Avoca is a small village near Arklow in County Wicklow, Ireland, where Avoca Handweavers, the well known clothing manufacturing and retail business, first started out. The picturesque village of Avoca itself is the fictional home of the BBC’s Ballykissangel.

The Avoca brand has fast become a real success story and the company now employs around 600 people. The old mill at Avoca was originally established in 1723 as a farmers’ cooperative for grinding corn and spinning and weaving sheep’s wool.

In the 1920s three sisters, the Wynnes, inherited the mill which had become run down. They injected new life into the enterprise, introducing color from natural dyes and soon they were selling their famous Avoca Handweavers tweeds all over the world, designing cloth for the Parisdesigner Elsa Schiaparelli, a waistcoat for King George VI and baby blankets for the children of Queen Elizabeth II. But, as with many family run businesses, when the sisters passed away the mill became neglected and faced closure.

Then in 1974, Donald Pratt, a solicitor engaged to handle the sale of the mill decided to buy it himself. Along with his wife, he set about getting Avoca Handweavers back on its feet. The mill at Avoca Villagewas soon humming again, as the Pratts began exporting hand-woven rugs and throws first to the UK and then beyond.

The old mill at Avoca village is open for visiting seven days a week. You can tour the mill and see the whole weaving process first hand for free. Plus, there’s an Avoca shop and cafe onsite too.

The Avoca Company has now developed nine large retail outlets around Ireland and has opened one in Annapolis, Maryland. Many of these also have large food halls and cafes attached.

For accommodations, try the Ritz-Carlton, Powerscourt, County Wicklow, which follows the tradition of an elegant hotel fashioned with the latest amenities. In other words, this classical setting is a classic Ritz-Carlton. Expect the formal, but not stuffy entranceway, high ceilings, dark wood trim, velvety, oversized sofas, heavy drapes and courteous staff so familiar to visitors to the Naples, Bostonor most other Ritz Carltons.

Here are a few unique, out-of-the-way alternatives to classic tourist destinations, courtesy of “Art Wolfe’s Travels to the Edge” on PBS:

Japan: As a side trip from Tokyo during a winter trip, visit snow monkeys soaking in hot springs in Nagano, the site of the 1998 winter Olympics. Take a train from the city and transfer to a bus that takes you to Jigokudani Yaen= koen, the Wild Monkey Park in Hell Valley.

Australia: On the continent’s west coast, you will fmd Bungle Bungles, a collection of beehive-shaped hills with layers of rock. The area is sacred to the Aborigines.

Iceland: On the other side of the island from the capital of Reykjavik is the Jokulsarlon, a glacier-fed lake filled with icebergs a few hundred yards from the sea.

Bolivia: Beyond La Paz and Lake Titicaca lies the Altiplano, a high plateau dotted with snowcapped volcanoes and mirror lakes, which Wolfe calls “a landscape like no other on the planet:”

Nepal: After you have seen the temples and stupas of Katmandu, venture to the far west to Chitwan National Park, a marshy area that is home to rhinoceroses, tigers, and crocodiles.