Our take on Ireland

Looking for inspiration for your next motorhome adventure? We started our motorhome journey of discovery in Ireland. We spent three months seeing everything that Ireland has to offer, from great music in pubs to rugged cliff walks along The Wild Atlantic Way.

When I refer to Ireland, I am referring to Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Ireland is as beautiful as it is rugged. It rains a lot, but that is the price you pay for the beautiful endless landscape of 40 shades of green. Bring good wet weather gear and some warm jackets (even if you come in summer). Have I convinced you its a great place to visit? Keep reading, you will get there.

Ireland is ranked as of 2024, as the fifth safest country in the world. The people in Ireland are without question, the nicest people we have ever met on our many holidays to different countries around the world, and we have met some very, very, nice people around the world. Everyone wants to have a chat, give you advice of where to go and places to visit. They are genuinely interested in you and what you are doing. Just sit at the bar in any pub and someone will start talking to you. Park up somewhere and people will come and talk to you. Friendly is an understatement. Irish people are chilled, not stressed and appear to live a life not too dissimilar to the good times of the 70's.

You will see kids walking around together, laughing, riding bikes and jumping of bridges or anything else that has a safe drop into the water, regardless of the temperature. The kids in Ireland have a respect and consideration to everyone that I haven't seen for many many years.

You can see and feel that Ireland has a sense of community that we seem to have lost in Australia. Everyone knows everyone, adults can pull a kid up if they are seen to be doing the wrong thing, and they will be listened to, and respected. The adults all look out for the kids and they all engage in friendly conversation. Parents don't come running over to abuse you for pulling their child up or telling the child what not to do. Irish people look after each other and it is a beautiful thing to behold.

The hills are an endless sea of different shades of green everywhere you look, which will leave you taking a deep breath, or just sighing contentedly as you take it all in. Rugged coasts will leave you in awe of their sheer wildness and remoteness. It easy to see why Ireland was chosen for many of the locations of filming The Game of Thrones.

Walks are endless, and you can do short easy walks, long easy walks, or difficult and challenging walks. Many of the walks have sealed surfaces, so people in wheelchairs or with disabilities get to enjoy these beautiful walks. There are often seats or benches along the way if you want to take break. Every walk we went on was either pretty, awe inspiring, wild, just beautiful and sometimes a bit of everything. We went on many walks and we loved every single walk we went on.

If music is your thing, Ireland has this in abundance. If you want to sing a long or just listen to people sing, you have come to the right place. Some pubs, even if they don't have music advertised, will have a couple of locals who just turn up around 9pm with their guitars and start singing songs. Thursday through to Sunday seem to be the best nights for music. I am convinced that all Irish people can sing, many people claimed that they couldn't, I'm not sure that I believe them. Actually I don't believe them.

Northern Ireland was a very unexpected and pleasant surprise. I think most of us think of the days of riots in Belfast and relate that to our expectations of Northern Ireland. Let me tell you that is not Northern Ireland today. Northern Ireland reminded us a lot of England. The influence of the British buildings and homes is very obvious. Northern Ireland is just as beautiful as the Republic of Ireland, although a little different. Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom so their currency is pound sterling. We found as soon as we crossed into Northern Ireland that everything was a little more expensive than the Republic of Ireland. We had to adjust our spending very quickly. We were surprised to see British flags down many streets in Northern Ireland, like there was a fair on. We asked some people about this, as we noted how surprised we were at how patriotic they were in Northern Ireland. This was like nothing we had ever seen before in our travels. The response wasn't what we expected, but it was humorous (No I'm not going to repeat it).

I wanted to understand the tumultuous history of Ireland, so I purchased a book that had a simple account. Good for someone like myself who really doesn't know much about Irish history, except for the basic stuff we all learned in school or from watching movies. There is no simple account, it is complicated and has so many twists and turns and different people from counties all over Ireland and then Britain and France, honestly it goes on and on. It was the hardest book I have ever read and I didn't get far. I was surprised when I talked to people about how much I had actually taken in, but there was so much more to what I did understand. It became an ongoing laugh between myself and locals as to how I bought a book that had a simple account into Ireland's history. There is no simple account.

To break down our travels to places we visited you can watch our videos below.

If your visit to Ireland is to see the history, the thrill of the cities or the majesty of the countryside and its villages, or just to experience the beauty of its people, you won't be disappointed. Ireland has been a great time and experience for us. We know we will miss the people and it's beauty and we will come back again one day. So do yourself a favour, and book yourself a trip to Ireland. You won't regret it!