It's the undoubted lure of the landscape, along with the easy pace and rhythms of life, which draw the majority of visitors to Ireland. Once there, few are disappointed: the green, rain-hazed loughs and wild, bluff coastlines, the inspired talent for conversation and the place of music and language at the heart of Irish culture all conspire to ensure that the reality lives up to expectations. More surprising perhaps is just how much variety this very small land packs into its countryside. The limestone terraces of the stark, eerie Burren seem separated from the fertile farmlands of Tipperary by hundreds rather than tens of miles, and the harshly beautiful west coast, with its cliffs, coves and strands, looks as if it belongs in another country altogether from the rolling plains of the central cattle-rearing counties.

It's a place to explore slowly, roaming through agricultural landscapes scattered with farmhouses, or along the endlessly indented coastline. Spectacular seascapes unfold from rocky headlands where the crash of the sea against the cliffs and myriad islands is often the only sound. It is perfect if you want space to walk, bike or (with a bit of bravado) swim, or if you want to fish, sail or spend a week on inland waterways. In the smaller towns, too, the pleasures are unhurried: evenings over a Guinness or two in the snug of a pub, listening to the chat around a blood-orange turf fire.

In every part of the island are traces of a culture established long before the coming of Christianity while, in the depths of the so-called Dark Ages, the Christian communities of Ireland were great centres of learning. Fortifications raised by the chieftains of the Celtic clans and the Anglo-Norman barons bear witness to a period of later turbulence, while the Ascendancy of the Protestant settlers has left its mark in the form of vast mansions and estates.

But the richness of Irish culture is not just a matter of monuments. Especially in the Irish-speaking Gaeltacht areas, you'll be aware of the strength and continuity of the island's oral and musical traditions. Myth-making is for the Irish people their oldest entertainment. The ancient classics are full of extraordinary stories – Cúchulainn the unbeatable hero in war, Medb the insatiable heroine in bed or Fionn Mac Cumhaill (Finn Mac Cool) chasing Diarmuid and Gráinne up and down the country – and tall tales, superstition-stirring and "mouthing off" (boasting) play as large a part in day-to-day life as they did in the era of the Táin Bó Cúailnge, Europe's oldest vernacular epic. As a guileless foreigner enquiring about anything from a beautiful lake to a pound of butter, you're ideally placed to trigger the most colourful responses. And the speech of the country – moulded by the rhythms of the ancient tongue – fired such twentieth-century greats as Yeats, Joyce and Beckett. Yet, while almost half of Ireland's population claims to be able to speak the Irish language, fewer than ten percent use it on a daily basis and a fair proportion of these only do so during school hours.

Music has always been at the centre of Irish community life. You'll find traditional music sessions in all the popular coastal counties (especially Antrim, Donegal, Sligo, Galway, Clare, Kerry, Cork and Waterford) and in the cities, too (particularly Dublin, Belfast, Cork and Galway); some of it might be of dubious pedigree, but the Gaeltacht areas, and others, can be counted on to provide authentic renditions. Side by side with the traditional circuit is a strong rock scene that has spawned Van Morrison, Thin Lizzy, U2, Sinéad O'Connor and The Corrs, alongside up-and-coming young hopefuls such as Damien Dempsey and Gemma Hayes. And ever-present are the balladeers, fathoming and feeding the old Irish dreams of courting, emigrating and striking it lucky; there's hardly a dry eye in the house when the guitars are packed away.