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The Best and Worst of Ireland
What Visitors Most Liked and Least Enjoyed

Although it may not be news to travelers who have visited Ireland, it seems that the best part of a vacation in Ireland is the friendliness of the people, closely followed by the wonderful scenery with good food in third place.

Visitors find Ireland an expensive place to visit and driving can be a less than pleasant experience.

DoChara.com, an information website for visitors to Ireland, surveyed more than 1100 people who visited Ireland between 2000 and 2005 and asked them to specify the places, people, accommodations and other aspects of their trip which they most enjoyed... as well as those that did not impress them.

The friendliness of the Irish people heads the list of what visitors most like about Ireland, closely followed by the scenery and countryside. Irish food is a big hit too, coming in a very strong third position, with many respondents expressing surprise at the high standard of meals served in even modest restaurants and pubs.

The least appealing thing about Ireland is the cost of food and accommodation. Many visitors found the Emerald Isle to be a very expensive destination.

Driving in Ireland presents problems too, with the narrowness of the roads, poor signage and heavy traffic all creating difficulties. Although it was not covered by this survey, the British driving rules are a headache to visitors used to sitting behind the steering wheel on the left side of the car and driving on the left side of the road. This causes so many accidents for US citizens that many credit cards with automatic rental insurance will not cover the damage if you dent a car in Ireland!

Ireland's notoriously unpredictable weather makes it to the list of favourite things and very few people (less than 1%) mention it as a problem!

Topping the list of the best places to visit in Ireland is the Ring of Kerry, with the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher a close second. The Giant's Causeway is the only place in Northern Ireland to make it to the top ten, coming in at number seven.

Every one of the places least enjoyed by visitors features also in the list of favourite places, and are invariably liked more than they are disliked! Dublin was the least favored place, with many respondents commenting that it was "just like any other big city", but was also at number three on the list of most liked places and was the city most enjoyed by visitors.

Related Web Sites:

~ Tourism Ireland

~ Ireland Tourist Board

~ Ireland Travel | Lonely Planet World Guide

also see -> St. Patrick's Day | Feature Article -> The Claddagh Ring Story