Decadent Ireland - Bring Your Own Pot of Gold

A country that boasts a third of the world's golf links, a thriving 'slow food' industry (farmers' markets and the lowest food miles of any Western country), a centuries' old tradition in crystal and glassware, wool and cashmere, plus castle stays and splendid Georgian hotels - a country like that would have to be at the top of any discerning traveller's itinerary. With material wealth to match it's wealth of heritage, Ireland offers an unmatchable combination for seekers after the finer things in life.

To stay in the heart of Georgian Dublin, home of the Dáil (Republic of Ireland Parliament), is to experience the best that Ireland has to offer. Its shops abound in hand-crafted Waterford Crystal, fine Belleek pottery and Irish linen. Its Michelin-starred restaurants, such as Dax and L'Ecrivain, work miracles with the finest local produce.

If you wish to stay in the heart of the action, you can't go past the grand dame of Dublin's Georgian hotels, the historic and magnificent Shelbourne. It is a byword for restrained opulence and sophisticated luxury, from the suites right down to the old-style barber shop in the basement.

Ireland's Georgian buildings are proof that the Irish aristocracy were no strangers to the high life. Powerscourt House in County Wicklow gives contemporary observers a true insight into the style of the 18th century super-rich. If viewing Powerscourt gives you a taste for indulgence, nearby is one of the best health spas in Ireland, Powerscourt Springs Health Farm.

If it's the full-blooded aristocratic treatment you crave, then Castle Leslie in County Monaghan is for you. That Irish-English arriviste Sir Paul McCartney made his doomed nuptials with Heather Mills here, but don't let that dissuade you. Each of the castle's 14 guest rooms has a unique character. The Red Room, used by WB Yeats, contains the first bath plumbed in Ireland. In Uncle Norman's Room, guests claim to have been levitated in the Gothic four-poster bed. Now that's flying first class!