The Best Natural Attractions

The Slieve Bloom Environmental Park (County Laois): Slieve Bloom, Ireland's largest and most unspoiled blanket bog, has been described as a "scenic bulge" rising gently above the midland's peat fields. Its beauty -- gentle slopes, glens, rivers, waterfalls, and bog lands -- is subtle rather than dramatic, but it is comparatively untouched. You can have it more or less to yourself, apart from its deer, foxes, and badgers, and an occasional marten or otter.

MacGillycuddy's Reeks (County Kerry): One of several mountain ranges on the Iveragh Peninsula, MacGillycuddy's Reeks boasts the highest mountain in Ireland, Carrantuohill (1,361m/3,404 ft.). Whether gazed at from afar or explored up close on foot, the Reeks are among Ireland's greatest spectacles.

The Burren (County Clare): The Burren -- from the Irish Boireann, meaning "a rocky place" -- is one of the strangest landscapes you're ever likely to see: a vast limestone grassland, spread with a quilt of wildflowers from as far afield as the Mediterranean, the Alps, and the Arctic. Its inhabitants include the pine marten and nearly every species of butterfly found in Ireland.

Cliffs of Moher (County Clare): Rising from Hag's Head to the south, these magnificent sea cliffs reach their full height of 228m (760 ft.) just north of O'Brien's Tower. The views of the open sea, of the distant Aran Islands, and of the Twelve Bens of Connemara are spectacular. A walk south along the cliff edge at sunset makes a perfect end to any day.

Croagh Patrick (County Mayo): Rising steeply 750m (2,500 ft.) above the coast, Croagh Patrick is Ireland's holiest mountain, to which the saint is said to have retreated in penance. The place is biblically imposing. Traditionally, barefoot pilgrims climb it on the last Sunday of July, but in recent years, hundreds of Nike-shod tourists have been making the ascent daily. The view from above can be breathtaking or nonexistent -- the summit is often wrapped in clouds, adding to its mystery.

The Twelve Bens (County Galway): Amid Connemara's central mountains, bogs, and lakes rises a rugged range known as the Twelve Bens, crowning a landscape that is among the most spectacular in Ireland. Some of the peaks are bare and rocky, others clothed in peat. The loftiest, Benbaun, in Connemara National Park, reaches a height of 719m (2,395 ft.).

Slieve League (County Donegal): The Slieve League peninsula stretches for 48km (30 miles) into the Atlantic and is 19km (12 miles) across at its widest point. Its wonderfully pigmented bluffs are the highest sea cliffs in Europe, and can be gazed at from Carrigan Head or walked along, if you dare. From below or from above, Slieve League serves up some of the most dazzling sights in Ireland.

Giant's Causeway (County Antrim): In case you lose count, roughly 40,000 tightly packed, mostly hexagonal basalt columns form the giant Finn McCool's path from the Antrim headland into the sea toward the Scottish island of Staffa. This volcanic wonder, formed 60 million years ago, can be marveled at from a distance or negotiated cautiously on foot.

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