There’s a special kind of magic in setting off on a road trip the day after Christmas—when the world is still wrapped in warmth, quiet, and possibility. Leaving Dublin on St. Stephen’s Day, I traded festive stillness for the promise of Ireland’s northern coast. From the colourful charm of Carlingford’s medieval streets to the wild drama of the Giant’s Causeway and the soft, seaside calm of Portrush, the journey unfolded like a series of living postcards. It was a day stitched together by breathtaking landscapes, quiet reflections, and the simple joy of discovering beauty in every bend of the road. This is the Ireland I keep returning for—timeless, welcoming, and endlessly enchanting.

There are places in the world that feel less like destinations and more like encounters—and the Giant’s Causeway is one of them. Sixteen years after my first visit, I returned on a wet St Stephen’s Day to find its magic not only unchanged but deepened. The basalt columns glistened beneath the drizzle, the Atlantic roared against the cliffs, and the legend of Finn McCool felt alive in every ripple of wind along the Antrim Coast.

With winter’s quiet and the coastline’s wild beauty all around, this was the Causeway at its most intimate—a place where ancient myth and raw nature meet. From the windswept trail to the rope bridge at Carrick-a-Rede and a warming whisky at Old Bushmills Distillery, this corner of Northern Ireland remains a landscape of stories, storms and unforgettable moments.

Nestled among Romania’s snow-dusted hills, Bran Castle rises from the landscape like something out of a storybook — its spires piercing the crisp winter air, its walls whispering legends of centuries past. Known worldwide for its connection to Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the truth behind this fortress is far more captivating than any vampire tale.

Traveling from the charming town of Brașov, we arrived to find the castle draped in soft white snow, its quiet beauty magnified by the stillness of winter. Inside, narrow stairways twist through intimate chambers once touched by Queen Marie and her daughter, Princess Ileana — women whose real-life stories of resilience and grace outshine fiction.

Visiting in winter felt like uncovering a secret. With only the crunch of snow beneath our feet and the hush of the wind through the Carpathians, Bran Castle revealed itself not as a haunted lair, but as a home — filled with warmth, memory, and history.