Classically Ireland: A Small Group Tour of Ireland

USA – arrive in Dublin
Overnight flight from the US to Dublin. Flight not included.

Day 2
Dublin
Arrive in Dublin Airport from your overnight flight. After clearing customs make your way via taxi (taxi additional costs- taxi stand directly outside) to your hotel, The Camden Court. You will have the rest of the afternoon free to explore Dublin. Some stops may include (but not limited) St. Patrick’s Cathedral, G.P.O., Trinity College (Book of Kells) Guinness Storehouse, Jameson Distillery, St. Stephens Green, and many more. Overnight Radisson Blu Royal Hotel.

Dublin-Cork
We enjoy a traditional Irish breakfast this morning. After breakfast we meet our Driver Guide in the lobby of the hotel @ 9:30AM. We then travel to Cobh a charming waterfront town. We visit the Cobh Heritage Center and learn about Irish emigration story, hear about the ill-fated Titanic and the Lusitania, and immerse yourself in Irish history. While in Cobh we will also visit the Titanic, Experience hosted and created by Mr. Michael Martin. Dinner and Overnight Imperial Hotel Cork.

Cork- Killarney
We enjoy a traditional Irish breakfast this morning. We start our journey with a visit to Blarney Castle home to the blarney stone. They are here, of course, to plant their lips on the Blarney Stone, which supposedly gives one the gift of gab. We then make our way to Killarney. Overnight in Killarney International Hotel.

Killarney-Dingle-Killarney
After breakfast we depart Killarney for the Dingle Peninsula. The journey begins with some of the most magnificent scenery in all of Ireland. We continue to Slea Head. Along the way, we will see beehive style huts, originally inhabited by 12th century monks, which overlook the rugged Blasket Islands. There is no other landscape in western Europe with the density and variety of archaeological monuments as found on the Dingle Peninsula. Dinner and Overnight Killarney International Hotel.

Killarney-Galway
Today after breakfast we may take a tour of Ireland’s stony place – The Burren. Continuing to the Cliffs of Moher are stupefying impressive and staggeringly beautiful. On a clear day you’ll channel Barbra Streisand as you can see forever; the Aran Islands stand etched on the waters of Galway Bay, and beyond lie the hills of Connemara. As you leave the Cliffs, you will travel through the little village of Liscannor and just across the bay, you will see the beautiful seaside village and golfers’ mecca, Lahinch. Dinner and Overnight at Hardiman Hotel Galway.

Connemara Tour
After breakfast we depart and tour the vast Connemara region. Connemara, (Conmaicnemara – the tribe of Cormac by the sea), white sand beaches, dark bogs and tall jagged mountains make this one of the most scenic and unspoiled areas in the country. Wild and rugged, in some places here, Gaelic remains the only spoken language. We travel first to Clifden, (An Clochan). Founded in the early 19th century by John D’Arcy, it retains much of its Georgian architecture. Placed at the head of a broad Atlantic Bay and nestled below the Twelve Bens, the town is blessed by it beautiful setting. Known as the capital of Connemara, Clifden is a lively location full of shops, pubs, restaurants, and cafés. From here travel the Sky Road, an exhilarating circular drive west of Clifden. Return to Galway. Overnight at Hardiman Hotel Galway.

Galway-Dublin
After a hearty Irish breakfast, we leave Galway and make our way to Dublin. Along the way stopping at Clonmacnoise. With a nearby ruined castle for company, the setting is quite sublime at Clonmacnoise – one of Ireland’s holiest and most significant monastic sites. We continue our way to Dublin. Many of the city’s most important sights and museums are here, as is Dublin’s best-loved city park, St Stephen’s Green. Overnight Radisson Blu Hotel.

Day 9
Dublin Airport on own via taxi.