Dublin voted among best places in the world to visit in March

Happy St. Patrick's Day!! The Irish capital was voted one of the best destinations in the world to visit in March.

International travel magazine Conde Nast Traveler has ranked Dublin in the sixth position in a 2017 table of the seven best places to visit this month.

The Irish capital, the highest-placed European entry in the chart, was described by the travel bible as "the spiritual home of St. Patrick's Day".

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Dublin's fair city.

Its impressed writers added:  "Celebrating here means far more options than chugging a cheap green beer for one marathon evening.  Pace yourself to enjoy the city's five-day-long celebration of the national saint.  Expect street parties, craft beer, and live folk music almost anywhere in town."

Read more: This Irish lighthouse Airbnb isn’t your typical vacation rental

This video made a few years ago, really captures the feeling in Dublin on St. Patrick’s Day:

Exotic Oman topped the table, followed by Guadalajara, in Mexico, and the sun-kissed Maldives.  US getaways Palm Desert and Phoenix, Arizona also made the coveted list, while closer to home seventh-placed Copenhagen was the only other European destination name-checked.

Meanwhile, Ashford Castle has further cemented its reputation as one of the world's finest luxury retreats, after the luxury Co. Mayo hotel was name-checked in a separate Conde Nast table.

The five-star retreat was ranked in the second spot in the travel bible's table of the 10 most beautiful lakeside hotels in the world.

The Irish hotel - which underwent a multi-million-euro renovation less than two years ago, and now boasts a new waterfront spa, swimming pool, cigar terrace, and even a 32-seat cinema - was pipped to the post by idyllic Grand Hotel Tremezzo in Italy's Lake Como.

But the magazine's smitten writers said the hideaway, by Lough Corrib, was worth visiting for its "fairytale views alone".

Less than two years ago, Ashford Castle was voted the world's number one hotel by Virtuoso, an international network of luxury travel agencies.

And more recently the Lodge at Ashford Castle was one of three Irish hotels which featured in the Top 10 of the annual Conde Nast Traveler Readers' Choice Awards.  The other two were Ballyfin Demesne in Co. Laois, which took the acclaimed top spot, and seventh-placed Waterford Castle.  The Lodge at Ashford made the ninth spot.

Read more: St. Patrick’s Festival 2019 – Dublin’s “Greening the City”

* Originally published in 2017.