10 Day Tour of Ireland from Dublin to the West of Ireland and return

*Single supplement €625.00

Highlights:

• Leixlip Castle, the home of the Hon. Desmond Guinness
• Dinner in the Guinness Storehouse & VIP Guinness tasting
• Powerscourt House and Gardens, Wicklow (“The Garden of Ireland”)
• Glendalough, the 6th Century monastic site
• Theatre Evening in Dublin
• Falconry in Ashford Castle, Mayo
• Connemara with lunch in a traditional Irish Pub
• Cliffs of Moher
• Banquet in Bunratty Castle
• Flying Boat Museum*
• Ring of Kerry
• Visit Staigue Fort, a 2,500 year old stone ring fort
• Free night in Killarney
• Blarney Castle to see the Blarney Stone and Woolen Mills
• Farewell dinner in a traditional Irish Pub

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Day 1
Arrive Dublin airport, your chauffeur driver will meet you in the arrivals hall and take you to your city centre hotel. Your welcome pack at the hotel will include maps / discount shopping vouchers / tax free shopping card. All shops / restaurants and sightseeing is on your doorstep here and you are free for the day to explore the city on your own. At 7pm, there will be drinks reception with canapes in the hotel so you get to know your other group members and tour leader.

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Day 2
Enjoy a leisurely breakfast at your hotel and a free morning, at 2pm we meet at your hotel for your driver and tour leader to take you to Leixlip Castle, the home of the Hon. Desmond Guinness. The tour will be conducted by the owner and includes stories from medieval history as well as more recent family stories including visits to the house by Mick Jagger and other celebrities. The tour will include a glass of whiskey in the main hall with the owner. On return, we pass the cemetary in the village where the Archbishop Price is buried, in his will he left a sum of money to his nephew, Arthur Guinness, who used the money to set up a brewery on the banks of the Liffey in the village, later on he leased the land further near the mouth of the Liffey at St. James' Gate which will be our next stop.

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Day 2 - Night
Dinner this evening will be served in the Guinness Storehouse, located within the Guinness Brewery. The visit will include a self guided visit of the Storehouse and a VIP tasting of the 'black stuff' as well as a lesson in pouring your own pint and a certificate to prove your expertise ! Return to hotel for overnight.

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Day 3
After breakfast, we take a trip to South County Dublin to see County Wicklow, the Garden of Ireland. We will make stops at the stately home of Powerscourt House and Gardens where you can enjoy time for shopping in the house and then take a stroll around the gardens, originally begun in the latter half of the 18th Century. Then we continue through the Wicklow mountains to Glendalough, the 6th Century monastic site, established by St. Kevin. The site is located in a valley on the shores of two lakes, the surviving buildings date from the 11th Century including a small church and perfect round tower. Taking a walk around the lakes, it's easy to see how this valley was chosen as a prayer site, it's so tranquil and picturesque. We return to your hotel in Dublin for the later afternoon/evening and you are free to wander into a 'session' at one of our many pubs or see a play at the Abbey Theatre or Riverdance in the Gaiety Theatre.

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Day 4
We depart Dublin this morning, travelling West to Ashford Castle in County Mayo where we take a light lunch before taking a 'Hawk Walk' and learning more about Falconry, this ancient art, reputed to be the oldest sport in the world. Orginating in the Far East around 2000 BC, as a means of catching food for yourself and your family, falconry spread westwards reaching the shores of Europe long before the end of the first millennium. By 1228 when Ashford Castle was built, falconry was well established in Ireland, not only amongst the nobility, but throughout the native Irish people too. During your Hawk Walk everyone in the group will learn how to handle and fly one of the school's Harris hawks, a species renowned for their easy-going temperament and unusually sociable nature. Your instructor will introduce you to your hawk and, within minutes, you will be setting off around the magnificent woodlands to fly your hawk free. As you fly the hawk around the gardens of Ashford Castle, your instructor will explain about the history of falconry, the hawks exceptional eyesight, their speed and agility and how the hawks are trained.’ After this experience, we will travel the journey to Galway to your accommodation. After checking in, your tour manager will bring you on a tour of the city, then we return for your hotel for dinner and overnight.

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Day 5
This morning, we take an excursion to Connemara, we will make a stop in Clifden, a market town where you will have some free time to enjoy the tiny shops and pubs, we will see the site where pilots Alcock and Brown landed after making the first transatlantic flight from Newfoundland in 1919. We return to Galway city via the coastal route via the little village of Roundstone, stopping for a pint and seafood platters in O'Dowd's Pub, wood panelled walls and open fires give it an atmosphere of warmth and friendliness overlooking an unrivalled view of the harbour. Return to your Galway hotel for overnight. You are free to enjoy the pubs and restaurants of the town this evening.

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Day 6
Today, we take the Burren Road out of Galway, taking the winding route through the Burren area to the village of Doolin on the Atlantic Coast. Here we take a boat trip along the base of the Cliffs of Moher, the highest sea cliffs in Europe. The 1 hour cruise will take you on a voyage of discovery along this 8km shoreline and a more enjoyable, enriching, and fulfilling experience you will not find on the Irish coastline. As you approach the Cliffs on the southern tip of Galway Bay and the Burren, you will gaze in awe at the scale and uniqueness of this natural phenomenon. We make a short stop for lunch in Doolin itself and then we will see the Cliffs in the more traditional way - from the top, taking a walk up to O'Briens Tower, the tower was built as a viewing point for tourists back in 1835 ! We then continue on to our hotel in Limerick to freshen up before attending the medieval banquet at Bunratty Castle this evening. Overnight at Limerick hotel.

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Day 7
There is the option today to depart using Shannon airport (direct flights to North America with Aer Lingus, Delta, Continental, Air Transat and to London with Ryanir and Aer Lingus). We continue through Limerick City along the mouth of the River Shannon to the village Foynes, to the Flying Boat Museum, the stop will include a lesson in how to make an Irish Coffee as this is where it was invented. This village was originally the landing point for the 'Flying Boats' from North America, when flying was an altogether more glamourous affair. From there, we travel down through North Kerry to Killarney to check into our hotel. Dinner will be served in the hotel restaurant.

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Day 8
We travel around the famous Ring of Kerry route today, taking in the villages and towns around the Iveragh Peninsula, we include a walk up to Staigue Fort, a 2,500 year old stone ring fort, then a stop in the resort hotel of Parknasilla for afternoon tea. We return back to Killarney via Moll's Gap, Ladies view and Torc Waterfall, where horse carraiges will meet us to take us the remaining route back to the hotel. You are free tonight to wander the town for dinner.

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Day 9
Back to Dublin today, we take the Cork road to Blarney Castle where you can take the opportunity to kiss the Blarney Stone and shopping at the Blarney Woollen Mills. We take the N8 Route from there back to your hotel near Dublin airport. Your farewell dinner will take place in a local traditional pub with dinner and entertainment.

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Day 10
Fly home from Dublin airport.

Dublin Airport


Dublin


Ireland