Ireland

Ireland runs on talk, music and weather — a small green island where a wet afternoon is solved by the nearest pub, a pint of stout and a stranger who becomes a friend. Dublin, the compact Georgian capital on the Liffey, is the front door: literary, boozy and genuinely friendly, with a pub on every corner and the whole wild Atlantic country an easy drive beyond. Come for the craic and the writers, not the sunshine, and you'll leave already planning the trip back.

What things cost: Ireland, and Dublin especially, is expensive — a pint in Temple Bar and a night's sleep both cost more than you'd expect, driven by a chronic shortage of rooms. It buys you warmth and atmosphere rather than luxury. Book early, drink away from the tourist strip, and know that when a zone below says 'low', that still means dear by European standards.