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Tour Code: GR
Tour Length: 8 days
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INTRODUCTION TO IRELAND
Day 1 - Board your overnight transatlantic flight. Day 2 - Arrival in Dublin, Ireland. Check into your hotel. At 3 pm, meet your Tour Director and traveling companions for an afternoon orientation drive through statue-lined O - Connell Street, elegant Georgian squares, and past St. Patrick's Cathedral. Visit Oscar Wilde's TRINITY COLLEGE, famous for the 1,200-year-old Book of Kells and the magnificent Old Library. Tonight, enjoy a welcome dinner at your hotel. (D) Day 3 - Dublin - Kildare - Limerick - Ennis. Horse-racing country this morning. Drive across the Curragh to visit the IRISH NATIONAL STUD at Kildare, whose fine thoroughbreds command respect on the racecourses of the world. Lots more to see: the Rock of Cashel where St. Patrick preached; Tipperary, made famous in a wartime marching song; and Limerick, where an orientation drive acquaints you with St. Mary's Cathedral, King John's Castle, and the Stone where the Treaty of Limerick was signed in 1691. Tonight's suggestion for a very special night out: attend an optional banquet at Bunratty Castle. (B) Day 4 - Ennis. West Coast Excursion. Your day excursion along Ireland's spectacular Atlantic coastline begins with a drive to the 668-foot CLIFFS OF MOHER, where you savor the breathtaking panorama of the Clare coast. A scenic route across the limestone plateau of The Burren takes you to GALWAY, a vibrant city with a great seafaring tradition where you hear about the infamous Lynch Stone, commemorating the day Mayor James Lynch Fitzstephen hanged his son for murder. Drive into the unspoiled region of Connemara and at Moycullen, visit a MARBLE FACTORY. This afternoon a special treat: at RATHBAUN FARM watch the farmer shear a sheep and maneuver a flock with the help of a sheep dog. Then enjoy a traditional tea in the 150-year-old thatched farmhouse. (B) Day 5 - Ennis - Ring of Kerry - Killarney. After a short drive via Clonderlaw Bay to Killimer, cross the Shannon estuary by FERRY. Continue on to Killorglin on Dingle Bay to join the spectacular RING OF KERRY for a 100-mile panoramic drive around the island's southwestern tip. Take your photos of the Lakes of Killarney from Ladies View, then spend the night in the popular resort of Killarney. (B,D) Day 6 - Killarney - Blarney - Waterford. Across the Kerry Mountains and through County Cork to Blarney, renowned for its magical Stone of Eloquence. Time for lunch, to walk up to the castle, and to shop for traditional Irish handicrafts at the famous WOOLEN MILLS. In the afternoon, proceed via Cork to Waterford, a stronghold founded by the Danish Vikings, and look forward to a visit to the world-famous WATERFORD CRYSTAL FACTORY. Before dinner, why not join an optional pub tour" (B,D) Day 7 - Waterford - Avoca - Dublin. An exciting agenda today: Enniscorthy, site of the final battle of the Great Rebellion of 1798; Ireland's oldest HANDWEAVING MILL at Avoca; the Wicklow Mountains; the Glendalough VISITOR CENTER with its fascinating audiovisual show Ireland of the Monasteries, and its ruins of a center of Irish Christianity founded by St. Kevin. Back in Dublin tonight, your Tour Director will have recommendations for a fitting farewell to Ireland. (B) Day 8 - Your homebound flight arrives the same day. (B) |
