Aung San Suu Kyi begins her visit to a number of European countries this week.
It is the latest stride in her journey from an imprisoned activist to a politician on the world stage.
The Burmese democracy icon, who was under house arrest when she was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, will collect her award as part of a trip that begins on Wednesday and will take in Switzerland, Norway, Ireland, Britain and France.
It will be only her second overseas foray in 24 years.
As part of her stop off in Dublin on 18 June, Ms Suu Kyi will be presented with an Amnesty International human rights award and the Freedom of Dublin, which she was awarded during her detention.
Efforts are also under way to arrange a meeting with President Michael D Higgins and to arrange a public event following a concert in her honour.
For more than two decades, Ms Suu Kyi did not dare leave Burma, fearing the generals who ruled the country would not let her return.
Her European visit will mark a new milestone in the political changes that have swept through the country, which is also known as Myanmar.
Decades of outright military rule ended last year, bringing to power a new quasi-civilian government.
President Thein Sein is credited for a series of dramatic changes including releasing hundreds of political prisoners, signing peace pacts with armed rebel groups and welcoming Ms Suu Kyi's party back into mainstream politics.
The former general now faces a major challenge at home from a wave of sectarian violence in western Rakhine state, where a state of emergency has been imposed in response to violent clashes between Buddhists and Muslims.
Ms Suu Kyi, the daughter of Burma's independence hero General Aung San, for her part has called for "sympathy" with minorities in the wake of the unrest.
In April, the veteran activist won her first ever seat in parliament, prompting Western nations to start rolling back sanctions.
Ms Suu Kyi will deliver a hugely symbolic lecture on 16 June in Oslo to accept the Nobel Prize.
However, the opposition leader may also inject a note of caution. This month she warned world business leaders at a meeting in Bangkok against "reckless optimism" over the democratic reforms.
The visit, which is scheduled to last until the end of June, will also allow Ms Suu Kyi to burnish her credentials as an international figure after spending most of the last 22 years locked up in her Yangon lakeside villa.
