A Taste of Ireland
with Dublin City Stay

As the Irish say, Ceád Mile Fáilte! One Hundred Thousand Welcomes to Ireland. You will be met at Shannon Airport and transferred to your hotel. You will also meet your Big Journey Company Tour director for more info about the tour

For those arriving in time, visit Bunratty Castle and Folk Park at your leisure this afternoon after check in. Bunratty Castle is the most complete medieval castle in Ireland. Built in 1425 and restored in 1954 to its former medieval splendour, the now contains mainly 15th and 16th century furnishings and works of art, capturing the mood of those times. Here you will enjoy the sights and sounds of Ireland's history as you stroll from house to house and around the charming village streets complete with school, post office, doctors house, hardware shop, printers from the past. You may catch a glimpse of the farmer’s wife baking griddle bread or making some home-made butter. McNamara’s pub is definitely worth a visit.

This evening we'll enjoy a welcome dinner to start our week in Ireland

Today is it a fusion of traditional and modern streetscapes and offers delights for every visitor. After breakfast we will head to the centre of Limerick City. As well as giving its name to witty, five lined poems, this compact old town is known for the medieval-era St. Mary’s Cathedral and St. John’s square, which is lined with Georgian townhouses. Limerick is a picturesque town standing along the River Shannon.

Travel through the pretty towns of Adare and Abbey Feale for our next stop in Killarney. Killarney has had a strong tradition of welcoming visitors for almost three centuries. Many writers and artists have visited this area and been inspired by the majestic mountains and mystical lakes. During your stop here you will take a jaunting car ride to enjoy the scenery and have a chat with your ‘jarvey’ (driver) as you take in the beauty of this place. Continue your journey south to Killarney where you stay this evening. Dinner this evening is in the hotel dining room.

The tour today will take you around the Beara Peninsula. Bounded between the Kenmare river and Bantry Bay to the south, this area has two mountain ranges running down its centre, the Caha Mountains and the Slieve Misk Mountains. This intricate coast and the mountains makes for dramatic scenery at every turn on the road.
We will stop for lunch before boarding the ‘Harbour Queen’ Ferry for your journey over to explore Garnish Island. Garnish Island, ‘IIlnacullin’ in Gaelic, is a beautiful island garden located in the sheltered harbour of Bantry Bay. Returning from your ferry trip you will be transferred back to your hotel where you are free this evening to dine at leisure in the town.

We enjoy breakfast this morning before continuing our journey to Blarney Castle.

Blarney Castle is most famous for the Blarney Stone, which has the traditional power of conferring eloquence on all who kiss it. The word “Blarney” was introduced into the English language by Queen Elizabeth I and is described as 'pleasant talk, intended to deceive without offending'. Nowadays it is more commonly referred to as 'the gift of the gab'. The stone is set in the wall below the battlements, and to kiss it, one must lean backwards (grasping an iron railing) from the parapet walk. In the grounds of the castle, Rock Close is a curious place of ancient trees and far more ancient stones, by legend a garden of druidic origin and a centre of worship in pre-Christian days. The place has an aura of magic and mystique with Wishing Steps, the Witch's Kitchen, Druid's Cave and many other delights telling a story of centuries past. Blarney Castle also offers you the chance to stroll in one of the country's most spectacular gardens.

From here we continue to Charles Fort. Situated outside the town of Kinsale, Charles Fort once protected the sea approach into the town which is now one of Ireland's finest yachting grounds. The fort is the best preserved and most extensive star-shaped fort in Ireland and covers 12 acres. It was built in the time of Charles II, hence the name. It is an almost unaltered example of 17th century fortification which follows the pattern of other fortified structures in Europe.

Our first stop this morning will be to the Cobh Heritage Centre to learn about the Irish Emigration story. Follow the story form the 1600’s when transportation to the British overseas colonies was commonplace, from Virginia and New England to Barbados, Jamaica, and Monserrat. This beautiful, informative, and sometimes emotive Exhibition is situated within Cobh’s beautifully restored Victorian railway station, a building with its own historic story. Cobh is a town in Ireland, on an island in Cork city’s Harbour. It’s known as the Titanic’s last port of call in 1912.

The tour continues to visit the Jameson Whiskey Experience at Midleton Distillery. Step through the doors here and you step back in time. Carts are piled high with sacks of grain, and you can smell malted barley drying in closed kilns. Thousands of casks housing ageing whiskey are on show, as well as original kilns. Pride of place for the exhibitions here goes to the largest Pot still in the world, which has a capacity of more than 30,000 gallons and has been used for more than 150 years. You learn about “the angel’s share” (the amount of alcohol that evaporates from the cask during maturation) and the fascinating story behind the creation of one of the most well-known Irish whiskeys in the world.

We return to Cork where you will be free this evening to choose your own Irish Pub or Restaurant in which to dine!

This morning your coach travels out of Cork, through Youghal and into County Waterford where our first stop of the day is at the world famous ‘House of Waterford Crystal’. The world-renowned crystal is made here in the city by a skilled team of workers. You will be guided through the production area to see the birth of crystal from a white-hot furnace, and then to witness its transformation by dedicated blowers, cutters and engravers into beautiful sparkling crystal. You will be shown around the Crystal Gallery, which houses one of the world’s finest displays of crystal and have time to browse the crystal shop before you continue your journey to County Wexford.

Stopping in the New Ross, you will visit The Dunbrody Famine Ship, one of Ireland’s premier tourist attractions. This experience is centred on an authentic reproduction of an 1840’s emigrant vessel and provides a world class interpretation of the famine emigrant experience, an important and formative event in both Irish and American history. The visit includes costumed performers and themed exhibitions to provide a unique insight into the bravery and fortitude with which the Irish people faced a desperate situation which sent its people across the globe and devastated family life here at home.

Continue on to Wexford town where dinner is included this evening

This morning we travel through Enniscorthy and up through the east coast of Ireland into County Wicklow, also known as ‘The Garden of Ireland’.

Our first visit will be to Avoca. We will then visit the stunning Russborough House & Gardens. We will have time to enjoy the stunning Georgian house and explore the parklands. Our visit will also include the Birds of Prey centre. Here we will have a guided talk and tour followed by the chance to handle some of their hand reared owls.

Afterwards you continue on to Dublin City for the evening, Ireland’s friendly capital

This morning we will unlock the treasures and stories of Ireland's capital city. We take a short panoramic drive through Dublin with a local tour guide. A visit to Christ Church Cathedral is included. Dublin's oldest building, this has been a place of Christian pilgrimage for almost 1,000 years. Renowned for its beauty, architecture and exquisite floor tiles, it is home to the famous 12th Century crypt, one of the oldest and largest in Britain and Ireland.

The rest of the day is yours to explore Ireland's bustling capital city and there's much to see and do!

 After breakfast this morning the tour will travel directly to visit Malahide Castle & Gardens. Set on 250 acres of park land in the pretty seaside town of Malahide, was both a fortress and a private home for nearly 800 years. It is an interesting mix of architectural styles.

We return into the city as no visit to Dublin would be complete without a visit to the Guinness Storehouse. As you make your way through the impressive storehouse, discover the age-old art of brewing that makes Guinness so distinctive; discover what goes into the making of each and every pint, and learn about the incredible brand history stretching over 250 years. Visit the Tasting rooms, a multisensory tasting experience designed to help you appreciate the distinctive taste of the iconic stout, from the very first velvet sip to the last lingering drop.

There will be some free time for any last-minute shopping or sightseeing before our farewell dinner this evening.

After breakfast we will arrange for your transfer to the airport in time for you to catch the departure flights from Dublin Airport.