Rick Steves - Rick Steves Ireland

IRELAND

Rick Steves & Pat OConnor

Travel is intensified livingmaximum thrills per minute and one of the last great sources of legal adventure. Travel is freedom. Its recess, and we need it.

I discovered a passion for European travel as a teen and have been sharing it ever sincethrough my tours, public television and radio shows, and travel guidebooks. Over the years, Ive taught millions of travelers how to best enjoy Europes blockbuster sightsand experience Back Door discoveries that most tourists miss.

Written with my talented co-author, Pat OConnor, this book covers the highlights of the entire island of Ireland, offering a balanced mix of exciting cities and great-to-be-alive-in small towns. And its selectivethere are plenty of manor-house gardens, but we recommend only the best ones. Our self-guided museum tours and city walks give insight into the countrys vibrant history and todays living, breathing culture.

We advocate traveling simply and smartly. Take advantage of our money- and time-saving tips on sightseeing, transportation, and more. Try local, characteristic alternatives to expensive hotels and restaurants. In many ways, spending more money only builds a thicker wall between you and what you traveled so far to see.

We visit Ireland to experience itto become temporary locals. Thoughtful travel engages us with the world, as we learn to appreciate other cultures and new ways to measure quality of life.

Judging by the positive feedback we receive from readers, this book will help you enjoy a fun, affordable, and rewarding vacationwhether its your first trip or your tenth.

Have a grand holiday! Happy travels!

Flung onto the foggy fringe of the Atlantic pond like a mossy millstone, Ireland drips with mystery, drawing you in for a closer look. You may not find the proverbial pot of gold, but youll treasure your encounters with the engaging, feisty Irish people. The Irish culturewith its intricate art and mesmerizing musicis as intoxicating as the famous Irish brew, Guinness.

The Irish revere their past and love their proverbs, such as When God made time, he made a lot of it. Ireland is dusted with prehistoric stone circles, burial mounds, and standing stones...some older than the pyramids, and all speckled with moss. While much of Europe has buried older cultures under new, Ireland still reveals its cultural bedrock. Its a place to connect with your Neolithic roots, even if youre not Irish.

The 300-mile-long island (about the size of Maine) is ringed with some of Europes most scenic coastal cliffs. Its only 150 miles across at its widest point. No matter where you go in Ireland, youre never more than 75 miles from the sea. Despite being as far north as Newfoundland, Ireland has a mild maritime climate, thanks to the Gulf Stream. Rainfall ranges from more than 100 inches a year in soggy, boggy Connemara to about 30 inches a year in Dublin. Any time of year, bring rain gear. As Irelands own Oscar Wilde once quipped, There is no bad weather...only inappropriate clothing.

Faces of Ireland now and then (at Dublin Castle and the Giants Causeway)

Though a small island, Ireland has had a large impact on the rest of the world. Geographically isolated in the damp attic of Dark Age Europe, Christian Irish monks tended the flickering flame of literacy, then bravely reintroduced it to the barbaric Continent. Ireland later turned out some of modern literatures greatest authors, including W. B. Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Beckett, and Oscar Wilde. In the 1800s, great waves of Irish emigrants fled famine and colonial oppression, seeking new opportunities abroad and making their mark in the US and beyond.