Ireland

Ireland's draw is the west: the Wild Atlantic Way from Kerry up through Connemara to Donegal, with links courses along it and castle and country house hotels inland. Dublin is worth two nights at the start. The weather is unreliable in every month, which locals treat as a fact rather than a complaint. May, June and September are the best of it. We arrange the car, the tee times, which need booking well ahead, and the houses that take only a dozen guests.