12 Day Explore Ireland Small Group Tour

Welcome to Dublin! Make your way to your hotel which is within walking distance from the city centre. You are free to explore the city at your leisure this afternoon. Tonight, dinner will be served at your hotel.

Check-in & arrival information:

A taxi or Uber from Dublin airport to your accommodation costs approximately EUR 30 to EUR 50 per car. Hotel check in is at 2pm. Should you arrive earlier than this, hotel staff will do all possible to check you in as soon as possible. If your room is not available before check-in time, you are welcome to leave your luggage in storage and explore the surrounding area.

Today, meet with your coach & English speaking driver/guide & depart Ireland’s Capital traveling to County Kerry. En route, stop in the town of Blarney to visit Blarney Castle. Here you will find the legendary Stone of Eloquence. Kiss it & you’ll never again be lost for words. Enjoy some time for shopping at Blarney Woollen Mills. The presence of the Woollen Mills during the famine shielded Blarney from the worst effects of the famine, due to its employment of local workers. In 1976 Chris Kelleher, himself a mill worker, bought the old mill property. Within a short period of time Chris & his family transformed the mill into what is perhaps the largest quality craft shop in Ireland.

Today, you can enjoy a superb tour of the Iveragh Peninsula, which will give you the opportunity to discover the Ring of Kerry. Taking in spectacular scenery such as mountains, peat, bogs, lakes and magnificent views of the Atlantic Ocean. Leaving Killarney pass through Killorglin, famous for its Puck Fair, then to Glenbeigh where the cliff road affords panoramic views of the Dingle Peninsula & Dingle Bay. Passing through the peat bogs one arrives at the sea town of Waterville.

Continue to Sneem Village, famous for its brightly coloured houses, before arriving back in Killarney. Along the Ring of Kerry stop at a local farm for a sheepdog demonstration. Your visit starts with an overview of the different breeds of sheep, followed by an introduction to the farmer’s most important tools, his border collies. Next you will see a superb demonstration of sheep herding as the farmer with his dogs demonstrate how, by working together, he can take a flock of sheep from the mountain top to the sheep pen close to the farmyard.

Optional Activity: Jaunting car ride in Killarney National Park.

Enjoy transportation of a different kind! A pony and trap (also known as a Jaunting Car) helps you discover areas of Killarney National Park that you might not otherwise visit.

Today, enjoy dinner on your own in one of the many restaurants or pubs in Killarney town.

Travel northwards to Tarbert & take a short boat ride across the mouth of the River Shannon to land on Clare’s shore at Killimer. Travel along the coast to the Cliffs of Moher, the most majestic cliffs in Ireland which rise from the Atlantic Ocean & extend for over 7km. On a clear day, you can admire the Aran Islands & Connemara Mountains. Enjoy a tour of the Burren Region. The Burren is a strange & unique region in Europe; it is a high plateau of porous limestone situated in Northern Clare.

Tonight, enjoy a Medieval Banquet at Bunratty Castle. Bunratty Castle was built in the 15th century by the Earl of Thomond and stands on the banks of the Raite River in County Clare. The Earl was known for his generosity and his lavish entertainment and banquets. The entertainment today is provided by the superb Bunratty Singers & is a fitting compliment to the lively mead reception, a four-course meal and of course good wine.

This morning, travel to Galway City & get oriented with this beautiful place which has attracted many musicians & artists. Visit Galway Cathedral, one of the largest & most impressive buildings in Galway built between 1958 & 1965. Next enjoy a cruise along Lough Corrib including scones & an Irish coffee. This journey on the Corrib Princess takes passengers along the majestic Lough Corrib and onto the lake. Visitors will see unsurpassed views of the historic monuments & natural amenities that make this one of the most spectacular waterways in Ireland.

Today travel through the beautiful Connemara Region filled with lakes, rivers, bogs & mountains. Visit Kylemore Abbey, built in 1868 by Mitchell Henry, and see its most famous feature the miniature Cathedral. It has been home to the Irish order of Benedictine nuns since 1920. Next you will visit a bodhrán maker (traditional Irish drum). Roundstone Music and Crafts is located in a former Franciscan monastery in Roundstone, in the heart of Connemara. It is here that you will find the workshop of Malachy Kearns, better known as Malachy Bodhrán, who is famous for the manufacture of bodhráns, the oldest instruments that accompany traditional Irish music. Malachy makes bodhráns for the world famous Riverdance troupe and he is currently the only full-time bodhrán maker in Ireland.

Today travel to Donegal via County Sligo. See the beautiful scenery which was an inspiration for W.B. Yeats, who is buried at Drumcliffe Churchyard, under loaf-shaped Benbulben Mountain.

Visit the Belleek Pottery Factory & see first-hand how this world renowned pottery is created. The factory tour allows visitors to see the pottery being removed from its moulds, being fired & decorated by the Belleek artists. Continue on to Derry City. Upon arrival meet with your English speaking guide & enjoy a walking tour of the Walled City of Derry. Founded in the 6th century by St. Columba, Derry is the 2nd largest city & port of Northern Ireland. In 1613 the city was selected as a major plantation project, organised by the London livery companies. It was in this year that the walls of Derry were built to protect the town from the Gaelic chieftains in Donegal.

This morning, depart Donegal and travel along the Antrim coast to Belfast, visiting the Giants Causeway en route. The Causeway was formed more than 60 million years ago when red-hot lava erupted onto the surface of the earth & was cooled by the sea to form the columns which make up the Giants Causeway. Legend tells a different story however that Finn Mac Cumhaill built the causeway over the sea to Scotland in order to fight his arch enemy, Fingal, who had started his own path. The two had never met before & when Finn heard the heavy footsteps of Fingal he turned back. Helped by his wife, Finn dressed up as a baby & when Fingal arrived & saw Finn, Fingal assumed the baby’s father would be much bigger. This scared him & he went running home, destroying the causeway behind him.

Next, stop at the Dark Hedges. This beautiful avenue of beech trees was planted by the Stuart family in the eighteenth century. It was intended as a compelling landscape feature to impress visitors as they approached the entrance to their Georgian mansion, Gracehill House. Two centuries later, the trees remain a magnificent sight and have become one of the most photographed natural phenomena in Northern Ireland. In fact, the iconic trees have been used as a filming location in HBO's epic series Game of Thrones®, representing the Kingsroad. Continue to Belfast and check into your hotel.

This morning, enjoy a guided tour of Belfast City. This is an excellent way to discover Belfast City & will take in the leaning Albert Memorial Clock Tower (Ireland’s answer to the leaning Tower of Pisa) & the Opera House, as well as passing City Hall, the Crown Bar (dating from 1885), Queens University & the Botanic Gardens. You will also visit the Harland & Wolfe Shipyard, where the Titanic was built & launched in 1912. A visit to the Shankill & Falls road will be of interest as it will give the visitor an indication of how life was in Belfast during “The Troubles”.

Visit the Titanic Experience Belfast. Located in the heart of Belfast, the Titanic Belfast recreates the story of the world’s most famous ship in a new iconic, six floor building right beside the historic site of the original ship’s construction. Highlights include views of the slipways where the Titanic was launched & the voyage to the bottom of the sea in the unique Ocean Exploration Centre. Enjoy the afternoon at your leisure in Belfast City.

This morning, depart Belfast and travel to Dublin. En route visit Slane Distillery. There could be no finer setting in which to discover the nature of whiskey than Ireland’s mythical Boyne Valley. Housed within the 250-year-old stables of the iconic Slane Castle Estate, the guided distillery tour uncovers a history like no other. The new state of the art working distillery pays homage to the resilient nature of Ireland's heritage. Complete the interactive, immersive tour with a tutored whiskey tasting that allows one to assess this character for yourself by enjoying a sample of the signature triple casked blend, Slane Irish Whiskey. Continue on to Dublin.

Tonight, enjoy an evening entertainment at Taylor’s Three Rock. Visit this lively pub in Rathfarnham for an excellent night of music and dance.

After breakfast, enjoy an orientation tour of the city with your English speaking guide. Includes sites such as the GPO, O’Connell Street, Phoenix Park, Merrion Square and Grafton Street. Visit EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum. This is a state-of-the-art interactive experience located in the beautiful vaults of the 1820 Custom House Quarter building in Dublin’s Docklands, the original departure point for so many of Ireland’s emigrants. Enjoy the rest of the afternoon at your leisure or choose from one of the below three options.

Optional Activities:

• Visit the Guinness Storehouse
  
• Visit Trinity College & Book of Kells
  
• Visit Christ Church Cathedral

After a final Irish breakfast, transfer to Dublin Airport for your departure flight home under own arrangements.