Kenmare

A lively touring base, this market town is set at the head of the sheltered Kenmare River estuary. It's currently a matter of lively debate as to whether Kenmare has displaced Kinsale as the culinary capital of Ireland. Kenmare offers an amazing number of stylish little restaurants for a town its size, and also boasts two of Ireland's most highly reputed hotels, the Park and the Sheen Falls. The shopping is pretty good, too, with Irish high fashion, crafts, and original art vying for your attention. The town was founded in 1670 by Sir William Petty (Oliver Cromwell's surveyor general, a multitasking entrepreneur), and most of its buildings date from the 19th century, when it was part of the enormous Lansdowne Estate—itself assembled by Petty.