About — Next Stop Ireland
I’m from Kerry. I’ve been to every corner of this island. And I can’t stop talking about it.
There’s a moment that happens to almost every visitor to Ireland — usually somewhere on a rain-soaked mountain road in Kerry, or nursing a pint in a pub so old the walls have absorbed a century of conversation — when they look up and think: why did I wait so long to come here?
I grew up having that feeling in reverse. Born and raised in County Kerry, I spent my childhood taking for granted one of the most extraordinary places on earth. The mountains that drop straight into the Atlantic. The lakes that sit so still on a calm morning they look painted. The kind of towns where the butcher knows your name and the pub has live music on a Tuesday for no particular reason.
It took leaving Ireland — and watching the rest of the world fall in love with it — to make me realise just how special home really is.
Why NextStopIreland?
I’ve now travelled every single county in Ireland. Not just the highlights reel — every county. The ones that make the postcards and the ones that don’t. The famous cliffs and the empty beaches nobody photographs. The medieval cities and the villages so small they don’t have a traffic light between them.
What I kept finding was a gap. The big travel sites cover Dublin, the Cliffs of Moher, and the Ring of Kerry — and then stop. The Ireland I know goes so much deeper than that. The hidden valleys of Donegal. The music sessions in Clare that tourists stumble into by accident and never forget. The castle ruins you can walk straight into with no entry fee and no other visitors in sight.
NextStopIreland exists to close that gap. To show you the Ireland that locals know — and to help you plan a trip that goes beyond the obvious.
Killarney — My Favourite Place on Earth
If you ask me where to go in Ireland and you only have one destination, I’ll tell you the same thing every time: Killarney.
I’m biased — of course I am. But I’ve seen the look on people’s faces when they arrive. A town nestled on the edge of a national park, ringed by some of the most dramatic mountains in the country, with lakes that change colour with the light. Jaunting cars clip-clopping through the streets. Ross Castle rising out of the mist at dawn. Torc Waterfall thundering after a night of rain.
And then there are the pubs. The atmosphere. The way strangers become friends over a Guinness. The music that spills out onto the street on a Friday night.
Killarney has everything that makes Ireland great — concentrated into one place. It’s where I’d take anyone visiting for the first time.
But Ireland is So Much More
Dublin is one of Europe’s great cities — walkable, historic, with a pub culture that’s genuinely unlike anywhere else. Galway is the kind of place people visit for a weekend and stay for a week, drawn in by the music, the food, and the craic on Shop Street.
And then there’s everywhere else. The places I want to tell you about.
The almost impossibly dramatic coastline of Donegal — arguably the most beautiful county in Ireland and still one of the least visited. The lunar landscape of The Burren in Clare, where wildflowers grow out of bare limestone and ancient tombs sit in open fields. The Copper Coast in Waterford, a UNESCO Geopark that most visitors to Ireland have never heard of. The Beara Peninsula in Cork and Kerry — wilder and quieter than the Ring of Kerry, and more rewarding for it.
I’ve been to all of them. I’ll tell you exactly what’s worth your time — and what you can skip.
What You’ll Find Here
Every article on NextStopIreland is written from personal experience. Real places. Real prices. Honest advice about what’s brilliant and what’s overhyped.
You’ll find:
- County guides that go beyond the obvious attractions
- Road trip itineraries built around how people actually travel Ireland
- Hidden gems that don’t make the mainstream travel guides
- Practical advice — costs, transport, driving tips, when to go
- Food and pub culture — because eating and drinking in Ireland is half the experience
Whether you’re planning your first trip to Ireland, tracing your family roots, or looking for somewhere new to explore in a country you think you already know — you’re in the right place.
Next stop: Ireland. Let’s go.
Have a question about travelling Ireland? Want a recommendation for a specific county or trip? Get in touch — I’d love to help.
Mark