How many times have you gone abroad on holiday only to spend most of your time eating and drinking in an Irish themed pub? Yes, as a nation we tend to like our home comforts, so much so that we will bemoan how much we miss them when we’re on holiday.
It’s no surprise then, that when it comes to city breaks abroad, the Irish like to stay as close to home as possible. Actually, we pretty much just hop across the water to London. At least there we get to feel like we’re further abroad but still enjoy home comforts such as Cadbury’s chocolate and a packet of Tayto.
Yes, London has topped the polls for a second year in a row as being the most popular overseas destination for Irish holidaymakers. The poll, which was conducted by Hotels.com, showed that the humble city of London beat off stiff competition from bigger cities such as New York and Paris to take the top spot.
Then again, it’s not that surprising really. London is incredibly easy to get to from Ireland. It has some great shopping and some excellent night life. The only downside? The exchange rate isn’t that great when you’re converting your hard-earned euros into pounds, but that doesn’t seem to stop us from visiting.
“London is always a popular choice for Irish travellers thanks to its accessibility for both business and leisure travellers,” said Kate Hopcraft from Hotels.com.
“High profile media events such as last year’s Royal Wedding have really helped keep London top of mind with travellers and with the Olympics just around the corner, we would expect to see London continuing to be a popular destination,” she added.
The poll revealed that while London was the most visited city by Irish people, the most popular country for Irish holidaymakers was, of course, the United States.
So for short breaks, we like to be closer to home, but when we feel like a long holiday we like to get as far away from Ireland as possible.
And while London grabbed the top spot, the US was well-represented in the top 20 destinations for Irish holidaymakers with New York, Las Vegas, Orlando and San Francisco all making an appearance.
At home, Dublin was ranked as Ireland’s most popular destination for a staycation, while Galway swooped in and took second place. Cork came in at a respectable third and Limerick was fourth.
Do you have your holidays sorted for this summer yet? Are you staycationing or heading abroad?
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