Classic: Irlanda del Nord

Dublin spreads along the banks of the Liffey like a city that has learned to carry its history lightly: millennia of Celtic, Viking and British heritage coexist with a contemporary vitality few European capitals can match. The historic centre gathers around Temple Bar, the medieval quarter where cobbled lanes lead to brass-fitted pubs, independent art galleries and restaurants serving a reinvented Irish cuisine. Nearby, Trinity College houses the Book of Kells, the ninth-century illuminated manuscript considered among the masterpieces of European insular art, displayed in the magnificent Old Library. Just beyond, the Georgian quarters of Merrion Square and Fitzwilliam Square offer pastel facades and lacquered doors in red, green and yellow — a colour palette that has become a symbol of the city's architectural identity. Dublin Castle, founded by the Normans in the thirteenth century and rebuilt in the Georgian era, marks the historic and political heart of the capital; alongside stand Christ Church Cathedral and St. Patrick's Cathedral, both of medieval foundation. The Guinness Storehouse, housed in the former warehouse of the St. James's Gate brewery, is among the most visited attractions in Ireland: seven floors of history and craft, crowned by the Gravity Bar with its 360-degree panoramic view over the city. The Kilmainham neighbourhood preserves the most poignant memories of the Irish independence struggle: Kilmainham Gaol, a Victorian prison turned museum, held the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising, while the Royal Hospital is now home to the Irish Museum of Modern Art. North of the Liffey, the Smithfield markets, the Distillery Building and the colourful murals of the Liberties speak of a city in constant reinvention. Dublin is also the literary capital that gave the world Jonathan Swift, Oscar Wilde, James Joyce and Samuel Beckett: bronze portraits and Joycean walking trails — through the National Museum, the Martello Tower at Sandycove, and Bewley's on Grafton Street — offer a secular pilgrimage for literature lovers. The food scene has grown remarkably in recent years, from fish and chips at Howth harbour to Michelin-starred restaurants in the centre, taking in the fruit and cheese markets of Temple Bar along the way. The harbour at Dún Laoghaire, reachable in thirty minutes by DART, the castles of Malahide and Howth, and the bay views from Killiney Hill round out a fine set of half-day excursions. Dublin is noisy and reflective in equal measure: a city best explored on foot, pint in hand, with a pearl-grey sky for a backdrop.

Belfast rises with pride as the capital of Northern Ireland, a city that has turned a troubled past into a story of renewal and creativity. Its most recent emblem is Titanic Belfast, a futuristic museum on the Harland & Wolff shipyards where the famous liner was built. The Victorian centre revolves around the majestic City Hall and the revitalised Cathedral Quarter, dense with pubs, murals and live-music venues. The famous political murals of the Falls Road and Shankill recall the Troubles, best seen on the traditional black taxi tours. Belfast is also an ideal base for exploring the spectacular Antrim coast: nearby await the Giant's Causeway, a World Heritage Site with its basalt columns, the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge and the landscapes of the Glens of Antrim, setting for many Game of Thrones scenes. Local cooking offers stew, seafood and welcoming pubs. Belfast is a frank, warm city where Irish hospitality blends with a new, contagious energy.

Londonderry, known simply as Derry, is the only city in Northern Ireland to have kept its seventeenth-century walls intact. Walking this complete defensive circuit, among cannon and bastions, gives views over the city and tells centuries of history, from the siege of 1689 to the more recent Troubles. Within the walls gathers the old town with St Columb's Cathedral and the Victorian Guildhall with its splendid stained glass. The modern Peace Bridge, a sinuous pedestrian span, crosses the River Foyle, symbolically joining the two communities, while the Bogside district keeps the famous murals recounting the civil rights struggle. A city of strong musical and cultural identity, Derry boasts welcoming pubs and a lively arts scene. Its position makes it an ideal base for exploring the wild coast of Donegal and the vistas of Inishowen. Derry is a city with a resilient heart, where history and hope walk side by side.

Donegal Town is the main centre of the county of the same name in north-west Ireland, a compact town overlooking Donegal Bay where the River Eske flows into the Atlantic. Donegal Castle, built in the fifteenth century by the O'Donnell chieftains and extended in Jacobean style in the seventeenth century, dominates the main square — the Diamond — and is open to visitors as a museum. County Donegal is renowned for handwoven tweeds and wools, and the town-centre shops stock this quality craft production. Donegal Town is the starting point for exploring one of Ireland's wildest and most spectacular counties: the Slieve League cliffs, among the highest in Europe, the inland Glenveagh National Park and the Atlantic beaches of Bundoran and Rossnowlagh are all reachable within an hour. The Donegal coast is especially loved by surfers for its Atlantic swells.

Sligo Town is the county town of the same-named county in north-west Ireland, a compact and lively city whose worldwide fame rests above all on the poet William Butler Yeats, Nobel laureate for literature in 1923, who spent much of his childhood here and repeatedly celebrated these landscapes in his work. Yeats's grave lies in the small churchyard at Drumcliff, a few kilometres to the north, at the foot of the flat-topped massif of Benbulben, the most distinctive mountain in the Sligo landscape. In town, the Yeats Building houses a museum dedicated to the poet's life and work, while Sligo County Museum holds a collection of objects and manuscripts of great historical value. Sligo Abbey, a medieval friary founded in the thirteenth century by the Dominicans, is one of the best-preserved Gothic monuments in northern Ireland. Sligo Bay and the beaches of Rosses Point and Strandhill are celebrated in the world of Atlantic surfing. Sligo is also a starting point for exploring Lough Gill, the romantic lake that inspired Yeats's «The Lake Isle of Innisfree», and the surrounding Connacht plains.