Wednesday 11th September – Saturday 21st September 2024
Arriving in Ireland today, a private transfer will pick you up from the airport and whisk you into the city to your boutique hotel in the city centre.
Head out in the afternoon to enjoy a walking tour with a local private guide through this vibrant capital city, with its mix of 1,000 years of architecture from the mediaeval to Georgian to modern. See the Georgian style Merrion Square, lush St. Stephen’s Green and Fitzwilliam Square, as well as O’Connell Street, the site of the ‘1916 Uprising’ that led to Ireland’s independence in 1922. Your guide is also a historian who will bring the city to life with colourful tales of life in the city in times gone by.
Overnight: Dublin | The Merrion Hotel
Room Type: Deluxe King
Meals Included: None
Your walking tour will have given you plenty of ideas for things to do today as you explore the city solo. Alternatively we may be able to arrange a private tour of the Irish Jewish Museum. This museum, entirely run by volunteers from Ireland’s Jewish community, preserves an important, though small, part of Ireland’s cultural and historic heritage. Explore a substantial collection of memorabilia relating to the Irish Jewish communities and their various associations and contributions to present day Ireland.
Overnight: Dublin | The Merrion Hotel
Meals Included: Breakfast
Heading east, take your time travelling through Ireland’s hidden heartlands. Stop and visit the Rock of Cashel, one of Ireland’s most iconic collections of medieval buildings. Perched on a precipice of limestone in the Golden Vale, it offers over 1,000 years of fascinating history and folklore. Later, visit Cashel Farmhouse Cheesemakers and enjoy a private tour and tasting of the famously delicious blue cheese. Created in the 1980s, it’s still made on the same 200 acre farm, rich in the green grass of Tipperary. Tonight, as the sun sinks behind the hills, relax in your charming hotel.
Overnight: Kenmare | Sheen Falls Lodge
Room Type: Superior Deluxe
Meals Included: Breakfast and Lunch
After a leisurely breakfast, head north into Killarney National Park – the jewel in the county’s crown. Joined by your guide, head out onto Killarney’s famous lakes by boat, relaxing with a picnic lunch and soaking up the beautiful views. Later this afternoon, visit Ross Castle and hear about the legend of O’Donoghue and his snow-white horse. Return to your charming accommodation this evening, sitting down to a delicious, locally sourced dinner.
Overnight: Kenmare | Sheen Falls Lodge
Room Type: Superior Deluxe
Meals Included: Breakfast and Lunch
Together with your guide you will set out on another day’s exploration of Kerry. This time you will explore some of the famous Ring of Kerry. However, we will head away from the usual tourist track and introduce you to a local forager. Together enjoy a stroll along a hidden beach, where you will be regaled with the region’s folklore and stories of life on Ireland’s wild west coast. This evening you will head into bustling Kenmare for dinner and the chance, should you wish, to head into a local pub for a pint.
Overnight: Kenmare | Sheen Falls Lodge
Room Type: Superior Deluxe
Meals Included: Breakfast and Lunch
Transferring north today you will stop at the pretty village of Adare en route. You have the chance to explore the pretty, cottage-lined streets and some of the historic abbeys and churches that the town is known for. Onwards to your hotel in the heart of The Burren. Here you will spend the late afternoon relaxing and exploring the grounds of your hotel- we recommend paying a visit to their friendly donkeys.
Overnight: Ballyvaughan | Gregans Castle
Room Type: Junior Suite
Meals Included: Breakfast and Lunch
This morning, head out to explore the fascinating Burren landscape – fissured plateaus of limestone and shale, vast in their captivating and barren beauty. Accompanied by your guide, wind your way over the stark rocky terrain, past prehistoric tombs and through wildflower grasslands. Later, visit the striking Cliffs of Moher, absorbing their majesty in a quiet, secluded spot away from the crowds. Home to thousands of seabirds, including razorbills, fulmars and puffins, the cliffs are alive with activity above the crashing waves far below. This evening, return to your luxury hotel retreat for a drink or two by the crackling fire.
Overnight: Ballyvaughan | Gregans Castle
Room Type: Junior Suite
Meals Included: Breakfast and Lunch
Galway is the capital of Ireland’s west. Known as the ‘town of the tribes’ the small centre of cobblestone streets and colourful store fronts is vibrant, fun and cosmopolitan. A local military historian will meet you at the city’s main square to guide you through the bustling alleys sharing Galway City’s important roles in the clash of the French, Spanish, Russian and British Empires from 1700 to 1922, including in Ireland’s revolution for independence.
You will spend this evening in one of the west’s finest castle hotel, a Relais & Chateaux property situated on the banks of the Owenmore River overlooking the Twelve Bens Mountains
Overnight: Connemmara | Ballynahinch Castle Hotel
Room Type: Luxury
Meals Included: Breakfast and Lunch
The hills and mountains of Connemara are defined by the ocean surrounding, and this is particularly evident at the beautiful Killary Fjord. This morning enjoy a visit to a working sheep farm. While you watch the brilliant sheepdogs work the flock, chat to the local farmer about a life spent on the rugged west coast. Tonight, arrive at your cosy hotel and enjoy a delicious dinner inspired by the seasons. After, your guide will lead you on a short hike along the shores along the fjord, delving into Irish history at a famine-era abandoned village and bringing to life the rich and ancient histories of the landscape.
Head into town this evening for a traditional music session in a local pub.
Overnight: Connemmara | Ballynahinch Castle Hotel
Room Type: Luxury
Meals Included: Breakfast and Lunch
Today you bit farewell to Ireland’s west. We will stop at at the ancient monastic site of Clonmacnoise. St Ciarán founded his monastery on the banks of the River Shannon in the 6th Century. The monastery flourished and became a great seat of learning, a University of its time with students from all over Europe. Today the ruins include a Cathedral, two round towers, three high crosses, nine Churches and over 700 Early Christian grave slabs.
You will spend your final night in Ireland at one of the country’s most magnificent hotels, the impeccably restored Ballyfin Demesne. Take a step back in time as you enjoy old world grandeur in this incredible property that has been listed as one of the best in the world.
Overnight: Ballyfin | Ballyfin Demesne
Room Type: Deluxe
Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
This morning, you will be transferred by private car back to Dublin or Shannon Airport in time for your return flights.
Meals Included: Breakfast
The price, excluding commission, of this trip is €12,300 per person sharing and is based on availability at the time of booking.
Wednesday 11th September – Saturday 21st September 2024