Ireland

After having visited Iceland, Ireland was on the list. A flight from Reykjavik to Dublin is typically quite inexpensive with WOW-air. In Dublin airport you need to get through immigration (this takes a while) and after that you are free to go.

We had rented a car so we would be flexible enough to see most of the country for a week. We drove from Dublin straight to Galway at the west coast. The inland is rather flat with many fields seperated by stone hedges. At the coast you can see the huge cliffs boardering the Atlantic Ocean. There are usually a lot of tourists taking the Atlantic-coast route, and some of the most see landmarks are not at all so fun when there are that many people around.

We decided therefore to try our luck further north and drove all the way up to Malin Beg. This place was very isolated but very beautiful. The coasts had just as impressive cliffs as in the south and there were virtually no people. Large castles dotted the green fields and purple flowers covered the mountains. We found this absolutely the most beautiful part of Ireland.

From that point we drove further to Letterkenny, and then into Londonderry to drive through Northern Ireland. There is no control and you hardly noticed that you enter the UK. People speak a bit differently and behave perhaps more British. Being short on time we had to travel further down to Newry, and than back to Dublin.

Ireland is a rather unique country with rugged coastlines, peacefull fields and gentle mountains. The weather can be intimidating but the people are generally hearty and in a good mood. We definitely recommend visiting the North if you are more into nature and less populated areas.