Ailwee Caves

There are three reasons to go to the Aillwee Cave, just outside Ballyvaughan. One is to do the tour of the caves, which is fab. The second is to search for Ben Johnson’s splendid Burren Gold cheese – get some of this when it is well-aged and you get a truly expert, satisfying, mustardy-mellow cheese, and don’t miss his new feta cheeses.

The other thing to pile into the car is the Aillwee Charcoal, environmentally coppiced hazel which is unequivocally the best charcoal you can buy in Ireland. Once you try this, you will never use a commercial barbecue fuel again.

(Ballyvaughan, Co Clare, Tel: (065) 7077036, Fax: 7077107, aillweecave.ie)