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Irish Legends
Superior & First Class
Hotels/B&Bs: 9 Day Coach Tour
Tour
Highlights:
Dinner & Show at Abbey Tavern
Horse Breeding at National Stud
Kilkenny Country Home Stay
Kiss the Blarney Stone
Scenic Dingle Peninsula Tour
Foynes Flying Boat
Museum
Cliffs of Moher
Aran Islands & Dun Aengus
Fort
Day 1: Dublin Tour & Kilmainham
Gaol
Arrive at Dublin Airport,
reclaim your baggage 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 transfer to the hotel at their own expense. 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: Return Home from Dublin
Complimentary group transfers to Dublin Airport are provided 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 before boarding your flight for the journey home. (B)
Tour
runs 29 March – 25 October 2010
Departs
only on a Monday
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Tour Dates
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Prices
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29 March
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$1795
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5 April > 26 April
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$1960
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3 May > 27 September
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$2235
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4 October > 25
October
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$2045
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Rate
is in Australian dollars per person twin share basis.
Single
supplement $555
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 driver/guide
•
Accommodation with private bath/shower for 8 nights – Superior
& first class hotels in Dublin, Killarney
and Galway; country homes in Kilkenny
• 8 full
Irish breakfasts (B)
• 7 dinners
(D) including:
- Traditional Irish evening with dinner and
entertainment at the Abbey Tavern
- Farewell dinner with entertainment at Dunboyne Castle Hotel
- 1 home-style dinner
- 4 table d’hôte dinners
• Welcome
get-together drink
• Tour of Dublin with a local
guide
•
“Titanic” walking tour of Cobh
• Day tour to
Inis Mor, largest of the
three Aran Islands
• Visits and
admissions to Kilmainham Gaol,
Boyne Valley Visitor Centre & Newgrange or Knowth Tomb, Irish National Stud & Japanese Gardens,
Blarney Castle, Blarney Woollen Mills, Blasket Centre, Foynes Flying
Boat Museum, Cliffs of Moher, Dun Aengus Fort, Aran Heritage
Centre and Strokestown Park House & Famine
Museum
• Deluxe flight bag, ticket
wallet, luggage tags & strap
•
All local taxes, hotel service charges & porterage
for one suitcase per person
YOUR ACCOMMODATIONS
Stay
at the following (or similar):
Ashling Hotel, Dublin (2 nights)
Country
Homes, Kilkenny
(1 night)
Killarney
Avenue Hotel, Killarney (2 nights)
Salthill Hotel, Galway (2 nights)
Dunboyne Castle Hotel, Dunboyne (1 night)
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