Cork is Ireland’s second city and we celebrated our first wedding anniversary with a stay at one of its top hotels, and an outing to the beautiful Fota wildlife park.

The cities of Cork and Dublin are two fantastic stops on the Irish landscape. But sometimes the journey is as exciting as the destination, and the M8 Road doesn’t disappoint. This is a journey to take in the slow lane.

Trinity College is Ireland’s top university and most historical and is an unmissable attraction in the Irish capital. It is also the home of the famed Book of Kells. Here’s my guide on visiting the college.

The city of Eger is set in a valley within reach of the wooded hills of Zemplen and Matra. The slopes of the area within are a wine lovers paradise, with line after line of vines being cultivated here. How better to see them than a roadtrip.

Eger is a highly regarded within Hungary as one of its most amazing cities. With a vast number of attractions crammed into its compact centre it’s a city that demands you leave the confines of Budapest’s impressive metropolis.

The Tokaj wine region is a UNESCO recognized historical wine area in North-Eastern Hungary. We spent two days here exploring the town, its viticulture, and the surrounding area.

Wine has been produced on the slopes here for an unknown amount of time, with evidence suggesting that celts in pre-Roman times engaged in the production. It’s fame and perhaps the reasoning behind UNESCO’s 2002 decision to award it World Heritage Site status is due to the Tokaj Aszu wine, which is the world’s oldest botrytized wine. This is when a fungus infests the grapes and when they are picked at a certain stage, a very sweet wine can be produced.

Debrecen is Hungary’s second city and a city worthy of a day trip, or alternatively it serves as the perfect base for exploring Eastern Hungary and the Hungarian Great Plain.

We visited the Hortobagy National Park on a day trip on our recent trip. It is Hungary’s first and largest national park and was given UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 1999 due to its rich cultural history and presence in folklore.

Where I hear you say? Nyiregyhaza is a small city in Hungary’s east of around 200,000 people. It’s hardly on the tourist trail. But it’s where Beata calls home.
As a small city it’s not without its merits. It served as a good base for us to explore the lesser seen side of Hungary.

We took the same route as the previous day into the city but this time traversing the Elisabeth Bridge. Again the architecture from simple regular buildings to the Budapest Inner City Mother Church of the blessed virgin really caught my eye. I adore the steeples of churches in Hungary.

This was the first day of a two-week August trip to Hungary. Our trip would take in two days in Budapest before heading east, to Beata’s homeland before exploring the surrounding region.

Don’t be alarmed. I’m merely telling you about the time I scratched the number one thing from my bucket list, and did a tandem skydive. Without that shove most first time jumpers would probably still be sitting on that plane.

Carlingford is one of our favourite towns in Ireland full of history, famous for oysters, and at the foot of the small mountain range the Cooley’s, which are crisscrossed by perfect walking trails.

The Dingle Peninsula is a larger than life area featuring one of Ireland’s liveliest towns, a very friendly dolphin, and one of it’s most scenic coastal loops.

The Ring of Kerry is a 179km drive through one of the most picturesque parts of Ireland, past mountains, lakes and along the Kerry coast. This is our experiences on this famous looped driving route.

Kerry is known as the kingdom by its dwellers. For those visiting this county it has a mythical feel, so perhaps the moniker fits.
For myself Kerry has always had a place in my heart. It was the location of umpteen childhood holidays, as the birthplace of my mum and the home of my grandparents. However since they passed in 1991, the years also passed, life never bringing me in this direction. So with over a quarter of a century now expired since my last visit we set out on a three-day trip to evoke long-lost memories and to make new ones.

The Antrim and Causeway Coastal Route is designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and is billed as one of the Worlds greatest coastal drives. With the UNESCO world heritage site of the Giants Causeway as its prime destination, we gave it a go.