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Irish Heritage
7 or 8 Day Coach Tour
Tour
Highlights:
Medieval Banquet at 15th Century Bunratty Castle
Merry Ploughboy Pub Dinner & Show
Cliffs of Moher
Ring of Kerry Tour
Foynes Flying Boat Museum & Irish Coffee-Making
Historic Kilmainham Gaol
Day 1: Bunratty
& Medieval Banquet
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
nearby hotel. Complimentary transfers are available between 7:00 am and 12:00
noon. If your flight arrives later than 12:00 noon, transfer to the hotel at
your own expense. This afternoon you are at leisure to rest after your
journey or take a stroll on your own through Bunratty Folk Park,
which is located close to your hotel. Join your fellow travellers
for a welcome
drink before heading to the 15th century Bunratty Castle
for a medieval-style dinner and entertainment. (D)
Day 2: Cliffs of Moher
& Irish Coffee
Drive west through Ennis and Lahinch to see the Cliffs of Moher,
which rise almost 700 feet above the pounding Atlantic surf. Then cross the
wide River Shannon Estuary on a short ferry ride to Tarbert
and travel and along river shore to Foynes. Visit
the Flying Boat Museum,
which recalls the early days of air travel, during the 1930’s and early
1940’s. Irish coffee was first created here to warm frozen, weary travellers and you will learn how to make a perfect one
and then drink it. Drive south to Killarney, a world-famous town due to its
exquisite location beside lakes and mountains. Check in to your hotel in the
town centre and enjoy free time before dinner. (B,D)
Day 3: Killarney & Ring of Kerry
Tour
Embark on Ireland’s most popular
scenic drive - the Ring of Kerry. This circular tour will reveal
constantly-changing vistas of mountains, open Atlantic
Ocean, beaches and cliffs. As you travel, enjoy plenty of breaks
to admire the natural beauty. Stop at Kells to meet
a local farmer, Brendan
Ferris, for a taste of farm life with a sheepdog demonstration
of herding flocks and see different breeds of sheep. Cross to Valencia Island by bridge to visit the Skellig Experience.
Learn about early Christian monks who created a community on the rocky
offshore islands and about the prolific bird life today. Continue your drive
to Waterville, where Charlie Chaplin loved to
holiday, and the colourful village of Sneem. Stop at Moll’s
Gap to view the Three Lakes of Killarney with mountains all around before
returning to Killarney. (B,D)
Day 4: Blarney & Cobh Heritage
Centre
Depart Killarney and travel through Macroom to Blarney. Stop
at the Blarney Woollen Mills for quality Irish-made goods.
If you feel energetic you may climb the steps of Blarney Castle
to kiss the fabled “Stone of Eloquence” on your own. Bypass Cork city as you drive to the port town of Cobh. Visit the Cobh Heritage Centre,
which traces the history of emigration from Ireland
to the United States.
Learn about travel conditions for the many Irish emigrants on early sailing
ships and steam vessels. Follow the coastal route via the town of Youghal to Waterford for dinner and an overnight stay.
This evening take a gentle walk with a local historian who will reveal Waterford’s Viking
and medieval past. (B,D)
Day 5: National Stud & Merry
Ploughboy Pub
Travel north to Kilkenny
with its intriguing medieval streets and buildings. Stop for a stroll through
the narrow streets and view the massive castle from its rose gardens.
Continue to the National
Stud to see some of Ireland’s finest horses and
learn about breeding techniques. Also take a walk around the Japanese Gardens, laid out to
represent life from the cradle to the grave. Drive to your next hotel, an
elegant Victorian mansion, which overlooks Dublin
Bay and Dun Laoghaire Harbour. Dine on Irish
specialties at the Merry
Ploughboy Pub, followed by a lively show of traditional Irish
songs and intricate step-dancing. (B,D)
Day 6: Dublin Tour & Kilmainham
Gaol
Relax on a half-day guided tour of Dublin, originally
founded by Vikings over 1,000 years ago. See elegant Georgian townhouses and colourful doors and cross the River Liffey
to view the wide thoroughfare of O’Connell
Street with the General Post Office where the
1916 Rebellion started. Pause to view the gaunt figures at the Famine Memorial before
visiting Kilmainham Gaol
to see how penal establishments were operated in past centuries. Learn about
the leaders of the 1916 Rebellion who were imprisoned and shot here, changing
Irish history. The afternoon is free so that you may use your independent open-top
bus tour and Guinness or Jameson vouchers. Dine on your own
this evening. (B)
Day 7: Depart for Home or Clonmacnoise
& Galway Bay
For clients on our 7 day Holiday,
your tour ends today with a group coach transfer to Dublin Airport.
Lucky clients on the 8 day program will leave Dublin
and journey across the rolling pastures of Ireland’s heartland to
visit Clonmacnoise. This monastic settlement was
founded in 545 AD by St. Ciaran and is set on the
banks of the tranquil River Shannon. Drive to Galway and check in to your
hotel before heading out to take a look around Galway city and get a taste
for the scenic Connemara region. Travel
along the shores of Galway Bay with views of the Burren
and the Aran Islands.
(B,D)
Day 8: Homeward from Shannon
Bid farewell to Galway and take a
group transfer to Shannon
Airport where your tour
concludes at 10:30 am. Check in for your flight in good time and you may like
to shop at the duty-free shops. If you need to arrive at Shannon Airport
before 10:30 am, your tour director will coordinate an early group transfer
once you are on tour. When booking your flights home, it is important to
remember that Galway is 60 miles from Shannon
and the drive takes 1½ hours. Do not spoil your last night in Ireland
by booking too early a flight. (B)
Tours run
February – December
Tour operates on a Saturday
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Tour Dates
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Prices
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Feb 27
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$1585
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Mar 6 > March 27
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$1635
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April 3 > April 24
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$1765
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May 1 > Sept 25
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$2040
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Oct 2 > Oct 23
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$1935
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Oct 30 > December 4
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$1605
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Rates are in Australian dollars per person twin
share basis
Single supplement $500
To add an additional day to your tour add $253 p.p.
twin share or add $70 to the single supplement rate.
YOUR
TOUR INCLUDES
• Group
transfers on arrival and departure
• Sightseeing
by luxury coach throughout
• Dublin open-top bus tour
• Visit and a
drink at Guinness Storehouse or Old Jameson Distillery
• Services of
a professional Irish tour director
• Deluxe
& superior first class hotels with private bath/shower for 6 or 7 nights
• Full Irish
breakfast daily (B)
• All dinners
(D) except 1 in Dublin
including:
- Medieval banquet and entertainment in Bunratty
Castle
- Dinner and traditional Irish
entertainment at the Merry Ploughboy Pub
- 3 or 4 table d’hôte dinners
• Welcome
get-together drink
• Ferry ride
across the River Shannon
• Foynes
Flying Boat
Museum & an Irish
Coffee
• Sheepdog
trials on Ring of Kerry
• Walking
tour of Waterford
• Visits and
admissions to Cliffs of Moher, Skellig
Experience, Blarney Woollen Mills, Cobh Heritage
Centre, Irish National Stud & Japanese Gardens, Kilmainham
Gaol and Clonmacnoise
(8 day version only)
• Deluxe flight bag, ticket
wallet, luggage tags & strap
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All local taxes, hotel service charges & porterage
for one suitcase per person
YOUR HOTELS
Stay
at the following (or similar):
Bunratty Castle Hotel, Bunratty (1 night)
Killarney
Plaza Hotel, Killarney (2 nights)
Granville
Hotel, Waterford
(1 night)
Royal
Marine Hotel, Dun Laoghaire, Dublin (2 nights)
Hotel
Meyrick, Galway (1 night – 8-day tour only)
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