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With idyllic landscapes and quality highways, one the best ways to experience Ireland is by driving it. The uncrowded roads of Counties Cork and Kerry offer beautiful views of the rugged Irish countryside and coast. After passing through Cork’s small towns and kissing (or not kissing) the Blarney Stone, end the trip with a drive around the famous Ring of Kerry.

Ireland’s best products come directly from the sea and soil, with fresh seafood, meat, and vegetables making their way into traditional Irish cuisine and the menus of award-winning chefs, from city center to the coast.

Experience a hotel stay made for royalty.

Founded in 1028 and built overlooking a Viking settlement, this incredible cathedral is nearly 1,000 years old and is Dublin’s oldest building. The 12th century crypt is one of the largest in Ireland or Britain and here you can check out the treasures of Christ Church exhibition, with its fascinating manuscripts and artefacts. There are also 16th Century costumes from the historical series The Tudors on display here and there are audio tours of the cathedral. Pop over to nearby St Patrick’s Cathedral to complete the experience.

Wander through the historic rooms of Newman House on Dublin’s St. Stephen’s Green to explore the art of Irish literature through a series of thoughtful exhibitions in the Museum of Literature Ireland, or MoLI. The first gallery covers the founding of University College Dublin in 1854, and then leads on to an exhibit with quotes from the Irish writers. Much of the MoLI is dedicated to James Joyce, with a model of Joyce’s Dublin and the first-ever copy of Ulysses on display in a glass case. Different galleries display old fashioned desks and typewriters as well as interactive digital and audio displays, reading areas, and a film. A writers’ room is furnished with tables, paper, and pen, as well as advice from Irish writers, so you can start your own piece. Make sure to browse the bookshop on the way out for all types of literary-themed gifts including notebooks and jewelry, and grab a coffee on the terrace of the Commons cafe.

What a safe and easy way to escape the city! From Dublin’s Connelly Street, you can be there in 20 minutes using the DART. It’s quick, easy and safe. I decided to venture out to this fishing village and I was not disappointed! Great down time, stunning views (great change from looking at all the city buildings) friendly folks and out of this world dining!!! Seafood is definitely the order of the day but I can’t guarantee that it was caught from off the nearby pier!

The island of Ireland has a history of emigration—a million people emigrated during famine times, and today on the U.S. census, 40 million people claim Irish roots; worldwide, the figure is around 70 million. EPIC is the world’s first digital museum where, through a series of interactive exhibits, you learn the stories of the Irish around the world, and learn about their input and influence on everything from art, culture and music to sports, science, and even politics (22 U.S. presidents have claimed Irish roots). The museum is self-guided so you can spend as much time as you like in each section. A separate genealogy service at the end helps those tracing their Irish roots. The museum’s setting in the vaults of Dublin’s old dockside warehouse at CHQ adds to the experience.

When in Dublin city center, it’s hard to miss the Jeanie Johnston tall ship tied to a quay on the River Liffey. The ship you see is actually a replica of a ship that transported emigrants to Canada during the Great Famine, taking a total of 2,500 people over the Atlantic between the years 1848 to 1855, a period when a million people left Ireland and another million died of starvation. A guided tour above and below decks on the ship tells stories of the ship and some of those who traveled on her, enduring harsh conditions during voyages which could take up to six weeks.

The Irish Museum of Modern Art is located in Kilmainham, just a short trip out of Dublin’s City Center on the Luas. Housed in the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, the building and its grounds are vast. The grounds are littered with contemporary public sculpture from Lawrence Weiner to Richard Long, and an equally impressive (though still relatively small) collection from Abramović to Gillick. While much of the building remains under construction the museum is a must for any art enthusiasts visiting Dublin!

If big museums aren’t your thing, but you’d like to get a flavor of the story of Dublin, drop into the Little Museum on St. Stephen’s Green, which is full of quirky memorabilia from times past in the city, all donated by the public. There are guided tours on the hour, and each tour reveals some of the city’s secrets, with letters from famous literary characters like James Joyce and Samuel Beckett, signed U2 albums, and all sorts of things on display—from badges and newspapers to old signs and even bullets—all of which have a story to tell. Set in a Georgian townhouse, with views out over the green and the excellent Hatch & Sons Irish Kitchen in the basement for post-tour grub, this little space offers a lot to love.

Wobbly floors, a crooked staircase, dusty books, an old piano, and a few hundred years of character mix together in the beating heart of old Dublin, the Temple Bar. I spend more than half of every year on the road, calling in at one hotel and the next, and I’ve been lucky to have spent time at some fabulous hotels and holiday homes. This joint at No. 25 Eustace St. is near the top of the list. From the Irish Landmark Trust website: “The Irish Landmark Trust saves heritage buildings throughout the island of Ireland that are at risk of being lost through neglect or inappropriate use; conserving and restoring these buildings so they can be let as holiday homes.” The next time you’re in Dublin with your family or a large group, forget about calling in on modern digs, and check out No. 25, or one of the other heritage properties managed by the trust. It was a beautiful experience, and I can’t wait to check in again. Next time I plan to visit an old lighthouse, fort, or country home.

The National Museum of Ireland is free to enter and is spread across four sites in Dublin, covering archaeology, decorative arts and history, country life, and natural history. The archaeology museum is in an imposing building of columns, vaulted ceilings, and marble staircases situated on Kildare Street. It traces Ireland’s history from prehistoric times through the Roman, Viking, and medieval periods. The exhibitions are well set out and clearly labelled. The section on Ireland’s prehistoric gold, including exquisitely-wrought jewellery from the bronze and iron ages, is particularly interesting. But the most mind-blowing exhibition is called Kingship and Sacrifice, and displays findings related to the ritual killing of presumed royals during the iron age. As part of what are thought to be sovereignty and kingship rituals, people were sacrificed - sometimes brutally - and their bodies tossed into peat bogs (which often marked the boundaries between kingdoms). The anaerobic conditions of the bogs preserved the bodies, some of which are on display. Even after thousands of years you can still make out facial expressions, and in one case, hair! The museum also hosts important religious icons and relics from medieval Christianity, for example the twelfth century Cross of Cong - said once to have contained a fragment of the true cross. If you are at all interested in ancient history, set aside a good couple of hours and explore the museum thoroughly. It’s well worth it!

Pass through the iconic arched doorway at College Green and enter the elegant quads, handsome architecture and verdant lawns of Trinity College, one of Ireland‘s most prestigious universities. Among its many attributes is the atmospheric 18th-century Old Library, whose most precious tome is the 1,200-year-old Book of Kells, a priceless illuminated manuscript. Also worth a visit are the college’s Douglas Hyde Gallery, devoted to contemporary art, and the thought-provoking Science Gallery.

St Stephen’s Green is a welcome spot of calm and green set in a Georgian square in the centre of Dublin. At around 20 acres, it’s large enough to feel you have escaped the bustle, but not so large that you can’t easily return to the fray once you are ready. There are formal manicured lawns and gardens in the middle, a large lake to the north - good for swan-watching - a bandstand and play area, and plenty of benches and other picnic spots. St Stephen’s is probably not the sort of place you’d deliberately set out to visit, but chances are good you’ll end up there anyway: it’s just off Grafton Street (one of the main shopping streets), and near other attractions dotted around what is known as Georgian Dublin, such as Merrion Square and Leinster House (the seat of Irish parliament).

Arthur Guinness, the forefather of the world-renowned family, founded the brewery on this inner city spot in 1759. It’s the city’s most visited tourist attraction, telling both the history and processes that have gone into making Ireland‘s most famous export. At the end of the tour, visitors are treated to a pint of the famed black stuff at the top-floor Gravity Bar with its panoramic views of the city’s skyline.