Self Drive Tours of Hidden Ireland (9 nights/10 days)

Clare, Galway, Galway, Mayo, Westmeath, Dublin, Wicklow/Kilkenny, Waterford/Cork, Kerry, Return to Shannon

Take this self drive package and unearth hidden Ireland on this fantastic ten day Ireland vacation around the very best that Ireland has to offer. Ramble down roads less travelled to lively taverns and rollicking Irish traditional music sessions. Explore stowed away monastic sites, concealed castles and forgotten forts on a self drive tour that you will never forget!

ACCOMMODATION	B&B’S	HOTELS	COMBINATION
Jan - Mar; 05 Apr -30 Apr; 01 Oct - 13 Dec	€526	€625	On request
01 Apr - 04 Apr; May - 10 Jul; 21 Aug - 30 Sept	€554	€687	On request
11 Jul -23 Jul; 9 Aug - 20 Aug	€615	€748	On request
24 Jul - 08 Aug; 14 Dec - 31 Dec	€672	€805	On request

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. Young 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 - Clare

Highlights

• Bunratty Castle & Folk Park
• [inturl=self-drive-page49006.html]Cliffs of Moher[/in]turl
• The Poulnabrone Dolmen
• The Burren


• Doolin

From her regal Cliffs of Moher defiantly challenging the awesome Atlantic to her exceptional Burren smothering the very Earth, Clare is a beguiling beauty. Explore the Aillwee caves which burrow for endless miles into her very heart, feast like a King at Bunratty Castle or discover the source of Irish traditional music and unearth the terrific essence of Clare.

Day 2 - Galway

Highlights

• Galway City


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

Galway is special, simple as that. Amidst a pulsating knot of winding, cobbled streets a carnival atmosphere is created every day. Enchanting street performers spout poetry, juggle fire and beat bodhráns while the sound of fiddles, bagpipes and harps spill from the open doors of its medieval taverns. And that’s just the city! It is encased in a county of overwhelming beauty.

Day 3 - Mayo

Highlights

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

Mayo is pioneer country; it is like stepping back in time. Bare beaches, abandoned bogs and deserted dwellings scatter across this county of alluring beauty. Whether it’s joining the thousands of barefoot pilgrims trudging their way up Croagh Patrick, meeting the ghost of John Wayne in Cong, praying for miracles in Knock or falling in love with the beauty Queen of Leenane, Mayo is the place to escape the demands of the modern world.

Day 4 - Westmeath

Highlights

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

Bashful in nature, Westmeath is Ireland’s best-kept secret. Legends abound in this beautiful county splattered with innumerable lakes, from the jealous walls of Belvedere House and the Children of Lir on the shores of Lough Derravaragh to the Seven Wonders of Fore and the gothic romance of Tullynally Castle.

Day 5 - Dublin

Highlights

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

With a glut of boutique hotels, great shopping, mighty bars and some of the country’s most sophisticated restaurants, Dublin is fast becoming the premier city destination in Europe. Wander the maze of cobbled streets in Temple Bar, slurp a ‘pint of plain’ in the Guinness storehouse, marvel at the world famous Book of Kells, lose yourself in the Chester Beatty library – Dublin will not disappoint.

Day 6 - Wicklow

Highlights

• Wicklow driving tour
• Glendalough monastic settlement
• Avoca Handweavers
• Powerscourt Gardens
• Avondale House

Snugly tucked underneath bustling Dublin, Wicklow performs its role as green retreat to delightful perfection. Vanish over the towering gaps and enter a magical world of babbling brooks and wooded thickets, of affable villages and languid taverns. Time trickles by here, the land being parcelled out between ancient Christian sites and courtly period houses.

Day 7 - Kilkenny & Waterford

Highlights

• Kilkenny Castle
• Medieval Kilkenny City


• Kilkenny’s Traditional Irish Music Pubs

Kilkenny City is Ireland’s most authentic medieval towns; Kilkenny Castle, St. Canice’s Cathedral and the Black Abbey have being residing here since the thirteenth century. Remarkably these ancient structures rest seamlessly with hip bars, chic restaurants and fashionable boutiques. Pull up a high chair, grasp your pint of Kilkenny and make lifelong friends with the soon to be familiar locals.

Waterford Highlights

• Waterford Crystal
• Waterford City
• Lismore Castle & Gardens

The Vikings first visited here in 852AD and tourists have being coming ever since. Reginald’s Tower dominates the skyline, gazing over the bustling River Suir and the narrow medieval lanes of the Viking’s triangle. Waterford Crystal, the awesome gem in Waterford’s wonderful crown, is a magical world of precious glass blowers and elegant engravers.

Day 8 - Cork

Highlights

• Blarney Castle
• Cobh Heritage Centre
• Cork City
• Old Midleton Whiskey Distillery

Cork City is over 800 years old and is an artistic city home to the Cork Opera House and numerous galleries and theatres. Snug bars hosting impromptu traditional music sessions neighbour chic restaurants serving Atlantic catch and racks of Kerry lamb. Wild and epic landscape pours in every direction across the county from the capital. Plant a smacker on the Blarney Stone and gain the ‘gift of the gab’ to enable you to compete with the sharp wit of the Corkonians.

Day 9 - Kerry

Highlights

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

The Kingdom of Kerry is a land of chattering dolphins, beautiful women called Rose and oh by the way the King is a goat! Indeed this is a Kingdom with a difference! Windswept and wild, rugged and romantic – this is the mythical Ireland of dreams.


Day 10 - Departure



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