The Banner County’s sustainable tourism and ‘grassroots skills’ revival have caught Condé Nast Traveller’s eye
The Armada Hotel is Ireland’s first to achieve B Corp certification
Conde Nast Traveller’s list of the top places to visit in Europe in 2025 includes the Athens Riviera, a natural park on Portugal’s coast and cities like Geneva, Marseille and Vienna.
It also includes the Banner County.
“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 iconic title says.
And it doesn’t even mention the Cliffs of Moher or this year’s All-Ireland…
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‘The Best Places to Go in Europe in 2025’, unveiled this month, features 11 places “worthy of your precious annual leave and hard-earned spending money”, the UK edition of Conde Nast’s iconic travel title says.
Focusing on destinations “experiencing a renaissance in the coming year”, the hotlist is based on its contributors’ suggestions, it adds.
Gaining a shout-out are marine biologist Cormac McGinley’s walking tours (cormacscoast.com), the Michelin-starred Homestead Cottage in Doolin (homesteadcottagedoolin.com), and The Common Knowledge Centre (ourcommonknowledge.org), 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.
Co Clare has form in terms of global travel lists, with its Burren Ecotourism Network named among Lonely Planet’s top places to visit in 2021.
Condé Nast’s nod is another vote of confidence in Irish tourism as a new year beckons, with Cork already named on National Geographic’s travel hotlist for 2025, and Adare Manor named Europe’s best resort by the title’s US edition.
Homestead Cottage in Doolin, Co Clare
Autumn and early winter see a wave of travel awards and ‘best of’ lists, and those by the likes of Condé Nast can be heavily influential among travellers.
Its European list also namechecks “breezy, surf-style escape” the Armada Hotel, which was the first hotel in Ireland to receive B Corp status for its environmental and social responsibility efforts.
It featured at No 2 on the Irish Independent’s Hot 100 list of Ireland’s best hotels for 2024.
Gregans Castle also merits a mention as a “luxury eco hideaway” that has donated a plot of land 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,” Condé Nast says.
Find the full ‘Best of’ list online here.
