Introduction to Ireland 8 days
Visit Oscar Wilde’s Trinity College in Dublin and the Irish National Stud in Kildare, enjoy an afternoon at Rathbaun Farm and the scenic Ring of Kerry.
Dublin and the scenic best of the Irish Republic await you on this beautiful eight-day journey, a top seller for years.
In Dublin you will enjoy a visit to Oscar Wilde’s Trinity College
as part of guided sightseeing around this vibrant city. A scenic ride through horse-racing country leads you to Limerick, the setting for Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes.
Next, savor the breathtaking views of the Cliffs of Moher 
and the Clare Coast. Enjoy Irish hospitality at Rathbaun Farm before taking a ferry across the Shannon. A panoramic drive takes you around the stunning Ring of Kerry and onto the world famous Waterford Crystal Factory. Ireland’s oldest handweaving milll at Avoca, Glendalough and the scenic Wicklow Mountains conclude your Irish journey. This vacation is good for first-time visitors to Ireland with only a little time.
Included Visits & Attractions
DUBLIN Orientation drive, visit Trinity College; welcome drink
KILDARE Guided tour of the Irish National Stud
LIMERICK Orientation drive
CLIFFS OF MOHER Savor the spectacular views
CONNEMARA Visit a marble factory
RATHBAUN FARM Visit and afternoon tea
SHANNON Cross the estuary by ferry
RING OF KERRY Scenic peninsula drive
BLARNEY Visit the famous woolen mills
WATERFORD Guided tour of Waterford Crystal factory
AVOCA Guided tour of the handweaving mill
GLENDALOUGH Guided tour of St. Kevin’s center of Irish Christianity
Meals Included: 6 Full Irish Breakfasts, 3 three course dinners with choice of menus and coffee, and a welcome drink before dinner at your hotel in Dublin.
Priced from just $919 per person, this tour is an affordable, first class introduction to Ireland.
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Day 1 Board your overnight transatlantic flight.
Day 2 Arrival in Dublin, Ireland. Check into your hotel. At 3 p.m. 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. Before dinner join your tour director for a toast to happy touring with a congenial group. (D)
Day 3 Dublin-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 to see on the way to Newmarket: the Rock of Cashel where St. Patrick preached; Tipperary, made famous in a wartime marching song; finally 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 medieval banquet at Bunratty Castle. (FB)
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. Call at a MARBLE FACTORY, then a taste of Connemara in the region where The Quiet Man was filmed. 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. (FB)
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, the setting for Ryan’s Daughter, 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. (FB,D)
Day 6 Killarney-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. 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? (FB,D)
Day 7 Waterford-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. Your tour director will have suggestions for your last evening back in Dublin. (FB)
Day 8 Your homebound flight arrives the same day. (FB)
StandardTour Features
Meals
6 full Irish breakfasts (FB); 3 three-course dinners (D) with choice of menus and coffee; welcome drink before dinner at your Dublin hotel on day 2
Notes
1120 Thanksgiving week; Departure 1228 – special dinner with wine and New Year’s Eve celebrations at the hotel in Killarney
Scenic Highlights
Rock of Cashel, the Burren and Cliffs of Moher, Connemara, Ring of Kerry and the Lakes of Killarney, Wicklow Mountains
