London
is a bustling postmodern city with a rich past, full
of the pomp and circumstance of the royals and the modern
government - Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, the
Parliament, Big Ben - and the posh hipness of upscale neighborhoods
and clubs in the west and north of the residential city.
It also contains a thriving arts and theater scene, and
the infamous tube to get you anywhere you're going. Famous
train stations take you away from the city to Oxford,
Stratford, and the Cotswolds, sleepy hill
towns inhabited since Roman times and now the retreats of
students, Shakespeareans, and wealthy Londoners, respectively.
Cornwall
is the beautiful, forgotten spit of hills and coastline
jutting out towards Ireland and the Atlantic beyond - a
hard-working land of mines and farms, which seems to be
content with its rural peace and open land. Ruined churches
and abbeys, and much more recent inns and bed and breakfasts
dot the countryside, which feels in many ways like Brittany
and Normandy in France.
Wales
sits in its rocky throne, crowned by tiny towns and castles
too numerous to count. Its inhabitants are friendly and
warm, and very proud of their history and land. While largely
off the tourist track, Wales is definitely worth a visit
for its language, ruins, and the modern vitality of cities
like Cardiff and Newport. Backcountry hunting lodges are
wonderful bases from which to explore the rivers and hills
of Wales, and from which to catch a glimpse of the varied
flora and fauna of this unique region.
The
Lake District is emblematic of the England of the poets,
a rolling, wooded land near the border with Scotland, containing
famous, placid lakes like Windermere and Keswick. Wonderful
manors and country houses await you, serving as wonderful
bases for hiking, ruin exploring, and fireside evenings
of good food and music.
Edinburgh
and Glasgow are less then an hour apart near the
southern border of Scotland, and have wonderfully different
characters. Edinburgh is dramatic in natural setting and
businesslike in spirit, its castles and venerable townhouses
welcoming travelers by sea and by air, and offering excellent
restaurants and museums. Glasgow has only entered the world
tourist map in the past ten years, revitalizing itself with
artistic enclaves and shops from distinctly down-to-earth,
working-class roots. Both are worth a visit even if just
passing through on the way north. 
The
Great Glen is bordered by the central highlands of Scotland,
which stretch north in two columns from the border, one
branch heading towards hilly Perth and Aberdeen (with wonderful
golf and seashore), the other stretching all the way north
to lonely Ullapool and the Great Highlands and Islands.
The Glen, which contains Loch Ness and the central drainage
of the country, cleaves the midlands, spiked with castles
and lovely towns.
Dublin
is a charming, busy city by the River Liffey, founded on
a Viking outpost near the Irish Sea. Famous for its poets
and writers as well as its brewers and pubs, the modern
city is home to excellent museums, restaurants, hotels,
and inns. The Temple Bar district comes alive after dark
with visitors from throughout Europe and America wishing
to share a pint of Guinness.
Waterford
and Wexford are the Viking cities of the southeast,
with strong Norse heritage, castles, and walls giving proof
of the fascinating contact between civilizations here in
the Middle Ages. Now both working-class ports, these cities
are charming and unpretentious, with wonderful shops purveying
the wares of the great glass and pottery factories of the
South. Inland from both cities are excellent country inns
and pretty driving - this area is especially attractive
as the goal of a drive starting in Dublin, which takes you
through the stunning Wicklow mountains, with their forest
glens and valley monasteries.
Cork
is a great industrial city set in some of the most beautiful
country in southwest Ireland. A major center for tourism
because of its waterfront, its pretty sister port of Kinsale,
and Blarney Castle just to its inland flank, it has witnessed
a true renaissance in the past decades and is becoming a
desirable city for business and residence.
To
the west and northwest of Cork are two lovely peninsulas
looking out across the Atlantic. Iveragh peninsula
is accessed via Killarney, and is home to the Ring of Kerry,
a major tourist route because of its relatively even driving
along a beautiful coastline studded with castles, Celtic
forts, stone circles, cliffs, and everything else you'd
want to see in Ireland. More preferable from a romantic
and peaceful point of view is Dingle, accessed through
Tralee. More narrow and mountainous, this stunning spit
of land ends in massive Slea Head, which itself breaks into
the pyramidal Blasket Islands. People on Dingle still speak
Gaelic, and craftsman make authentic musical instruments
and pottery for local consumption, rather than the tourist
market. The central port of Dingle is one of the most charming
in Europe.
Shannon
is the second major air hub for access to the island. Once
home to only a wool market and pirate-era pub (both of which
are still there), it is now a thriving tourist trap with
admittedly excellent shops and restaurants. To the south
across the river are the massive expanse of Limerick and
the medieval town of Adare, and to its north are Lahinch
and the Cliffs of Moher, the Burren - a stark landscape
of wildflowers, limestone, and stone circles - and Galway,
once a horse market and fairgrounds and now a center for
the arts. The wonderful, timeless Aran Islands are just
a short flight or ferry from Galway.
Connemara
is a forested, rural series of highlands stretching northwest
of Galway. Lakes and mountains emerge from misty mornings
to hikers' delight, and hilly towns like Ballynahinch and
Clifden welcome all visitors to wonderful pubs and shops.
This is the perfect region of Ireland to get happily lost
in on car or foot.
