Influential travel guide ranks “stunningly scenic” Ireland fifth on its list of countries to visit next year.
The influential travel guide has just ranked the country fifth on its list of the Top 10 in the world to visit in 2015 – a major boost to Ireland’s recovering tourism industry.
“Ireland is stunningly scenic,” according to Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2015 – an annual collection of trends, destinations and experiences for the year ahead, published today.
“It is the real deal… its traditions – music, dance, whiskey and beer – [are] firmly intact, and the cosmopolitan, contemporary Irish are just as friendly and welcoming as their forebears were known to be.”
Hospitality is one of Ireland’s “true” qualities, according to the book:
“The Irish themselves are inevitably at the heart of the best the country has to offer. Attend a traditional music session in a small pub in County Clare. Hook up with a walking club and do a little cross-country ambling on a soft Sunday afternoon. Go surfing at Rossnowlagh Beach in County Donegal. Or just strike up a conversation over a pint with the gang sitting next to you in the pub.
“It’s these connections that will make you want to come back.”
There’s a whole lot of love for the old country, which carries a burden of expectation skewed towards the sheep-on-the-road, thatched-roof image – slightly at odds with the modern Ireland of motorways and macchiatos. Ireland is stunningly scenic, its traditions – music, dance, whiskey and beer – firmly intact. And this year is the year of the Wild Atlantic Way, a 2500km scenic drive that snakes its way round every nook and crook of the western seaboard from Donegal to Cork.
Singapore has topped Lonely Planet’s top destination to visit in 2015, with my own country of Lithuania named third and top in Europe.
With flights starting from Belfast in March 2015, Lithuania is the place to visit!
As of 1 January 2015, Lithuania will be the newest member of the eurozone, the final step in its journey from reluctant Soviet republic to fully fledged European nation. Travelling in Lithuania is going to get easier when it comes to electronic payments and finding an ATM. And why visit? The Curonian Spit is one long line of gorgeous beaches, backed by Europe’s largest moving sand dunes. Then there’s Vilnius’ baroque old town, which earned Lithuania one of its entries on the World Heritage list.
Lonely Planet’s Top 10 cities for 2015 have also been announced:
1) Washington, DC, USA 2) El Chaltén, Argentina 3) Milan, Italy 4) Zermatt, Switzerland 5) Valletta, Malta 6) Plovdiv, Bulgaria 7) Salisbury, UK 8) Vienna, Austria 9) Chennai, India 10) Toronto, Canada.
Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2015 is priced at £9.99/€12.60.
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