Self Drive Tours of Legendary Ireland (14 nights/15 days)

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Dublin, Meath/Westmeath, Louth, Antrim, Donegal, Mayo, Galway, Clare, Kerry, Cork, Waterford/Kilkenny, Wicklow, Return to Dublin

Embark on our legendary fifteen-day tour of Ireland and lose yourself in the magic of this remarkable country. Travel through the centuries unravelling the layers of mysteries, myths and legends wound, knotted and tangled around this ancient land.

Prices per person based on 2 persons sharing with economy size manual car. All accommodations have private bathroom facilities. Note: Driver must hold a current driving licence valid for at least 1 year. You must be between 25 – 75 years old. Younger and older drivers can be accommodated at an extra charge. Please contact us for details.

Package includes accommodation, breakfast each morning, exploring Ireland driving guide, heritage island guide, map of Ireland, car rental with unlimited mileage, insurances, CDW and taxes. Location service charge is excluded.

Day 1 – Dublin

Highlights

• Trinity College Dublin
• The Book of Kells
• Chester Beatty Library
• Temple Bar
• Guinness Storehouse
• Old Jameson Distillery
• National Museum of Ireland
• Christchurch Cathedral
• Kilmainham Jail

One of Europe’s most thrilling capitals, Dublin impresses on every level. Vibrant, youthful and energetic; the city pulsates with a compelling mix of cosmopolitan and traditional, a gripping fusion of hip and history. Lose yourself in one of its thousand bars all bursting with engaging characters in search of the ‘craic’. Crammed with a glut of boutique hotels, great shopping and chic restaurants; chock-full with museums and historical buildings, the capital doesn’t miss a trick.

Day 2 – Meath

Highlights

• Bru na Boinne Visitor Centre
• Megalithic Tombs of Newgrange
• Boyne Valley
• Trim Castle

Meath is Ireland’s most enduring link to it’s mighty past as an island of saints and scholars; its amazing relics stand defiant, ignoring the ravages of time and invading armies. Brú na Bóinne is one of the most extraordinary sites in the world, the jewel in it’s crown is the mind blowing Newgrange. All of these gems lie under the epic shadows of the Hills of Slane and Tara, the sacred dwellings of St. Patrick and the gods.

Day 3 – Westmeath

Highlights

• Mullingar Market Town
• Fore Monastic Sight
• Belvedere House & Gardens

Ireland’s hidden gem, Westmeath is a closely guarded secret. It is filled with beautiful lakes, lazy villages, intriguing period houses and gorgeous forest parks. The county possesses a wealth of attractions from the whimsical mansion house of Belvedere with it’s sinister past to the emerald green Fore valley and it’s seven wonders.

Day 4 – Louth

Highlights

• Monasterboice monastic site
• Carlingford
• Cooley Peninsula

Little Louth may be, but the ‘wee’ county possesses a more than impressive array of treats with which to indulge its guests. This is the ancient Kingdom of Oriel, a place where time works at a different pace than elsewhere. Vestiges of the mighty Cúchulainn stand seamlessly side by side with Edwardian era manor towns. While the compelling Cooley peninsula propels one into a world that has long since past.

Day 5 – Antrim

Highlights

• Giant’s Causeway
• Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge
• North Antrim Coast
• Bushmills Distillery

A peculiar black basalt and chalk white landscape is pocketed by magnificent castles slumbering in deep, forested glens; Antrim is a treasure-trove of scenic beauty. It also possesses in the Giant’s Causeway one of the most curious and remarkable geological sites in the world. Belfast is the pounding heart of the county, rejuvenated and confident, she’s sparkling once again.

Day 6 – Donegal

Highlights

• Ballyshannon Town
• Glenveagh National Park

Perched precariously on the outer tips, Donegal has a powerful sense of the final Irish frontier. Indeed, whilst buffeted and pummelled by the mighty elements on the outer reaches of Malin Head you experience an epic end-of-earth feeling. Donegal is a sheer beauty of gnarled promontories, desolate beaches and meandering streams.

Day 7 – Mayo

Highlights

• Clew Bay
• Croagh Patrick
• Westport Heritage Town
• Knock Shrine

Mayo is Galway’s quiet relation, whilst travelling through it you sense that you are forging new ground. Misty mountains, silent lakes, deserted beaches and desolate bogs all combine to create a mythical, magical land. Mayo leaves behind the stresses and demands of the modern world.

Day 8 – Galway

Highlights

• Galway City
• Galway Crystal
• Kylemore Abbey
• Galway Music & Theatre Venues

Weathered mountains, sheep studded hills, bogs and remote villages; all jaggedly sewn together by stonewalls and pounded by the mighty Atlantic forms the spellbinding beauty of Galway. Carved out of this tremendous landscape is legendary Galway City itself. Bohemian, funky and laid-back – revellers drink, sing and dance themselves around the curved, cobblestone lanes of this city steeped in history.

Day 9 – Clare

Highlights

• Bunratty Castle & Folk Park
• Cliffs of Moher
• The Poulnabrone Dolmen
• The Burren
• Doolin Village
• The Burren Smokehouse
• Jane O’Brien’s Ennis Walking Tours

Clare is perfect desolation, the indescribable Burren flings it’s jagged limestone rocks from the plunging Cliffs of Moher as far as the eye can see. Hidden amongst this craggy desert are a bundle of prehistoric monuments, blankets of wildflowers and delightful villages like Corofin, Ballyvaughan and the secret Mecca of Irish traditional music – Doolin.

Day 10 – Kerry

Highlights

• Ring of Kerry
• Staigue Fort
• Killarney National Park
• Muckross House & Gardens
• Killarney’s Traditional Music Pubs

Kerry is picture perfect, mythical Ireland – craggy cliffs overlooking perfect harbours, sleepy villages crammed with a cast of characters, multi-coloured cottages, sheep-filled traffic jams, tiny taverns filled with amiable locals pounding out wild traditional music. Kerry will stir the blood and lift the soul.

Day 11- Cork

Highlights

• Blarney Castle
• Cobh Heritage Centre
• Cork City
• The Old Midleton Whiskey Distillery
• Dermot Ryan’s Kinsale Hertiage Town Walk

Corkonains are among the most friendly and hospitable people in the world and most visitors end up building a lifelong infatuation with Cork’s gentle charms. Oh, and make sure you pack a hefty appetite; the food in Cork is second to none. West Cork’s Atlantic battered coastline boasts a beautifully rugged natural beauty and is peppered with idyllic seaside villages.

Day 12 – Waterford & Kilkenny

Highlights

• Waterford Crystal
• Waterford City
• Lismore Castle

Ireland’s oldest city, Waterford is a juxtaposition of medieval walls and elegant Georgian houses, of cobbled alleyways and modern thoroughfares. It contains the wondrous Waterford Crystal where you can marvel at the miraculous transformation of glowing-hot balls of glass into diamond-cut crystal.

Kilkenny Highlights

• Kilkenny Castle
• Medieval Kilkenny City
• Kilkenny’s Traditional Irish Music Pubs

Kilkenny welcomes visitors like long lost family, a few days here and you feel like a local, perhaps it’s because they have being entertaining guests since Norman times. Kilkenny is Ireland’s cosiest city, its winding medieval lanes secretively slumbering astride the meandering River Nore amongst rolling green hills, while Kilkenny Castle maintains it’s watchful vigil over the bustling town.

Day 13 – Wicklow

Highlights

• Wicklow driving tour
• Glendalough
• Powerscourt House
• Avondale House
• Avoca Handweavers

Spectacular glacial valleys, towering mountain passes and forested glens; welcome to wild and wonderful Wicklow! It is a land that time forgot with magnificent early Christian sites sharing the landscape with the elegant country homes of eighteenth century nobility. Lose yourself amongst the lush, rolling hills of the ‘garden of Ireland’, amongst which are nestled intimate villages, cascading waterfalls and dark, rippling lakes.

Day 14 – Dublin

Return to Dublin for more sights.

Day 15 – Departure