Ireland Dublin and the Emerald Isle - Itinerary
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Day 1: Arrivals, Historical Walking Tour of Dublin, Welcome Dinner Cead mile failte! After a private transfer from the airport and checking into your upscale hotel in the center of Dublin, our Irish adventure will start with a welcome drink at 3:00PM, before our historian led walking tour of Dublin, featuring not only the city's historical architecture , but also the literary legends and the history of the Irish people. Afterwards, we will enjoy a leisurely welcome dinner, where we'll have a chance to get to know each other and talk about our upcoming Irish adventure. We may decide to end the evening by experiencing a quintessential part of Irish culture: a pub crawl in the Temple Bar area where each pub is a monument to Irish music and a shrine to the Irish spirit and craic. Day 2: Powerscourt Manor, Glendalough, Irish Storytelling Today, we'll travel south from Dublin, traversing the mesmerizing County Wicklow, known as "the Garden of Ireland" and the imposing Wicklow Mountains. Our first stop will be the Powerscourt Manor and Gardens, where we'll tour this magnificent Palladian-style country estate. Afterwards, we'll continue to Glendalough, an isolated 5th century monastery founded by St. Kevin. The historical significance of this monastic site competes with its sheer beauty and its setting around two dark lakes, surrounded by brooding forests and shrouded by mists. After returning to Dublin, we will end our day with a dinner accompanied by Irish storytelling and traditional Irish music. Day 3: Newgrange, Afternoon Tea, Irish Dancing After a full Irish breakfast, we'll venture outside of the city into the green, peaceful Valley of the Boyne and visit the ancient burial mounds of Newgrange and Knowth, the sacred prehistoric sites devoted to a Sun God ritual and one of the archaeological wonders of western Europe, dating to 3200 B.C. We'll return to Dublin in the afternoon, and enjoy a traditional Irish Afternoon Tea at a historic Irish restaurant, followed in the evening by an Irish dancing performance, a dynamic production of traditional Irish song and dance. Day 4: Dublin to Killarney via Rock of Cashel In the morning, we'll leave Dublin and travel towards the west coast, through the legendary Irish countryside lit by shafts of sunlight and frequent rainbows and dotted with ruined castles, prehistoric monuments and lovingly restored manor houses. We'll stop at the Rock of Cashel, the most historic and evocative sight in Ireland, once the seat of the ancient Munster kings, where St. Patrick baptized King Aengus in the year 450 AD. In the afternoon, we'll arrive at Killarney's Dunloe Castle Hotel & Resort overlooking the Gap of Dunloe. The afternoon will be free to enjoy the hotel's gardens, indulge in horse riding or just take a walk through the picturesque area around the hotel, before a gourmet Irish dinner. Day 5: Muckross House and Gardens, Killarney National Park Today, we'll spend the full day exploring the Killarney National Park, with its magnificent scenery, bathed in translucent light and in shimmering mists. We'll start the day with a visit to the Victorian Muckross House and Gardens set against an iridescent, mysterious backdrop, then we'll explore the three Killarney Lakes by boat and on foot, stop for tea at Dinnis Cottage, and take in the imposing sight of Ross Castle. When we tire of the sights, we'll retreat to our hotel to enjoy the spa or the complimentary horse riding, take a stroll in the gardens, relax on the terrace overlooking the mountains or in the lively pub before a leisurely dinner at the hotel's intimate restaurant. Day 6: Dingle Peninsula Today's adventures will feature the breathtaking coastal scenery of the Dingle Peninsula. The area is not only the most visually spectacular in Ireland, but also shrouded in myth and legends, rich in history and literature and with a very distinct personality. In the morning, we'll drive along the Dingle Peninsula, across its mountains and past dramatic beaches, extensive prehistoric ruins with ring forts, beehive huts and stone crosses. We'll visit several small, Gaelic speaking villages that have developed their own character, the Dunbeg Fort, Beehive Huts, Coumeenole Beach (with views of the Blacket Islands), and Gallarus Oratory. In the evening, we'll enjoy another memorable Irish dinner. Day 7: Killarney to Galway via Cliffs of Moher and Burren On the way to Galway today, we'll travel through the stone-clad Burren region with its numerous Stone Age burial monuments and Iron Age ring forts, stopping to see stone dolmens, ring forts, churches, crannogs, monasteries and holly wells, as well as the Kilfenora Cathedral, the Caherconnell Stone Fort and at the Poulnabrone Tomb. Around noon, we'll arrive at the iconic and breathtaking Cliffs of Moher that stand 700 feet above the Atlantic Ocean. After lunch at an atmospheric pub in Doolin, we'll arrive at The Galmont Hotel& Spa in Galway, our home for the next three nights. The evening will be free to enjoy the town's lively atmosphere and the hotel's perfect location, right in the middle of all the activities. Day 8: Aran Islands After breakfast today, we'll journey off the west coast of Ireland to the edge of the ancient world, as we take a ferry to Inishmore, the largest of the three Aran Islands, where we'll experience the unique island lifestyle in the hauntingly beautiful barren landscape. Weathered by the wild Atlantic waves, this great rocky outcrop of fissured limestone is a bastion of traditional language, culture and music, and is unique in its geology, archaeology and history. We'll tour the 5th century Christian site of the Seven Churches, the remarkable geological formation at the Worm Hole and Dun Aengus, and the most dramatically situated Celtic stone fort in Europe. We'll return to our hotel in the late afternoon, and enjoy a free evening to enjoy the vibrant city surroundings before dinner. Day 9: Connemara and Kylemore Abbey Today, we'll explore the desolate beauty and the rugged landscape of Connemara with its vast boglands, dark lakes and jagged mountain ranges. We'll also be able to appreciate the rich heritage of Connemara as we explore the fairytale Kylemore Abbey and its gardens. Along the way, we'll discover natural wonders such as Killary Harbour, Ireland's only natural fjord and the Quartzite cone of Diamond Hill. We'll return to Galway in the evening, and celebrate our Irish adventure with a farewell dinner. Day 10: Galway to Dublin Airport - Departures Sadly, we'll have to say goodbye to Ireland today, although we'll be left with beautiful memories of our time here. After an early breakfast, we'll have a group transfer to Dublin airport, where we'll arrive at 10:00AM. Please make sure to schedule your return flight after 12:30PM.
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