The best thing to see in Ireland. The main visits of the Emerald Isle

Most of the people who visit Ireland focus on Dublin or its surroundings and very few dare to discover the island. You have many beautiful places to see in Ireland.
There is a good transport network that can make you move around the island but we recommend that you rent a car, lose the fear of driving on the left and enjoy one of the most beautiful places in Europe.
Here you have the most important things to visit in Ireland. The more days you have to visit it, the better.
The essential places to see in Ireland
1. Dublin, the capital
A list of the best things to do in Ireland cannot begin without mentioning Dublin. And that is not the main place of interest in the country, but as it is usually the gateway to the Emerald Isle, you can not miss it.
Along the River Liffey we find many places that you should not miss, highlighting above all Trinity College, Christ Church Cathedral or St. Patrick’s Cathedral, without failing to value a walk along Grafton Street or O’Connell Street.
A lot of culture and a lot of atmosphere is what you will find in Dublin. Temple Bar or the Guinness Storehouse are other of the main places to visit in Dublin.
2. Cliffs of Moher
We jump to the other end of the island to visit one of the most beautiful landscapes you can find in Europe and the world. And surely the most beautiful in Ireland. The Cliffs of Moher, Cliffs of Moher in English.
8 kilometers of rocky wall that rise above the sea and when you have them in front of you you will hold your breath. It is difficult for you to have seen a more beautiful landscape before.
The Cliffs of Moher are located in County Clare, where there are also other points of interest such as Dunguaire Castle or The Burren, a truly fantastic and spectacular karstic landscape.
3. Giant’s Causeway and Carrick-a-Rede
We jump back on the island, now to the north, so far north that we change countries. Northern Ireland is also worth a visit, especially for two incredible attractions that are visited by thousands of tourists every year.
The Giant’s Causeway is the best thing to see in Northern Ireland. 60 million years of volcanic activity have drawn a series of 40,000 basalt columns surrounded by legend and where your breath will stop, although the path that leads to them from the visitor center surely has already done so.
The other, located 15 minutes away by car, is the Carrick-a-Rede suspension bridge, an incredible wooden walkway located 30 meters high, not suitable for people with vertigo. After the bridge you arrive at Carrick Island and you can enjoy one of the best views over the Atlantic Ocean.
4. Killarney and the Ring of Kerry
And now, I jump to the south, where Killarney is located, one of the most visited towns on the island thanks to the fact that it is very close to the Killarney National Park and to several of the main destinations to see in Ireland.
The Ring of Kerry is a circular route of about 170 kilometers in which, in addition to the fabulous landscape that you find, you can discover castles, mansions, forests and lakes. It is one of the best routes in the world to do by car.
All this bathed by the Atlantic Ocean, which leaves impressive cliffs before us.
5. Dingle Peninsula
Very close to Killarney we have another of the best places to see in Ireland and another authentic natural jewel of the island. As you can see, Ireland is not a country to visit towns and cities, which are also fantastic, but to discover nature.
The Dingle Peninsula is Ireland’s most westerly point and it’s such a beautiful place you’ll never want to leave. It’s time to enjoy its people, its charm, its legends, its cliffs and its famous cabins.
And of course, it’s time to enjoy the views that the Atlantic Ocean gives you when it wets the coast of the Dingle Peninsula.
6. Galway and its surroundings
Galway is one of the most important cities to see in Ireland, being a base chosen by a large number of visitors to easily go to the Cliffs of Moher and the wonders that lie north of the city.
Galway also has a great importance in the history of Spain thanks to its commercial relations and the alliances sealed with our country in the wars against England. For this reason, the Spanish Arch is one of the main monuments in Galway, where you cannot leave without walking down Shop Street.
In County Galway there are also such interesting places as the Aran Islands, Clifden, where the Sky Road starts, Claddagh, where the famous ring originates from, and the Connemara National Park, which we will talk about next.
7. Connemara and Kylemore Abbey
And it is that the Connemara National Park deserves a separate chapter because its beauty has nothing to envy to the rest of the natural wonders that we have already talked about.
Touring the Connemara Park is a real pleasure for the senses and in it you can enjoy Loch Corrib, where there are 1200 islands, the fjord in Leenaun, unique in Ireland, the Diamond Hills and above all the great jewel, Kylemore Abbey.
Kylemore Abbey is not only one of the best abbeys to see in Ireland, but in the world. The gray stone of the abbey is highlighted by the green of the woods and the blue of the water around it. Without a doubt, an essential visit to do in Ireland.
8. Glendalough and the Wicklow Mountains
We jump back to the east and arrive at a place from which it is possible to make an excursion from Dublin due to its proximity. We are talking about Glendalough, a fantasy place located in County Wicklow, where you can also enjoy its famous mountains.
The ruins of Glendalough are not only essential for the beauty of the landscape that surrounds them but also for their history and the legends that surround them. In addition to the lower lake, next to which the ruins are located, you have to go to the upper one and enjoy nature in its purest form.
And you also have to go through the Wicklow Mountains, on a road that seems to take you to heaven and with which you cross landscapes that appear in the Braveheart movie.
9. Clonmacnoise
Another place of special ruins that you should not miss in Ireland are the ruins of Clonmacnoise, located in the center of the country halfway between Dublin and Galway.
Clonmacnoise is one of the oldest monasteries in Ireland where you can breathe peace and tranquility and try to understand even more the history of the country while you only hear in the background the noise of the birds and the water of the River Shannon, the longest in the island.
Enjoying Clonmacnoise is an opportunity that you cannot miss.
10. County Cork
In the south of the country is Cork, the second largest city in Ireland, second only to Dublin. And one of the most atmospheric thanks to its University and some cultural events.
Strolling through Cork, we recommend it. It is a very beautiful city, with different points of interest and that you can get to know in a short time. But above all we recommend Blarney Castle, located a few kilometers away and where the Stone of Eloquence is located, which according to tradition will give you said gift if you kiss it. But beware, kissing her is not easy…
Around its capital there are also different towns that you should visit in County Cork, such as Kinsale and its colorful houses, or Cobh, with a spectacular Cathedral and which has the honor of having been the city from which the Titanic departed.
11. County Donegal
It’s been a while since we talked about the unforgettable landscapes of Ireland. And now it is the turn of County Donegal, the northernmost county on the island and for what is often said to be “the end of Ireland”.
Once again the green of the forests are intertwined with the blue of the lakes and the sea that form an unforgettable harmony with the cliffs that you will come across as you travel through County Donegal.
Here is the Glenveagh National Park, where there is a spectacular castle, and above all Slieve League, impressive cliffs 600 meters high, three times higher than those of Moher.
12.Belfast
We could not finish this list without talking about the capital of Northern Ireland, a city that is very unknown to everyone who visits Ireland but with innumerable points of interest. And it is that visiting Belfast is also almost obligatory.
Belfast is a small city where you won’t need too much time to visit, but with enviable architecture and a history that you have to know. The murals on its walls will take us to the history of the political and social problems in which the country has always been involved.
You can stroll through its pretty streets, visit its historic cafes, and see the shipyards where the Titanic was built.
You can find more information about what to see in Ireland on the official Ireland tourism page, which, by the way, also includes Northern Ireland, forgetting those historical disputes and turning the island into a single country in the eyes of tourism.