Ireland Group Tours - Traveling Around Ireland with Patricia Tunison Preston

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8th Annual
West of Ireland Coastal Tour

featuring "The Real Ireland" - Galway, Connemara, The Burren, Cliffs of Moher, Dingle Peninsula, Dingle Town, and the Lakes of Killarney

October 4-10, 2009
6 days/5 nights/10 meals

Led by Patricia & John Preston

Early Bird price is $1,699 including airfare from NY *

Photos: Some of the highlights of our tour: (from left, top) Kylemore Abbey, Connemara, Co. Galway; Lakes of Killarney, Co. Kerry; Baking Class with Kate Wright at the Cobblestone Cafe, Galway City; (center, from left) jaunting car ride in Killarney; medieval banquet entertainment at Bunratty Castle, Co. Clare; "Connemara Lady" catamaran boat cruise in Killary Harbor, Co. Galway; (bottom, from left), the Cliffs of Moher, Co. Clare; Main Street, Dingle Town, Co. Kerry; and Slea Head on the Dingle Peninsula, Co. Kerry.

Our Itinerary

Sunday, October 4, Day 1 - Depart New York's JFK Airport on Aer Lingus EI #110 at 6:30 p.m. Dinner on board.

Monday, October 5, Day 2 - Arrive at approximately 6 a.m. at Shannon Airport where you'll be met by Patricia and John Preston with our driver/guide from CIE Tours International. We’ll start the day with a welcoming Irish breakfast at the Shannon Park Inn at approx. 7 a.m. Then we’ll set out on our drive to Galway, via Ennis and Gort, to check into the Radisson SAS Hotel overlooking Lough Atalia and Galway Bay. If our rooms are not ready. we’ll take a short orientation tour of the city with a visit to Galway Cathedral. (If our rooms are ready, we’ll take the tour later in the afternoon). The remainder of the day is free to rest, use the leisure facilities at the hotel or to do some local sightseeing in Galway, the “capital” of the West of Ireland. We’ll also have an optional complimentary mini-course in baking Irish bread and scones at the Cobblestone Café at 5 p.m. In the evening, we’ll enjoy a Welcome Drink reception hosted by CIE Tours International before our dinner at our hotel.
Dinner & Overnight: Radisson SAS Hotel, Galway

Tuesday, October 6, Day 3 - After a full Irish breakfast at our hotel, today we’ll head westward to beautiful Connemara. Its place name describes the region perfectly – from the Irish, Cuain na Mara, meaning “harbors of the sea.” Indeed Connemara is one continuous panorama of harbors and seascapes, surrounded by the awesome Twelve Bens mountains and dotted with glistening lakes and endless boglands. Sheep graze on the hillsides, the sweet aroma of turf permeates the air and road signs are painted in the Irish language. At Leenane, we’ll board a catamaran boat for a 90-minute cruise along Killary Harbor, Ireland’s only fjord. Afterwards, stop at Kylemore Abbey, a splendid castellated mansion overlooking a lake, with time for lunch, and to walk the gardens and grounds or visit the Gothic chapel and craft shop. Then it’s back along the coast via Spiddal and the Gaelic-speaking district, with continuous vistas of Galway Bay, to Galway City, with time for individual sightseeing and shopping before dinner at our hotel.
Dinner & Overnight: Radisson SAS Hotel, Galway

Wednesday, October 7, Day 4 - After breakfast, we’ll depart Galway City and travel along Galway Bay to the Burren region of Co. Clare, a rock-strewn area known for its lunar-like landscape. We’ll drive via the charming villages of Kinvara and Ballyvaughan, and up the scenic Corkscrew Hill to Lisdoonvarna and the Cliffs of Moher, acclaimed as one of Ireland’s natural wonders. A new visitor center opened at the Cliffs in 2007 and it provides a spectacular visit, rain or shine. After seeing the Cliffs (and time for lunch), our route takes us via Lahinch, the famed golf resort, along the coast to Killimer to board a ferry and cross the Shannon Estuary over to Tarbert, Co. Kerry. Then we’ll proceed via Listowel and Tralee to Blennerville, with a stop at Ireland’s oldest windmill. Next we head west out along the beautiful Dingle Peninsula, a “wow” destination in every way. CNN-TV recently described the Dingle Peninsula as “the most beautiful place on Earth,” and the TripAdvisor web site reported that travelers voted Dingle as “the sixth most popular destination in Europe,” the only place in Ireland to make the “top ten” list. It has been the setting for many popular movies (from Ryan’s Daughter to Far and Away). Our base for the Dingle Peninsula is the harbor town of Dingle, known in Irish as An Daingean. We’ll settle into our hotel, right on the main street of town, for the evening. After dinner at our hotel, meander around town to sample a few of the traditional music pubs for which Dingle is so famous.
Dinner & Overnight: Dingle Benners Hotel, Dingle/An Daingean, Co. Kerry

Thursday, October 8, Day 5 – Our breakfast is followed by a morning tour of the Dingle Peninsula, a scenic panorama of seacoast vistas, white-washed cottages, ancient beehive huts, and sheep-filled hillsides. Often called the “Ring of Dingle,” it reaches out like a thumb plunging into the Atlantic, rimmed by Dingle Bay and Tralee Bay, with the mist-laced mountains of Slieve Mish and Mount Brandon visible at every turn. The western tip of the Dingle Peninsula is also home to the West Kerry Gaeltacht, an area known as Corca Dhuibhne where the Irish language is readily spoken, and traditional music and crafts flourish. Highlights will include a stop at Slea Head, one of Ireland’s most-photographed beauty spots, and a visit to the Blasket Island heritage centre to learn more about the mysterious Blasket Islands, a cluster of seven offshore islands resembling giant rocks lying over two miles out on the horizon. First settled by monks on the 5th or 6th centuries and inhabited until 1953, the islands produced a resilient people who left behind far-reaching achievements and great writings. We’ll return to Dingle Town for free time in the afternoon to explore the colorful shops, cafés and pubs, or you may opt to take a boat ride to see “Fungie,” the resident dolphin. The evening is also free to give you an opportunity to experience one of Dingle's great restaurants for dinner.
Overnight: Dingle Benners Hotel, Dingle/An Daingean, Co. Kerry

Friday, October 9, Day 6 – After breakfast, we’ll depart Dingle via Inch Strand, a vast four-mile expanse of sandy beach, and drive to nearby Killarney, rightly called “Beauty’s Home” and “Heaven’s Reflex” by poets. We will arrive first in the town center where horse-drawn jaunting cars will be waiting to take us for a ride into Killarney National Park along the lakeshore amid the beautiful park scenery in traditional style to the grounds of Muckross House, a splendid 20-room Victorian mansion, built in 1843. Providing a glimpse of the lifestyle of the landed gentry of Killarney in the 19th century, it is known for elaborate architecture, from mullioned and stepped windows to 62 chimneys, and decorated with locally-made period furniture and needlework. After a guided tour, there is time to stroll the well-manicured gardens in a sylvan lakeside setting amid Ireland’s tallest mountains. In the afternoon, we travel via Adare and Limerick to Bunratty Folk Park, a 20-acre theme park laid out to recreate a typical 19th century Irish village. Step inside and literally step back in time. Experience an insider’s tour of authentic thatched-roof cottages, eight different farmhouses, watermill, and working blacksmith’s forge. Stroll along a typical village street; see craftspeople at work, from knitting and weaving, to candle-making, pottery, and basketry; and watch women baking fresh breads and scones in fireplace ovens. In the evening, we’ll enjoy dinner and entertainment in medieval style at 15th century Bunratty Castle – a fitting finale to our tour.
Overnight: Bunratty Castle Hotel, Bunratty, Co. Clare

Saturday, October 10, Day 7 – Fortified by a hearty Irish breakfast, we’ll head to Shannon Airport, just a 10-minute drive away. We’ll arrive at the airport at approx. 10:30 a.m. in plenty of time for check-in for Aer Lingus flight EI #111 to JFK-NY at 1:30 p.m., and for reclaiming VAT refunds and duty free shopping at Shannon. Local arrival time in NY-JFK is approx. 3:40 p.m. Slan agus beannacht! (Good-bye and God bless you!)

* $1,699 Early Bird Price for land & airfare from JFK/NY, if booked by July 1.
$1,799 for land & airfare from JFK/NY, if booked after July 1.
$1,250 for land only (buy your own airfare to match our tour dates and times)

(* Save $100 per person – be an “early bird” and book air & land with deposit by July 1st, 2009)

Tour Highlights
What the Price Includes
Hotel Photos and Descriptions
Comments from Past Tour Participants
West of Ireland Coastal Tour Main Page
Group Tour Main Page

Click here for 2009 Fall Sign-Up Form

Questions? Send an email to patpreston@mac.com

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