Wowing the World
And that’s just the tip of the Skellig when it comes to how enamoured travellers the world over have become with these two rocky relics. Having long been a beloved visitor destination, cosmic forces have of course been at work when it comes to their recent rise in popularity. Between director JJ Abrams having The Skelligs double as a Jedi sanctuary in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and the franchise’s return to the islands for the highly anticipated next chapter, The Last Jedi, their extraterrestrial appeal seems almost infinite.
Award-winning American photographer and travel blogger Gary Arndt was incredibly impressed on his visit to the Skelligs, writing “Simply put, Skellig Michael is fantastic. It is by far the most amazing thing I’ve seen in Ireland, and in my book it is one of the top world heritage sites in all of Europe.”
Also awed by its Skelligs experience, National Geographic Traveller wrote of the iconic peaks “you’ll remember it forever. This is Ireland’s Machu Picchu.” So it’s quite fitting that Lonely Planet also included the Skellig Ring, the picturesque route that connects Valentia Island with Waterville via the Ballinskelligs’ Gaeltacht area and the islands themselves, in the top 10 of their coveted Best in Travel 2017.