Conde Nast Traveller’s list for 2025 has included County Clare among eleven European destinations singled out for special mention in their 2025 guide.
The Best Places to Go in Europe in 2025 recognises Clare its ecotourism and grassroots revival of skills, led by initiatives marine biologist Cormac McGinley’s walking tours, the Michelin-starred Homestead Cottage in Doolin, and The Common Knowledge Centre, a non-profit social enterprise in the Burren where guests can camp, stay in lodges and learn crafts like dry-stone wall building and furniture-making.
Eco-friendly accommodations in Clare include the Armada Hotel, the first in Ireland to achieve B Corp certification, and Gregans Castle, which supports local reforestation efforts.
The list of European destinations including the Athens Riviera, Geneva and Marseille, serves to guide travelers seeking fresh destinations for their annual leave, emphasizing sustainable and cultural tourism practices.
London based freelance journalist Gráinne Mc~Bride writes for the guide stated: ” Long seen as the home of traditional Irish music, County Clare is quietly becoming the hub of a grassroots revival of other skills and an inspiring example of ecotourism along Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way. The most recent key player is The Common Knowledge Centre, an incubator for sustainable living set on 50 acres of native forests and regenerative farmland, where guests learn the lost arts of dry-stone wall building and willow weaving, alongside practical skills such as DIY and furniture making, while being fed organic menus by the Ottolenghi-trained chef and sourdough from local bakery Hugo’s. Also plugging into the idea of tourism as education, marine biologist Cormac McGinley runs leave-no-trace fossil discovery walks and tours of the Burren’s lunar-like landscape, which take in sea caves, ancient middens and colour-popping anemones. Another champion of the bounty of this rugged coast is Homestead Cottage in Doolin, where locavore Michelin-star dining is served within rustic 200-year-old walls. Breezy surf-style escape Armada Hotel, set on a cliff above Spanish Point, was the first hotel in Ireland given B Corp status for its environmental efforts, and luxury eco hideaway Gregans Country Castle (king of fantasy Tolkien was once a guest) donated a plot of land near its vegetable garden to the Burren Pine Project, to help restore a lost tree species to Ireland’s native flora. All this and you’re still never far from a toe-tapping céilí and the craic.”
The full list of eleven:
- Ahr Valley, Germany
- Albania
- Arrábida, Portugal
- Athens Riviera, Greece
- Co Clare, Ireland
- Faroe Islands
- Geneva, Switzerland
- Marseille, France
- Matarraña, Spain
- Sussex, England
- Vienna, Austria
