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AN ECO KIND OF GREEN One Week/Dublin to Tramore

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Ireland’s ecocredentials are only just being established, but here is a selection spread over 500km to prove that travelling sustainably can still bring you the best the country has to offer, from the surprisingly rich midlands through the rugged west to the scenic south.

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Start at Dublin’s Cultivate Click here, Ireland’s only sustainable living information centre, or the National Ecology Centre, Sonairte Click here, in Laytown. For some eco-R&R, stop by − or even stay at − the Jampa Ling Buddhist Centre Click here. Get tips on organic horticulture at the beautiful gardens of the Rossinver Organic Centre Click here in north Leitrim. Up north, stay at Anna’s House B&B Click here, Strangford Lough, County Down, or the Omagh Independent Hostel Click here, County Tyrone. Out west, bed down at Ardtarmon House Click here, in the shadow of Ben Bulben, County Sligo, and tuck into some eco-nosh at Rua Click here, down the road in Castlebar, before a visit to the New Agey Brigit’s Garden Click here. Offshore on the Aran Islands, Inishmaan’s Tig Congaile Click here might be the only place in Ireland with freshly ground Guatemalan coffee and sea-vegetable soup on the same menu. To the south, in West Cork, organic local produce is almost a way of life. A great ecofriendly sleeping option is the Shiplake Mountain Hostel Click here, while the superb Ballymaloe House’s cookery school Click here, home to Ireland’s most famous chef, Darina Allen, is the best place to learn the basics of Irish cooking (see also Click here). Moving east, see the ancient geological formations at the beaches of the Copper Coast European GeoPark Click here, in Annestown. Finally, stop by the cheap ‘n’ cheerful beach resort of Tramore, which has become a haven for New-Age Californians, one of whom runs T-Bay Click here, Ireland’s biggest surf school and a nonprofit organisation promoting eco-awareness through surfing and guided walks.

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BEST OF THE ISLANDS Three Weeks/Tory to West Cork

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If you’re one to appreciate the cultural experience and simple pleasures of island life, you won’t want to hurry along this trail. Take three weeks if you can spare it and experience the unique differences of Ireland’s islands properly. Otherwise, try to get in at least a day trip to a few of them.

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Ireland’s outlying islands are many and varied, and offer the visitor an insight into a traditional lifestyle rarely seen in the Western world. Start at the barren and remote Tory Island Click here, off Bloody Foreland in Donegal, a Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking) area with a school of naive painters and a wonderful spot for birdwatching. Joined to the mainland by a bridge, Achill Island Click here, in County Mayo, features a deserted Famine village and dramatic cliffs; Ireland’s largest offshore island, it is renowned for its water sports. Inishturk Click here, just south of Achill, has fewer than 100 inhabitants and gets very little tourist traffic, despite its sheltered sandy beaches. Off the coast of Galway, the three Aran Islands are probably Ireland’s most visited. The largest, Inishmór Click here, has some fine archaeological remains, including the magical fort of Dún Aengus. The middle island, Inishmaan Click here, favourite of the writer JM Synge, is a pleasure to walk around, with its stone walls and tiny fields. The smallest and least visited, Inisheer Click here, best accessed from Doolin in County Clare, has some wonderful wild walks. Some other very special islands to visit are Europe’s most westerly. Uninhabited since 1953, the Blasket Islands Click here, off the Kerry coast, offer the chance for spotting puffins, seals and porpoises. Skellig Michael Click here, off Caherciveen in Kerry, is a Unesco World Heritage site and home to a 7th-century monastery – it’s a breathtaking, truly spiritual place and a highlight of any trip to Ireland. Ornithologists and orators alike will enjoy Clear Island Click here, off the western