9 Day Legends of Ireland

Tour Highlights

• Dinner & traditional Irish entertainment at Taylor’s Three Rock Pub
• Kiss the Blarney Stone
• Dingle Peninsula
• Cliffs of Moher
• Aran Islands & Dun Aengus
• Strokestown Famine Museum
• Dunboyne Castle Farewell Dinner

Your Hotels

Stay at the following (or similar):

• Royal Marine Hotel, Dun Laoghaire, Dublin (2 nights)
• Ormonde Hotel, Kilkenny (1 night)
• Killarney Towers Hotel, Killarney (2 nights)
• Salthill Hotel, Galway (2 nights)
• Dunboyne Castle Hotel, Dunboyne (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 8 nights
• 8 full Irish breakfasts (B)
• 7 dinners (D) including
• Traditional Irish evening with dinner and entertainment at Taylor’s Three Rock Pub
• Farewell dinner with entertainment at Dunboyne Castle Hotel
• 5 table d’hote dinners
• Welcome get-together drink
• Tour of Dublin with a local guide
• “Titanic” walking tour of Cobh
• Day tour to Inis Mor, largest of the three Aran Islands (Apr 14 – Oct 20 departures) or Connemara tour with a “Quiet Man” walking tour of Cong
• Visits and admissions to Kilmainham Gaol, Boyne Valley Visitor Centre & Newgrange or Knowth Tomb, Irish National Stud & Japanese Gardens, Nicholas Mosse Pottery, Blarney Castle, Blarney Woollen Mills, Blasket Centre, Foynes Flying Boat Museum, Cliffs of Moher, Dun Aengus Fort, Aran Heritage Centre and Strokestown Park House & Famine Museum
• Deluxe flight bag, ticket wallet, luggage tags & strap
• All local taxes, hotel service charges & porterage for one suitcase per person

Itinerary

Day 1 – Fri: Dublin Tour & Kilmainham Gaol

Arrive at Dublin Airport, reclaim your baggage and 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. Passengers arriving later will transfer to the hotel at their own expense. At 2:00 pm a local tour guide will introduce you to Dublin’s River Liffey, wide O’Connell Street, tranquil St. Stephen’s Green, the Irish Famine Memorial, Leinster House and other public buildings. See some of the elegant Georgian houses for which the city is famous and visit Kilmainham Gaol to understand the penal system in times past. See where many of Ireland’s leaders, including Robert Emmett, Eamon DeValera and Padraig Pearse, were imprisoned while striving to create an independent nation. Enjoy a welcome get-together drink with your fellow travellers and discuss your itinerary.

Day 2 – Sat: Megalithic Tombs & Taylor’s Three Rock

This morning drive north of Dublin to 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. Return to Dublin where the afternoon is at leisure. You may use your voucher for an open-top bus tour with a visit to Guinness or Jameson. In the evening drive to Taylor’s Three Rock Pub. Enjoy a dinner with Irish specialties and then sit back with an Irish coffee to watch a lively show with Irish music, songs and step-dancing. (B, D)

Day 3 – Sun: National Stud & Medieval Kilkenny

Depart Dublin this morning and travel to Kildare for a visit to the Irish National Stud & Japanese Gardens. As a nation, the Irish are very interested in horses and the Stud will tell you about the valuable breeding industry. See some of the magnificent horses before walking around the delightful Japanese Gardens, established a century ago. Drive south to visit Nicholas Mosse Pottery to watch potters create charming pieces inspired by the Irish countryside. Continue to Kilkenny, a medieval city where narrow streets still follow the ancient layout but are lined with attractive stores and restaurants. Check in to your centrally-located hotel and then you may like to explore this compact city centre on your own before dinner. (B, D)

Day 4 – Mon: Titanic Tour & Blarney Castle

Travel south pausing for photos at the Rock of Cashel, a collection of magnificent ruins perched on a rocky outcrop and continue to Cobh. Take a “Titanic” walking tour to discover places, including the docks, associated with the famous liner, which made its last scheduled stop here. Drive to Blarney to climb the ramparts of Blarney Castle and gain the “Gift of Eloquence.” You may visit the Blarney Woollen Mills, which offer excellent Irish-made products. Drive through Macroom to Killarney and check in to your hotel in the centre of town. (B, D)

Day 5 – Tue: Dingle Peninsula Tour

Today discover the glorious Dingle Peninsula, made famous by two movies that showcased the scenery – “Ryan’s Daughter” and “Far & Away.” Drive along the south shore to admire views of heathery mountains, sandy stretches of beach and rocky headlands. Stop for a while in Dingle before continuing to the Blasket Centre in Dunquin to learn about the offshore Blasket Islands, inhabited until 1953 by hardy families who eked out a living by farming and fishing. Return to Killarney and enjoy free time to take a jaunting car ride or walk around town. After dinner you may like to visit local pubs featuring live music. (B, D)

Day 6 – Wed: Flying Boat Museum & Cliffs of Moher

Drive north through Listowel and along by the River Shannon to Foynes to visit the Flying Boat Museum, which recalls the early days of air travel, during the 1930′s and early 1940′s, when Pan Am Clippers from the United States and Europe landed here. Travel through the outskirts of Limerick and look around Bunratty Village before heading to the coast of County Clare to view the Cliffs of Moher rising to heights of almost 700 feet above the churning Atlantic swells. Walk along the top of the cliffs to O’Brien’s Tower for great views. Drive through the Burren and take a short orientation tour of central Galway before checking in to your hotel, overlooking Galway Bay and the Aran Islands. (B, D)

Day 7 – Thu: Aran Islands & Dun Aengus

Take a short ferry ride from Rossaveal to Inis Mor, the largest of the three Aran Islands (Apr 15 – Oct 21 departures). These rocky islands are renowned for the hardy islanders who maintained traditional fishing and farming methods and where the popular intricately-patterned fishermen’s sweaters originated. The Irish language is still spoken widely. Take a minibus ride to Dun Aengus, a huge pre-historic fortress perched on sheer cliffs, which fall away to the Atlantic below. In Kilronan, the main town, visit the Aran Heritage Centre to learn about unique local customs before returning to the mainland by ferry. Enjoy some leisure time and dine with your group in the hotel once more. For departures outside the dates above, there will be a “Quiet Man” walking tour of Cong and drive around Connemara, stopping in Leenane and Clifden. (B, D)

Day 8 – Fri: Strokestown Park House & Dunboyne Castle

Travel to the centre of Ireland to visit Strokestown Park House in County Roscommon. There are three parts to see – the 18th century mansion with its original furnishings; the four-acre walled garden, restored to look as it would have during the heyday of the estate; and the Famine Museum, which explains the circumstances of the 1840′s Great Irish Famine through a combination of original documents and images. Drive to the village of Dunboyne, on the outskirts of Dublin. Check in to Dunboyne Castle Hotel and relax for a while before enjoying a farewell dinner with entertainment. (B, D)

Day 9 – Sat: Return Home from Dublin

Complimentary group transfers to Dublin Airport are provided to arrive at 6:00 am, 9:00 am or 12:00 noon. After check-in, you’ll have time to shop at the duty-free stores before boarding your flight for the journey home. (B)

B=Breakfast, D=Dinner

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