- 8 days/6 nights/11 meals
- Group transfers on arrival and departure
- Sightseeing by luxury coach throughout
- Services of a professional Irish driver/guide
- Superior first class hotels with private bath/shower for 6 nights
- 6 full Irish breakfasts (B)
- 5 dinners (D) including: Pub dinner with live music in Doolin, Co. Clare, Food, folk and Fairies dinner/show at the Brazen Head Pub, 3 table d'hote dinners
- Welcome get-together drink
- Panoramic tour of Galway
- Ferry ride across the River Shannon
- Tour of Dublin with a local guide
- Visits and admissions to Cliffs of Moher, Burren Display Centre, Muckross House & Gardens, Blasket Experience, Gallarus Oratory, Rock of Cashel and Kilmainham Gaol
- Deluxe flight bag, ticket wallet, luggage tags & strap
- All local taxes, hotel service charges & porterage for one suitcase per person
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Superior First Class Hotels - 8 Day Coach Tour
Get a real flavour and understanding of Irish floklore and enjoy
some craic and music with this tour. At the Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Enirenn
musical evening you will hear some of the best genuine traditional
music still being played.
Day 1: Depart U.S. for Shannon
Travel to Shannon on an overnight flight to start your vacation. Relax with inflight meals and entertainment.
Day 2: Shannon Arrival & Cliffs of Moher
Land at Shannon Airport,
pass through immigration and pick up your luggage. Locate the CIE Tours
desk in the Arrivals Hall where our staff will arrange a group transfer
to your hotel in Limerick.
Complimentary transfers will be offered from Shannon Airport between
7:00 am 10:30 am and 1:00 pm. If your flight arrives later than 1:00
pm, you must transfer to the hotel at your own expense. At 3:00 pm take
a short drive to see the breathtaking Cliffs of Moher. This awesome
wall of rock stretches for miles along the coast and drops to the
Atlantic Ocean. Return to your hotel, which is within easy walking
distance of the Atlantic shoreline and the championship golf course.
Join your driver/guide and fellow travelers to discuss your vacation
over a welcome drink, followed by dinner in the hotel restaurant. You
may like to check out some of the nearby pubs later. (D)
Day 3: Galway City & Folk Music Evening
Travel to the
village of Kilfenora to visit the Burren Display Centre and learn about
the Burren, an area of rounded limestone hills. Drive through the
weathered limestone expanses where many unique wildflowers thrive.
Drive to Ballyvaughan and around Galway Bay and visit the city of
Galway. Take a panoramic drive around Galway's main features, including
the ancient Spanish Arch. Enjoy some time on your own. Galway is a
university city, which gives the streets a cosmopolitan and lively
atmosphere and Shop Street is filled with pubs, restaurants and cafés.
Return to Lahinch and in the evening head to O'Connor's Pub in nearby
Doolin for a fun evening with dinner and traditional folk music. (B, D)
Day 4: Killarney & Dingle Peninsula
Head south to take a
short ferry ride across the River Shannon Estuary to County Kerry,
noted for its wonderful scenery incorporating mountains, lakes and
Atlantic coastline. Stop in Listowel, a picturesque town with a strong
literary heritage. Drive to Killarney to visit 19th century Muckross
House, a furnished mansion on the shores of Muckross Lake. Take a
guided tour to see unique features of the house and find out about
influential owners and visitors. Head to the center of Killarney for
some free time to look around this famous town. Travel via Killorglin
and out along the Dingle Peninsula, passing the long, sandy stretches
of Inch Strand on the way to Dingle. Check into your hotel in the
charming, compact town center. Either before or after dinner, you may
like to take a walk to see colorful fishing trawlers and many fine pubs
where live music is played. (B, D)
Day 5: Dingle's Blasket Centre & Gallarus Oratory
Today
discover the glorious Dingle Peninsula, the backdrop for the movies of
"Ryan's Daughter" and "Far & Away" with Tom Cruise and Nicole
Kidman. Enjoy wonderful scenic views as you drive to the westernmost
tip of the peninsula. Tour the Blasket Centre in Dunquin and learn
about the Blasket Islands, inhabited until 1953 by hardy families who
eked out a living by farming and fishing. Next visit Gallarus Oratory,
dating from the 6th to 9th century, during a time when monasteries were
built in remote areas. This small church, built with corbel vaulting
and no mortar, remains watertight to this day. Enjoy scenic views from
the heights of the Conor Pass before returning to Dingle for some free
time. Your hotel is ideally located for browsing around the town. (B,
D)
Day 6: Rock of Cashel & Dublin
Today drive right across
Ireland from the west coast to the east. Travel through the Golden
Vale, rich dairying country where many cheeses are produced. At Cashel
visit the imposing Rock of Cashel, a huge outcrop which dominates the
surrounding countryside. It was the seat of the kings of Munster and
has associations with Saint Patrick. Its distinctive outline is formed
by a round tower, the huge roofless cathedral and the 12th century
Cormac's Chapel, which is highly decorated in Romanesque style. Drive
into Dublin city, check into your hotel and you are free for dinner
this evening. Your hotel is near the Temple Bar district and Ryan's of
Parkgate Street, one of Dublin's best ornate Victorian pubs, is close
by with a full restaurant as well as pub grub. (B)
Day 7: Kilmainham Gaol & Brazen Head Pub
This morning meet a local guide who will escort you around central Dublin.
See the main streets, parks and public buildings and learn about
Dublin's origins and development through the centuries. 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. This was where many of
Ireland's leaders, including Parnell, Robert Emmett, DeValera and
Padraig Pearse, were imprisoned during the 19th and early 20th
centuries while striving to create an independent nation. Enjoy an
afternoon at leisure and in the evening dine at the Brazen Head Pub,
Dublin's oldest, dating back to 1198 and one of Dublin's best live
music venues. Enjoy an evening of "Food, Folk and Fairies" focusing on
life in Ireland in times past through a varied program of song and
stories. (B, D)
Day 8: Leave Dublin for Home
Complimentary group transfers are provided to Dublin Airport
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 U.S. Immigration
pre-clearance and boarding your flight for the journey home. (B)
B=Breakfast, CB=Continental Breakfast, D=Dinner
Hotels on this tour
- Lahinch Golf and Leisure Hotel, Co Clare(2 nights)
- Dingle Benners Hotel, Co Kerry (2 nights)
- Ashling Hotel, Dublin (2 nights)
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