Ireland

Ireland is about the edges — the Wild Atlantic Way, the cliffs, the green that comes from rain you'll meet daily. Dublin is worth a couple of days for the pubs and the writers, but the trip is the drive: Kerry, Connemara, the north coast. Pack for four seasons in a day and don't rush it.

The shape of the trip: fly into Dublin, give it two nights, then drive west and let the coast set the pace. The Ring of Kerry and the Dingle Peninsula each take a slow day; Doolin earns a night for trad sessions near the Cliffs of Moher; Galway works as a base for Connemara. Distances look short on the map and aren't — the good roads are narrow and the photo stops are constant. B&Bs and pub meals take most of the budget.

The honest part: Ireland is expensive — Dublin hotel prices sting — and it will rain on your trip, possibly every day of it, including July. Temple Bar is a tourist trap and the Cliffs of Moher at midday are a coach park. If you need guaranteed sun or big-ticket monuments, go elsewhere. But the pubs are the real attraction, the people genuinely are that easy to talk to, and a grey day on the Atlantic coast makes its own case.