Greetings, traveler!

The Lax guide is an eccentric and highly opinionated guide to the South Coast of Ireland (and often includes other parts of the British Isles and Europe). It started out as travel guide that I could share with my friends and like-minded people.

Certain subjects get a disproportionately in-depth coverage:

  • Train travel— travel on Irish Rail and other UK and European operations of interest to rail fans. This includes historical train services, special train operations, and operating train museums.
  • Antiques and collectables— the best vacation souvenirs are used ones. Antique markets, thrift stores, boot sales, second-hand stores. Also Irish and English collectables that people from the US might not understand or know about (or care about, but should).
  • Food and cooking— The South of Ireland is dairy and beef country. There’s many unexpected sources for local cheese, butter, seafood, meat, etc. and lots of small mom-and-pop operations making outstanding things you’ll love to eat. The local fish is distinctive and tasty, and it’s easy to find fishermen who will sell to you. I suggest ways of preparing things simply (I’m presuming that you’re staying at an AirBnb with a four-burner stove and some beat-up old pots).
  • Beer, pubs and the culture of hospitality— interest in English and Belgian beer lead to my first trip to the UK and Belgium in 2008. Fifteen years later (and about 30-40 trips later, not to mention dozens of brewery tours, and the dozens of batches of homebrew beer I’ve made), I feel like I’m slightly qualified to discuss the finer points of UK and Irish beer, and talk about some great places to enjoy some as you travel.
  • Off-the-beaten-track experiences— meeting everyday people, and going where the tour buses don’t go. Also includes working your way into places that usually aren’t open to visitors, or people just don’t know much about.

Places come and go. Sometimes formerly good places get really rotten, Sometimes, rotten places turn themselves around. Your comments are sincerely appreciated, and corrections and updates are humbly, gratefully accepted.

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