I'm going to Ireland in February, any tips or sights off the beaten path I should check out?

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Celtic lord

Hi there,first of all the weather will be crap in february,just letting u now lol..My advice is to get out of dublin as soon as you can and head over to galway its a lovely chilled out small city with a laid back atmosphere..Most people then head to the south west which is also nice around kerry and cork..But Irelands hidden gem for scenry is Co.Donegal in the NW.Its in the republic of Ireland but is also the most northerly in the whole island.It has the highest sea cliffs in western europe at slieve leauge and has a beautiful 100mile coastal drive around the innishowen basin soaking up the views of the atlantic ocean.Glenveagh national park is also in Donegal,its beautiful.there is an old mansion here bulit beside a lake trapped in by two mountains,there is tours all day of the house and the gardens and everything appears as it did when the house was built in the 1800's.Search for county Donegal and galway in wikipedia to find out more.So in retrospect,I would tour from dublin down to the south west,then up to Galway and Donegal.Then maybe from Donegal head east to the giants causeway in antrim then back down to Dublin for a night on the town.

Hope you enjoy your trip..

Charlie

The Ring of Kerry is absolutely beautiful and the Dingle peninsular , in fact its hard not to find somewhere not to fall in love with . I found the west coast stunning with the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare a must . All the villages in the area you will get a warm Irish welcome .

gaspipe

stay away from dundalk its the biggest sh*t hole EVER!

Tony R

Hit anywhere along the West Coast and you'll meet the most fantastic scenery especially in Kerry, Clare Galway Mayo and Donegal.
On your way don't forget to spend some time in my beatiful home city of Limerick, along the banks of the Shannon (ignore the comment in the post above). Enjoy your trip, have a good time and bring home lots of happy memories with you.

Nigel P

Newgrange is a must
If you know anything about the ancient history of Ireland then go to the Hill of Tara, site of the High Kings of Ireland. Kells where the book of Kells came from is nearby.
I have not been to Wicklow, but it is supposed to be pretty, If you go to the West Coast then the Burren, Co Clare is pretty, in a bleak sort of way and the Cliffs of Moher are spectacular. Conemmara is superbly scenic. A weird little walk is across the bogland where Alcock and Brown crashed after flying the Atlantic to the remains of the radio station where Marconi made the first transatlantic radio transmissions

Orla C

Dublin isn't Ireland, dear. Spend a maximum of 3 days there, it is worth seeing, but despite being the capital of the Republic of Ireland, it still feels very English - even true blue Dubliners have admitted this.

The beaten track are the N roads, you want to head off these, be my guest. Bear in mind that roads in Ireland are not built for large volumes of high speed traffic, so it will take you twice a long to get across the country as you might otherwise expect (I'm assuming you're a first-time visitor to this country). You cannot drive 100 miles in 100 minutes, you'd be very lucky if you could do it in 2 hours if you are spending most of your journey on the N roads. Many of them still go through small towns and villages, and these places can be something of a bottleneck, particularly at peak commuting hours.

I suggest basing yourself in one of the medium to large towns well outside of Dublin and taking day trips from there. You could also try your luck at staying in places 'on spec' - by this I mean not booking accommodation in advance, and just arriving in a village, stopping at a local pub, and asking them if they know of anyplace to stay. Chances are you'll find something very quickly this way, particularly as you're going out of season.

While it can be great fun getting lost, you also need to be aware that there is only street lighting in towns and villages, and once you're on the N roads (or smaller), there is none and it can be very dark. In February it gets dark around 6 pm.

Sshhhh! It's Podge and Rodge

Some parts of Limerick are well off the beaten path, tourist-wise.
You could check out Moyross for its rustic and rugged charm.

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