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Day 1: Dublin Tour & Kilmainham Gaol
Arrive at Dublin Airport, 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 have to make their own way to the hotel. At 2:00 pm a local tour guide will introduce you to Dublin’s River Liffey, the 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: Megalithic Tombs & Abbey Tavern
This morning discover the Boyne Valley. Stop at 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 the Abbey Tavern in Howth. 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: 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 taking a walk around the delightful Japanese Gardens, established a century ago. Continue to Kilkenny, a medieval city where narrow streets still follow the ancient layout but are lined with attractive stores and restaurants. Explore the compact city centre on your own before driving to your country home, meet your host family and settle in. Sit down to a home-style dinner and chat about life in rural Ireland. (B,D)
Day 4: Titanic Tour & Blarney Castle
Travel south, pausing for photos at the Rock of Cashel, a collection of magnificent ruins perched on a rocky outcrop. Continue to Cobh, the main port for emigration from the 18th to mid-20th centuries. Take a “Titanic” walking tour to discover places, including the docks, associated with the famous liner which made its last scheduled stop in Cobh. Take a short drive to Blarney to climb the ramparts of Blarney Castle to gain the “Gift of Eloquence.” If you wish, you may walk around the village green and 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: 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 use the hotel’s leisure facilities or walk around town. After dinner you may like to visit local pubs featuring live music. (B,D)
Day 6: 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 around the shores of Galway Bay. Take a short orientation tour of central Galway before checking in to your hotel. (B,D)
Day 7: Aran Islands & Dun Aengus
Take a short ferry ride from Rossaveal to Inis Mor, the largest of the three Aran Islands. 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. (B,D)
Day 8: 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 your group. (B,D)
Day 9: Depart Dublin
Complimentary group transfers to Dublin Airport are provided to arrive at 6:00 am, 9:00 am or 12:00 noon. End of services. (B)
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