Another win for the Emerald Isle and a bit about Ireland Vacation Packages

Ireland’s 12th Straight “Best Destination in Europe” Win

Travel Weekly is one of the leading trade publications for American travel professionals. Its Readers’ Choice Awards are decided in two rounds of voting by thousands of travel advisors and industry experts in the United States.

In 2025, Ireland once again topped the Best Destination in Europe category. According to Tourism Ireland and multiple industry reports, this marks the 12th consecutive year that Ireland has won this title at the Travel Weekly Readers’ Choice Awards.

That tells us a few essential things.

First, it is not a one-off marketing splash. Advisors and professionals who send clients to Europe year after year keep voting for Ireland.

Second, Ireland is winning in direct comparison with some of the world’s most famous tourism brands. When France, Italy, and Greece are on the ballot, and Ireland still comes out on top, there is clearly something deeper at work than a single campaign or a short-term trend.

For a traveler in the United States comparing Ireland vacation packages, it is a reminder of why so many people choose this island for their first, second, or fifth European trip.

Other Recent Awards That Highlight Ireland’s Appeal

The Travel Weekly recognition is not happening in isolation. Over the past few years, Ireland has repeatedly appeared in global travel awards and rankings.

Condé Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Awards have placed Ireland among the top countries in the world to visit, with recent lists ranking it alongside destinations like Japan, Italy, and Greece as a favorite among international travelers.

In Britain, Ireland was voted Best International Destination at the Group Leisure & Travel Awards, beating France, Italy, Malta, Slovenia, and Flanders in a poll of group travel organizers and readers.

Further back, readers of the American travel magazine Global Traveler selected Ireland as their Best Tourism Destination, underscoring its strong reputation among business and luxury travelers with U.S. passports.

Even at a regional level, specific parts of Ireland continue to draw praise. Donegal was named one of the best regions in the world to visit in Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel list, recognized for its wild coastline, sea cliffs, and heartfelt welcome.

Taken together, these awards paint a consistent picture. Ireland is not just a place people enjoy once. It is a destination that travelers, travel writers, and travel professionals like myself keep coming back to and keep voting for.

Why Ireland Connects So Strongly With American Travelers

Awards are one thing. The feeling on the ground is another.

Anyone who has spent time in Ireland knows that the tourism product is a mix of things that are hard to manufacture:

• Landscapes that feel and are ancient and cinematic, from sea cliffs and castle ruins to quiet inland valleys.
• A cultural emphasis on storytelling, music, and conversation that invites visitors in instead of keeping them at arm’s length.
• A genuine warmth from people who, more often than not, will tell you to sit down, ask where you are from, and start sharing local stories within a few minutes.

Ireland is known as the land of a hundred thousand welcomes or “céad míle fáilte“ as they say in Irish. This welcoming nature is reflected in repeat visitor numbers and in long-haul markets like the United States, which remains Ireland’s top source of tourism revenue.

According to the U.S Census Bureau, the percentage of U.S. residents who claimed at least some Irish ancestry was 9.5% in 2021, or about 31 million people. Fun fact, that’s more than the entire population of Ireland by a lot. Ireland’s current population is a little over 5.4 million. During the Great Famine in the 1800’s, it’s estimated that nearly two million Irish, roughly a quarter of the population, emigrated to the United States, according to the National Museum of Ireland. That emigration left a lasting impact on the culture of the United States, evident to this day in many Irish-American communities across the nation.

For many Americans, that combination lands exceptionally well. There is enough familiarity in language, humor, and shared history to feel comfortable, and enough difference in pace, scenery, and daily life to feel like a true escape.

When we designed our Ireland vacation packages under the Atomic Trips banner, that is the core we built around. The news about the award is a confirmation, not a surprise.

How Atomic Trips Builds An Ireland All-Inclusive Experience Around That Strength

Where most Ireland vacation packages focus on a list of stops and a base price, we build our Ireland all-inclusive trip around the traveler’s actual day-to-day experience.

Our main Ireland route, for example, follows a clear arc:

You arrive in Dublin and spend the first night getting oriented and meeting your fellow travelers with a pub crawl around the Temple Bar area. From there, the group travels to the Rock of Cashel before settling into Cork city for a two-night stay. Blarney Castle is a dedicated day trip from Cork, offering a comfortable pace that allows time to explore the city itself later that afternoon.

On the way to your accommodation in an authentic 15th-century castle, you visit Ross Castle, Muckross Abbey, and Killarney, then check in to Springfield Castle for three nights. That stretch is where a lot of the Ireland all-inclusive value shows up. You are not just sleeping in a historic property. You are using it as a base while the group visits sites and enjoys activities. From visiting the local mall and exploring nearby castle ruins, to a medieval-style banquet and a costumed historical presentation, this is a real treat that can’t be described in words. You’ll have to see it to believe it, plus, I don’t want to give too much away.

Another day takes you out to the majestic Cliffs of Moher for classic west coast scenery before returning to Springfield for time in the saunas, jacuzzi, and quiet corners of the estate. When we depart the castle, there is one more stop at the Rock of Dunamase before the final night’s farewell dinner back in Dublin.

What matters is not just the order of those names. It’s what is included and how the logistics work.

Atomic’s Ireland Vacation Packages are designed so that, once you arrive, nearly everything is taken care of. Your accommodation, meals, ground transportation, guided activities, entry fees on the group itinerary, hosted support, and a professional photographer are already included in the package. You are not constantly pulling out a wallet for surprise transfers or “optional“ add-ons that should have been part of the core trip in the first place.

Instead of a rotating roster of local contractors(who may or may not show up), you travel with a small Host and Support Team that you meet well before you land. The same people who answer your practical questions during the planning phase are the same ones greeting you in Dublin, riding the bus with you, walking the grounds of Springfield Castle, and counting heads before the group leaves for the day’s adventures. That continuity is what turns an Ireland vacation package into a trip that actually feels supported.

It is not about promising to be the single best offering in existence. It is about building an all-inclusive Ireland experience that reflects how people actually travel, what they worry about, and what they remember.