It's very easy to stereotype Ireland travel—to say nothing of Ireland itself—as a series of pubs, drunkenness, and the occasional potato farm. We know it's easy because that's almost entirely the picture that Tourism Ireland painted when they did their last social media campaign.

We wrote at the time that the image was a bit unfair, and that neither the country nor the tourists who travel there should be stereotyped. Then we highlighted Ireland, with its gorgeous scenary and summer cultural offerings, as one of the places where you should seriously consider spending your tax refund. Not to give away the ending, but not only were we were demonstrably right, but now there are numbers to prove it.

Figures came out over the weekend on Ireland's top tourism destinations. Wouldn't you know it, and despite the best efforts of frat boys everywhere, the Guinness Storehouse did not take the top stop. That was reserved for the impressive Dublin Zoo, with its 59 acres of plants and animals (by way of comparison, our beloved San Diego Zoo, a widely acknowledged global leader in conservation, clocks in at 40 acres).]]> Omri 2011-06-08T16:00:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/5/24/3746/23181

What's the single most stereotypical thing you can think of doing as a tourist in Dublin, Ireland? The odds are pretty great that your answers has something to do with either drinking or tracing your Irish roots. The good news is, President Barack Obama thinks the same way and spent his official visit to Ireland over the weekend throwing back Guinness and visiting distant relatives. Of course he also met with government officials and gave a speech to over 25,000 people, but all that has been overshadows by the beer clink heard 'round the world.

Ireland was the first stop on Obama's six-day, four-nation tour of Europe. He followed it up by calling on Queen Elizabeth in London, and will round out his tour by rolling into France and Poland for more official political meetings. Michelle is actually along on this trip—that's her little Guinness up in the left of the above photo—and while Barack is busy at the Group of 8 meeting in France, we hope MObama has enough time for a toast of her own; a little "a votre sante" and Côtes du Rhône.

[Photo: AP]]]> JetSetCD 2011-05-24T16:35:01-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/3/21/134158/192

We've been pretty skeptical about airlines and tourism boards that go all-in on social media, the fear being that "building something shiny" gets in the way of "designing something useful."

There are productive ways of using social media—Twitter for customer service, Facebook for coupon campaigns, etc—and then there's what happens when companies build something just because everyone else is doing it. Creating Facebook games in particular has become a problem, with some travel companies doing very well and others not so much.

The newest attempt at social gaming comes from Tourism Ireland, which hopes to harness the power of Facebook to get tourists to the Emerald Isle. The game, dubbed "Ireland Town," is built as an explicit Farmville knockoff. Users are tasked with creating their own Irish town in between visiting tourist attractions and defeating challenges. Those who get through are entered in a contest for a four-night stay in Ireland.

And here's where things begin to head south.]]> Omri 2011-03-21T15:11:44-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/3/4/8112/09919

St. Patrick's Day is less than two weeks away, so now's the time to make plans. But instead of hitting up your local pub for a beer-fueled evening—which is what you do every weekend anyway—hit up an authentic Irish city, whether it be locally in Boston or in the motherland in Dublin.

Check out some last-minute St. Patrick's Day deals after the jump.]]> Jennifer Kester 2011-03-04T09:00:03-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/12/27/111729/72

We're a bit skeptical about 1/1/11 being a lucky day, but we look for any reason to travel and the new year is as good of an excuse as any. We'd feel pretty lucky scoring a last-minute trip to Dublin that starts at $399 for four nights.

Aer Lingus is offering the deal, which includes hotel and round-trip airfare on the airline. You'll shack up in the Regency Hotel in Ireland's capital city during your stay.]]> Jennifer Kester 2010-12-27T15:43:27-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/5/28/1321/74345

There's only so many ugly ties and lame golf-related paraphernalia you can buy dad for Father's Day before it becomes a joke. We don't know about you, but we're always stuck on what to get our pops, since he doesn't really wear ties or golf anyway. But we realized that the perfect gift for any dad is a vacation. Who doesn't like a getting away? This year, treat him to a Guinness...in Dublin.

For our Father's Day travel picks, follow us after the jump.]]> Jennifer Kester 2010-05-28T08:38:08-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/8/22/18171/6557

As we approached our last day in Dublin, we wondered if we had anything left to see. After all, we'd hit the high points in the visitors guide. But I'm glad we had that extra day, because it was just the kind of leisurely vacation day we needed after all that running around. ]]> Victor Ozols 2009-08-22T18:17:01-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/