10 Day Irish Explorer Tour

Tour Highlights

• Merry Ploughboy Pub Dinner/Show
• Boyne Valley Neolithic Tombs
• Slieve League Sea Cliffs
• Flying Boat Museum
• Killary Harbour Catamaran Cruise
• Deluxe Clontarf Castle Stay

Your Hotels

Stay at the following (or similar):

• Herbert Park Hotel, Dublin (2 nights)
• Mill Park Hotel, Donegal (2 nights)
• Westwood House Hotel, Galway (2 nights)
• Killarney Avenue Hotel, Killarney (2 nights)
• Clontarf Castle Hotel, Dublin (1 night)

Tour Includes

• Group transfers on arrival and departure
• Sightseeing by luxury coach throughout
• Dublin open-top bus tour with complimentary visit and a drink at Guinness Storehouse or Old Jameson Distillery
• Services of a professional Irish tour director
• Superior first class hotels with private bath/shower for 9 nights
• 9 full Irish breakfasts (B)
• 8 dinners (D) including
• Dinner and traditional Irish entertainment at the Merry Ploughboy Pub
• Farewell dinner at Clontarf Castle Hotel
• 6 table d’hote dinners
• Welcome get-together drink
• Tour of Dublin with a local guide
• Slieve League sea cliffs followed by home-baked scones with coffee or tea
• Catamaran cruise of Killary Fjord
• Sheepdog trials on Ring of Kerry
• Visits and admissions to Book of Kells at Trinity College, Glendalough Visitor Centre, Boyne Valley
• Visitor Centre & Newgrange or Knowth Tomb, Triona Design, Belleek Pottery Factory, W. B. Yeats’ Grave, Museum of Country Life, Kylemore Abbey Visitor Centre, Connemara Celtic Crystal Factory, Cliffs of Moher, Foynes Flying Boat Museum, Skellig Experience, Blarney Woollen Mills and Rock of Cashel
• Deluxe flight bag, ticket wallet, luggage tags & strap
• All local taxes, hotel service charges & porterage for one suitcase per person

Itinerary

Day 1 – Sat: City Touring & Book of Kells

Land at Dublin Airport, pass through immigration and collect your luggage. Head to the CIE Tours desk in the Arrivals Hall to arrange a group transfer to your hotel between 7:00 am and 12:00 noon. If your flight arrives later than noon, you will transfer to the hotel at your own expense. Your hotel is located in fashionable Ballsbridge on the south side of the city. At 2:00 pm tour the city centre with a local guide to see elegant Georgian squares, public buildings and monuments such as the Famine Memorial. Visit Trinity College’s Old Library to view the priceless 8th century Book of Kells. Enjoy a welcome drink with your fellow travellers and talk about your trip.

Day 2 – Sun: Glendalough Monastic Site & Merry Ploughboy Pub

Drive south from Dublin through delightful scenery of the Wicklow Mountains. Visit the Glendalough Visitor Centre to learn about St. Kevin’s 6th century monastery and walk through the site to see its round tower, church ruins and Celtic crosses. Return to Dublin where the afternoon is free for you to take an open-top bus tour all around the city centre. Use your voucher for the Guinness Storehouse and explore the many levels, ending at the rooftop bar with city views while you sip a creamy pint of stout. Or visit the Old Jameson Distillery to see how whiskey is distilled and sample the finished product. In the evening head to the Merry Ploughboy Pub for Irish cuisine and a lively session of traditional songs. (B, D)

Day 3 – Mon: Neolithic Tombs & Donegal

This morning visit the Boyne Valley Visitor Centre to learn about the passage burial tombs of Newgrange and Knowth, both of which are over 5,000 years old. Visit one of the tombs to see how primitive people managed to align these buildings precisely with the sun or the moon. Drive through the Lakeland region of County Cavan and along the scenic shores of Lower Lough Erne to your hotel on the outskirts of Donegal town where you will have time to relax or use the extensive leisure facilities before dining with your group. (B, D)

Day 4 – Tue: Slieve League Cliffs & Glengesh Pass

Drive to the fishing port of Killybegs and on to Teelin to view Slieve League sea cliffs, where the highest point reaches 1,972 feet making them the highest in Europe and creating marvellous vistas as they drop to the wild Atlantic waves below. Sample home-baked scones with coffee or tea before continuing through the majestic Glengesh Pass. In Ardara visit Triona Design to see demonstrations of spinning, weaving and knitting as Donegal is renowned for wool production. Drive to Donegal town for free time in the town centre before returning to your nearby hotel. (B, D)

Day 5 – Wed: Belleek & Museum of Country Life

Visit the Belleek Pottery Factory to see how the craftspeople mould, shape and decorate clay, creating the world-famous fine china. Pause at Drumcliffe Churchyard to view the grave of W. B. Yeats, the Nobel prize-winning poet, who based many poems on the delightful countryside around Sligo. Continue through County Mayo to Castlebar to visit the Museum of Country Life. See collections of domestic goods, in daily use from 1850 to 1950. Exhibits and a movie explain how Irish people made a living from the soil. Drive to Galway and check in to your hotel. (B, D)

Day 6 – Thu: Catamaran Cruise & Kylemore Abbey

Drive through the heart of Connemara, past granite hills and sparkling lakes on the way to Leenane for a short cruise of Killary Harbour, a 9-mile fjord. Enjoy views of hills where traces of pre-Famine “lazy beds” of potato ridges can still be seen. Keep an eye out for seabirds as you pass mussel and salmon farms. Rejoin your coach and stop for photos at the Kylemore Abbey Visitor Centre. Drive through lovely countryside where sheep graze freely and stop to look around Clifden, the principal town of the region. Continue to Moycullen to visit the Connemara Celtic Crystal Factory, which specializes in intricate designs in collared crystal, before returning to Galway. (B, D)

Day 7 – Fri: Cliffs of Moher & Flying Boat Museum

Drive around Galway Bay to view the Cliffs of Moher, an impressive wall of rock. Continue to Bunratty for a brief stop to have a drink in Durty Nelly’s or shop at the Bunratty Woollen Mills before travelling through Limerick and along the Shannon Estuary to Foynes to visit the Flying Boat Museum. During the 1930′s and early 1940′s, this was the landing place for Pan Am Clippers from the United States and Europe. The museum recalls the early days of aviation. Arrive in Killarney, check in to your hotel and relax before dinner. (B, D)

Day 8 – Sat: Ring of Kerry & Skellig Experience

Take a drive around the Ring of Kerry where every bend in 100 miles of road reveals breathtaking views. Stop at Kells to meet a local farmer, Brendan Ferris, for a taste of farm life with a sheepdog demonstration of herding flocks. At the tip of the peninsula visit the Skellig Experience, which explains the history, flora and fauna on the nearby rocky islands. Return through the attractive village of Sneem and pause at Moll’s Gap for panoramic views of Killarney and its lakes. You might like to take a stroll around Killarney before dinner. (B, D)

Day 9 – Sun: Blarney & Clontarf Castle Hotel

Drive through County Cork to the Blarney Woollen Mills where quality Irish-made products are gathered under one roof. If you wish, you may climb Blarney Castle independently to kiss the famous stone. Drive north to visit the stately Rock of Cashel, a limestone outcrop containing 12th century church ruins. Continue to Dublin once more and check in to Clontarf Castle, a luxurious haven located a short distance from the city centre. The castle dates back to 1172 and today offers guests all the splendour of a royal experience. Enjoy a special farewell dinner in the hotel’s old-world dining room. (B, D)

Day 10 – Mon: Tour Ends at Dublin Airport

Complimentary group transfers are provided to Dublin Airport to arrive at 6:00 am, 9:00 am or 12:00 noon to check in for your flight home. (B)

B=Breakfast, D=Dinner

Dates and Prices for 2011

Dates and Prices for 2012

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Accommodation rating Represents the standard of hotel used most frequently throughout this tour

Extras Represents the individual operators suggested budget to pay for additional activities on tour (dinners,entertainment,excursions etc) NOT included in base tour price

Hotel legend:
D deluxe | SF superior first | F first | MF moderate first | ST superior tourist | T Tourist