands to see. So I can see why not alot of tourists go there.

You have castles in Colorado?

 

[ZroC]

giants causeway

That's the north though. It's a pain because they got the best thing.

It's really weird but looking at these pictures makes me wish I was playing Skyrim.

 

[Hez]

You have castles in Colorado?

might as well be if you seen some of the Caverns we have....but my parents are from Iran so I have seen alot better architecture than castles. Castles are kind of bland IMO

 

[Rimbaud82]

I live here too, in the North. I like our wee island, despite all it's problems.

 

[Rimbaud82]

That's the north though. It's a pain because they got the best thing.

It's really weird but looking at these pictures makes me wish I was playing Skyrim.

Still Ireland though mate, regardless of politics, you have to treat it as the same island...

 

[ThinkGreen]

might as well be if you seen some of the Caverns we have....but my parents Iran so I have seen alot better architecture than castles. Castles are kind of bland IMO

My uncle lives right outside Telluride so I agree Colorado is beautiful. Doesn't mean Ireland is not though.