Ireland Group Tours - Traveling Around Ireland with Patricia Tunison Preston

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7th Annual
West of Ireland Coastal Tour

featuring "The Real Ireland" - Galway, Connemara, The Burren, Cliffs of Moher, Dingle Peninsula, Killarney & The Ring of Kerry

October 19-25, 2008
6 days/5 nights/11 meals
With all 4-star luxury hotel accommodations

Led by Patricia & John Preston

Early Bird Price *: $1,599 per person with airfare from New York-JFK or $1,649 per person with airfare from Boston-Logan

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; traditional Irish music at Kate Kearney's Cottage; sheep dog demonstration on an Irish farm on the Ring of Kerry; (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 19, Day 1 - Depart New York's JFK Airport via Aer Lingus #110 at 6:30 p.m; or from Boston's Logan Airport via Aer Lingus #132 at 7 p.m. Dinner on board.

Monday, October 20, Day 2 - Arrive 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. Then we’ll set out on our drive to Galway, via Ennis and Gort, to check into the Hotel Meyrick (formerly Great Southern Hotel). 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 optional complimentary mini-courses in baking Irish breads and scones or knitting Aran sweaters. In the evening, we’ll enjoy a Welcome Drink reception hosted by CIE Tours International before our dinner.
Dinner & Overnight: Hotel Meyrick, Galway

Tuesday, October 21, 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 English and Irish. At Leenane, we’ll board a catamaran boat for a 90-minute cruise along Killary Harbour, Ireland’s only fjord. Afterwards, stop at Kylemore Abbey, a splendid castellated mansion overlooking a lake, with time for lunch and to walk the grounds and 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.
Dinner & Overnight: Hotel Meyrick, Galway

Wednesday, October 22, 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 along the beautiful Dingle Peninsula, setting for many popular movies (from Ryan’s Daughter to Far and Away), and then to the harbor town of Dingle, known in Irish as An Daingean. We’ll settle into our hotel, with views of Dingle Bay and the mountains, for the evening. After dinner at our hotel, enjoy a visit to the in-house pub, leisure centre with swimming pool, or spa, or meander into town to sample a few of the traditional music pubs, for which Dingle is so famous.
Dinner & Overnight: Dingle Skellig Hotel (Óstán na Sceilge), Dingle

Thursday, October 23, Day 5 – Our breakfast overlooking Dingle Bay 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 to explore the colorful shops, cafes and pubs. In the afternoon, we’ll depart Dingle via Inch Strand and drive to Ireland’s top resort, Killarney, rightly called “Beauty’s Home” and “Heaven’s Reflex” by poets and writers. We will arrive first at Killarney National Park - where horse-drawn jaunting cars will be waiting to take us for a ride along the lakeshore amid the beautiful park scenery, and then into Killarney town, arriving at the Malton Hotel (formerly Great Southern Hotel) in traditional style.
Dinner & Overnight: Malton Hotel, Killarney

Thursday, October 24, Day 5 - Enjoy breakfast in grand style in the elegant dining room of the Malton Hotel - and then the Ring of Kerry awaits us - Ireland's most popular scenic drive. It is an ever-changing mix of coastal scenery including Carrantuohill, Ireland's highest mountain, pristinebeaches, cliffside vistas, and colorful palm-tree lined villages. We'll stop for a sheepdog demonstration along our route at Kells and to learn more about the 6th century Skellig Islands monastic settlements at the "Skellig Experience" Heritage Center on Valentia Island. We’ll stop at the scenic viewing points known as Molls Gap and Ladies View. The rest of the afternoon is free to relax, explore Killarney, or enjoy the leisure center at the hotel. Dinner tonight is a special treat at Kate Kearney’s Cottage, a restaurant/pub at the Gap of Dunloe - the program includes Irish musical entertainment and a chance for all of us to sing a song, join in an Irish dance, or clap our hands and tap our feet to the lively traditional tunes.
Overnight: Malton Hotel, Killarney

Friday, October 25, Day 6 - After breakfast at our hotel, we’ll bid farewell to lovely Killarney and travel via the main Limerick Road, stopping at Adare, a picturesque thatched roof village known as “the prettiest village in Ireland.” The it’s on to Shannon Airport. We’ll arrive at the airport in plenty of time for check-in for Aer Lingus flight #111 to New York departing at 1:30 p.m., and arriving at 3:50 p.m., local NY time; or Aer Lingus #133 to Boston-Logan at 1:15 p.m., arriving at 3:05 p.m., local Boston time.
Slan agus beannacht! (Good-bye and God bless you!)

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 2008 Fall Sign-Up Form

Questions? Send an email to TheIrelandExpert@aol.com

* Early Bird Price for Land & Air is $1,599 from New York-JFK or $1,649 from Boston-Logan, if booked before July 1 (save $100 per person).
Air/Land price is $1,699 from New York-JFK or $1,749 from Boston-Logan, if booked after July 1.
Land-only is $1,159. No early bird special on land-only price.

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