You'll discover on one of our cheap holidays to Ireland that early on a Friday night, spirits in the district of Temple Bar in Dublin are already sky high. Ancient pubs, complete with grubby décor and cosy nooks and jammed with trendy young folk, are thick with smoke, pints of Guinness, and a blur of accents from all over Ireland and the world.
Outside on the cobbled streets, a steady hubbub of boisterous punters continues well into the wee hours, as the throngs move from pub to pub, to restaurant, then later, club.
Not since its Georgian glory days has the Irish capital seen this much spend, spend, spend - and never in its history has it been such a hotspot on the tourist map. Little wonder that cheap holidays to Ireland are very much in vogue.
Mercifully, although Ireland's wave of good fortune has rolled over the length and breadth of the country, the utterly unique charms of the 'land of the little people' are still as enduringly captivating as ever.
In village pubs, surrounded by countryside luxuriant in every hue of green imaginable, craic (good times) - often to the sound of a fiddle - is still the order of the evening.
Cheap holidays to Ireland offer the opportunity to explore a country resplendent in natural beauty, where 400-year-old castles teeter on the edge of jagged cliffs or emerge, from misty hilltops, while stone abbeys nestle into lush mountainsides under dramatic skies, watchful over calm loughs (lakes) below.
Best of all, the locals show no signs of losing their legendary gift of the gab and impish humour - much to the disarmed bewilderment of any unsuspecting visitor.
Dublin, Cork and Galway all make great city break destinations, but if you can spare more time, the best way to see the Emerald Isle is to rent a car and explore. For a little country, there's a lot to see, from the otherworldly limestone landscapes of the Burren and the rugged beauty of Connemara, to the wild western coastline, the monastic site of Clonmacnois, and the prehistoric monuments in Sligo. One thing to remember though - don't forget your brolly, because cheap holiday
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