For a small place, Ireland has plenty of impressive natural wonders. From dramatic rock formations built by a giant (if you believe the legend) to the highest sea cliffs in Europe, there’s plenty to get your camera snapping and your heart racing. The Ring of Kerry is world famous for its wonderful scenery, and places like Connemara and the Dingle Peninsula come close in terms of both fame and beauty. But there are jaw-dropping views to be had elsewhere too, in less well-known spots such as the Mourne Mountains, Slieve League and Skellig Islands.

The Giant’s Causeway

When you first see it you’ll understand why the ancients believed the causeway was not a natural feature. The vast expanse of regular, closely packed, hexagonal stone columns gently beneath the waves looks for all the world like the handiwork of giants.

This spectacular rock formation – a national nature reserve and Northern Ireland‘s only Unesco World Heritage Site – is one of Ireland‘s most impressive and atmospheric landscape features, but it can get very crowded. If you can, try to visit midweek or out of season to experience it at its most evocative. Sunset in spring and autumn is the best time for photographs.

Visiting the Giant’s Causeway itself is free of charge but you pay to use the car park on a combined ticket with the Giant’s Causeway Visitor Experience; parking-only tickets aren’t available.

Cliffs of Moher

One of Ireland’s most famous sights, the Cliffs of Moher (Aillte an Mothair, or Ailltreacha Mothair) rise to a height of 214m (702ft). They are entirely vertical and the cliff edge is abrupt. Where access is permitted there’s a protecting wall. On a clear day the views are tremendous, with the Aran Islands etched on the waters of Galway Bay.

From the cliff edge you can just hear the booming far below as the waves crash and gnaw at the soft shale and sandstone. Sections of the cliff often give way, and they’re generally so unstable that few birds or plants make them their home. With a due-west exposure, sunset is the best time to visit – many of the tourist buses will have left by then too.

Ring of Kerry

This 179km circuit of the Iveragh (pronounced eev-raa) peninsula pops up on every self-respecting tourist itinerary, and for good reason. The road winds past pristine beaches, medieval ruins, mountains and loughs (lakes), with ever-changing views of the island-dotted Atlantic. Even locals stop their cars to gawk at the rugged coastline – particularly between Waterville and Caherdaniel in the southwest of the peninsula, where the beauty dial is turned up to 11.

The Ring of Kerry can easily be done as a day trip, but if you want to stretch it out, places to stay are scattered along the route. Killorglin and Kenmare have the best concentration of dining options; elsewhere, with a couple of notable exceptions, basic pub fare is the norm.

If you want to get off the beaten track, explore the interior of the peninsula – on foot along the eastern section of the Kerry Way from Killarney to Glenbeigh, or by car or bike on the minor roads that cut through the hills, notably the Ballaghisheen Pass between Killorglin and Waterville, or the Ballaghbeama Gap from Glenbeigh to Gearha Bridge on the R568.

Wicklow Mountains

As you leave Dublin and cross into Wicklow, the landscape changes dramatically. From Killakee, still in Dublin, the Military Rd begins a 30km southward journey across vast sweeps of gorse-, bracken- and heather-clad moors, bogs and mountains dotted with small corrie lakes.

The numbers and statistics aren’t all that impressive. The highest peak in the range, Lugnaquilla (924m), is really more of a very large hill, but that hardly matters here. This vast granite intrusion, a welling-up of hot igneous rock that solidified some 400 million years ago, was shaped during the Ice Ages into the schist-capped mountains visible today. The peaks are marvellously desolate and as raw as only nature can be. Between the mountains are a number of deep glacial valleys, most notably Glenmacnass,Glenmalure and Glendalough – while corrie lakes such as Lough Bray Upper and Lower, gouged by ice at the head of the glaciers, complete the wild topography.

The narrow Military Rd winds its way through the most remote parts of the mountains, offering some extraordinary views of the surrounding countryside. The best place to join it is at Glencree (from Enniskerry). It then runs south through the Sally Gap, Glenmacnass Valley and Laragh, then on to Glenmalure Valley and Aghavannagh.

On the trip south you can divert east at the Sally Gap to look at Lough Tay and Lough Dan. Further south you pass the great waterfall at Glenmacnass before dropping down into Laragh, with the magnificent monastic ruins of Glendalough nearby. Continue south through the valley of Glenmalure and, if you’re fit enough, climb Lugnaquilla.

Skellig Islands

The Skellig Islands (Oileáin na Scealaga) are impervious to the ever-pounding Atlantic. George Bernard Shaw said Skellig Michael was ‘the most fantastic and impossible rock in the world’.

You’ll need to do your best grisly sea-dog impression (‘argh!’) on the 12km crossing, which can be rough. There are no toilets or shelter on Skellig Michael, the only island that visitors are permitted to land on. Bring something to eat and drink and wear stout shoes and weatherproof clothing. Due to the steep (and often slippery) terrain and sudden wind gusts, it’s not suitable for young children or people with limited mobility.

The Skelligs are a birdwatching paradise. During the boat trip you may spot diminutive storm petrels (also known as Mother Carey’s chickens) darting above the water like swallows. Gannets are unmistakable with their savage beaks, imperious eyes, yellow caps and 100cm-plus wing spans. Kittiwakes – small, dainty seabirds with black-tipped wings – are easy to see and hear around Skellig Michael‘s covered walkway as you step off the boat. They winter at sea then land in their thousands to breed between March and August.

Further up the rock you’ll see stubby-winged fulmars, with distinctive bony ‘nostrils’ from which they eject an evil-smelling green liquid if you get too close. In May, puffins come ashore to lay a solitary egg at the far end of a burrow, and parent birds can be seen guarding their nests. Puffins stay only until the first weeks of August.

 

Source: Lonely planet