A charming, walkable town, Cobh’s tidy size belies its global impact. Cobh was ranked as one of the most beautiful small towns in Europe by Condé Nast Traveler. It was from here that the mighty RMS Titanic last set sail on her maiden voyage; a young girl called Anne Bonny left home and became a Caribbean pirate; and Ellis Island’s very first immigrant, 17-year-old Annie Moore, began her journey.

A visit to this town simply isn’t complete without a trip to Titanic Experience Cobh. Set within the original White Star Line ticket office, this exhibition tells the story of all 123 passengers who boarded the ship in Queenstown, as Cobh was then known, on the final leg of Titanic’s ill-fated journey in 1912.

A little further out into the harbour is Spike Island. Once home to a 6th century monastery, then a star-shaped defensive fort, it was converted to a prison that closed in 2004. Today, visitors can take a ferry out to Ireland’s very own Alcatraz and experience what life was like for the soldiers, convicts – and even the children imprisoned here in Victorian times. Once known as “Ireland’s Hell”, today it’s an enjoyable day out, chock full of wild stories...