Irish Airports Just Dropped a List That Could Change Your Entire Summer Plans

Irish people are notorious for being creatures of habit. Until at age of 26 I would have gladly gone to Albufeira every year, ride a mechanical bull in Matt’s Bar with a Superbock in one hand and a €3 mojito in the other, and call it “soaking up the culture.” But maybe—just maybe—it’s time to broaden the horizon, even if your neighbours back home start whispering that you’ve got “notions.”

This summer, airports across Ireland are adding some new destinations that don’t involve Robbie Williams impersonators and sharing a hotel with rotund bald men with Burnley tattoos on their chests who live at the pool.

Dublin airport has new flights to places like Nashville (yes, that’s in America, not an Irish pub), Rabat, Stuttgart, and Bucharest—all solid options if you’re looking for a bit of adventure beyond a sunburn and a Cruz-Campo.

Cork is now sending people to Bilbao, Bordeaux and Fuerteventura, while Shannon is firing flights off to Madeira and Palma, and Knock is holding it down with 17 sun routes including Alicante and Tenerife.

So maybe this summer, skip the bull, leave Matt’s to the hen parties, and book yourself a flight somewhere that might actually teach you something—or at the very least, where you don’t come home with chips in your pocket and sand in your socks.