Underrated Holiday Spots In Ireland

As the pandemic restrictions loosen, people are going to start travelling again, Sony Mobile teamed up with Lonely Planet to showcase the top 8 unfrequented holiday destinations across Ireland for 2021 travel inspiration.

With international travel still spotty, ‘staycations’ are still on the rise for summer getaways. Captured on Sony’s Xperia 5 II, they show some of these beautiful spots on our own doorstep.

Unfrequented holiday spots

Here is a list of lesser-known staycation spots you have to see. 1. Mizen Head Cliffs, Co. Cork, Ireland’s most southwesterly point and a signature discovery point on the wild Atlantic way.

2. Lackan Strand, Co Mayo, vast expansive shoreline, unspoilt beaches, a sea fishing and surfing haven. 3. Sky Garden, Russagh, Co. Cork, featuring the Liss Ard Country House Estate, one of the only two in the world designed by American sculptor James Turrell.

4. Birr Castle, Co Offaly, its gardens known for feats in science and engineering as well as rare trees and flowers, it is also celebrating 400 years kept over generations by one family. 5. Garnish Island, Bantry Bay, also known as Ilnacullin Garinish, is world-renowned for its gardens and beautiful walks with rare flora, also featuring a Martello tower for history buffs.

6. Slieve Bloom Mountains, Co Laois, these rolling hills, connecting Laoise and Offaly feature a picturesque and multi-coloured area, dotted by quaint villages, just over an hour from Dublin and Limerick. 7. Sliach Liag (Slieve League) Cliffs, Co Donegal, offering some of the best cliffside views from Europe, also hosting a thousand-year-old Christian pilgrimage.

Finally 8. Cobh, Co Cork, the Titanic’s last port of call in 1912, this pleasant waterside town was once known as Queenstown, features colourful houses, winding roads and East Corks most impressive cathedral, many references and homages to the famine and the people who suffered through it.

Tom Hall from Lonely Planet, said, “The pandemic caused us all to pause and re-evaluate how we travel, and now is the perfect time to update that bucket list with some of these under-the-radar places you might have overlooked in the past.”