Fifteen Wicklow entries among ‘best of the best’
CAFÉS, restaurants and accommodation providers across Wicklow feature in the latest Georgina Campbell guide.
The guide, Georgina Campbell’s Ireland - The Best of the Best, features her personal selection of the very best places to eat, drink and stay, hand picked from the comprehensive guide to Ireland’s best.
This new edition of Georgina Campbell’s famous ‘glovebox bible’ is a highly selective independently assessed guide to the very best of Irish food and hospitality.
Designed as a handy reference, to accompany the more extensive recommendations on the award-winning website ireland-guide.com, its wide range of categories - hotels, restaurants, cafés, pubs, country houses, guesthouses and farmhouses - ensures the best choices for the discerning traveller in all regions, at all times and in all price ranges.
Wicklow is strongly represented in the guide with over 15 entries, covering everything from five star hotels such as Powerscourt and Druids Glen, country houses and smaller hotels such as Rathsallagh, Hunter’s Hotel and BrookLodge and interesting B&B accommodation such as celebrity chef Catherine Fulvio’s Ballyknocken House and Cookery School.
There is also a thriving and diverse range of great dining destinations. Avoca thrives in several locations, including Mount Usher, while the Happy Pear in Greystones is also popular. There are smaller, quality-led places like the Grangecon Café in Blessington and the Firehouse Bakery & Café in Delgany, ethnic treats such as Chakra by Jaipur and individualistic old favourites, including The Hungry Monk and the Roundwood Inn.
Ms Campbell said that Wicklow is an ‘all-round wonderful destination and there is great scope for further hospitality development in the county, especially in quality accommodation’.
The emphasis throughout this collection is on the all-round experience, especially for the ‘culturally curious’, and hosts who will engage enthusiastically with guests regarding places of local interest and artisan foods in the area, many of which feature on the website
Explaining the rationale behind this new selection, Georgina Campbell says: ‘Exploring Ireland has always been a great experience and this book is testament to the enormous changes for the better that have recently been taking place in Irish food and tourism.
‘In general, standards have been raised throughout the country and across the board. There’s now a special brand of excellence that covers a much broader spectrum and includes many very casual places to eat, drink and stay, so this selection reflects that changing perception, and the fact that best experiences are accessible to all, regardless of taste or budget. A stay at a simple island B&B or a converted horse truck, for example, can be at least as memorable as a break in a top hotel, and a casual meal in a beach shack might be the highlight of a holiday or business visit that also includes plenty of fine dining.’
The guide is now on sale in bookshops and online from Ireland-guide.com for €20.