COUNTRY ROADS OF IRELAND (END BELFAST CLASSIC GROUP)

• Join your Travel Director for a warm and friendly Welcome Dinner, with the opportunity to mingle and get to know each other over a meal with wine.

Arrival Transfer: Depart the airport at 08:30, 11:00, 13:00

Welcome Meet your Travel Director at 18:00

• Accompanied by a Local Expert, become acquainted with Dublin’s elegant squares during an orientation of the city.
• Discover Custom House, Christchurch Cathedral and St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
• Enjoy entrance to the 9th century Book of Kells and a walk through the cobbled courtyards of Trinity College.

• In the morning, visit one of the country’s main racehorse breeding centres.
• Continue to the acclaimed 100 year old Japanese Gardens where you can ‘journey through life’ during a walk through the beautiful surrounds.
• Travel to the medieval city of Kilkenny to visit the majestic Kilkenny Castle.
• With a Local Expert, learn how the castle was built in 1195 after the Norman Conquest of Ireland and admire its beautifully restored Victorian era rooms.
• Continue through Cahir and see its imposing 13th-century castle, featured in the film ‘Excalibur’, on the way to Cork.
• On arrival, your Travel Director will show you around the compact university city, with its vibrant waterfront and grand Georgian parades.

• Travel to the ruined Blarney Castle.
• Will you hang upside down from the ramparts to kiss the stone and ensure a lifetime of eloquence?
• Travel across the majestic Derrynasaggart Mountains to the lively town of Killarney.
• For your Farm-to-Table dining experience, enjoy some Irish home cooking in the kitchens of chef John Sheehan.
• Join John and Freda, your hosts at the 19th Green Guesthouse, and savour the delicious flavours of fresh local cuisine on this MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience.
• Gather together at a Farm-to-Table dinner, using responsibly sourced ingredients from the local community, and gain personal insight into classic Irish recipes that are loved throughout the world.

• Start your day with Insight Choice.
• Choose a memorable ride on a horse-drawn jaunting car with the local jarveys.
• Alternatively, join a gentle hike with a Local Expert along the lake shore and past the grounds of Ross Castle, admiring the incredible scenery of the National Park.
• While there aren’t any mountains to climb, walkers should be fit, have good walking shoes or boots, sunscreen and rain gear.
• Explore around the magnificent Ring of Kerry.
• Here, mountains, valleys, lakes and sea blend into a landscape that is breathtaking beyond words.
• Journey past lush lakelands and around towering cliffs as you appreciate sweeping sea views.
• Continue through delightful villages like Sneem and cross the peat bogs of the Black Mountains to Moll’s Gap to admire Queen Victoria’s Ladies View.
• The rest of the afternoon is at leisure.
• Maybe take the opportunity to hire a bicycle and enjoy one of the many scenic trails around the lake or through the National Park.

• Continue driving with views of wide skies, peaceful towns and coastal scenery of the Dingle Peninsula — the setting for the film Ryan’s Daughter.
• Drive to dramatic Slea Head at the peninsula’s far end, before journeying to reach your hotel.

• Journey to the Visitor Centre at the 700-foot Cliffs of Moher.
• Enjoy breathtaking views of the Clare Coast before a delightful drive through the strange, rocky landscape of the Burren to Galway Bay.
• On arrival, see the Lynch Memorial and Church of St. Nicholas, where Christopher Columbus reputedly prayed before his voyages to America.
• See the Spanish Arch and Eyre Square, dedicated to the late US President, John F. Kennedy.

• Spend a day at leisure to relax and enjoy Galway.
• Perhaps join an Optional Experience to the Aran Islands?
• A genuine highlight of the Wild Atlantic Way.
• With their cliffs and spectacular coastal views, the islands are a true Irish experience.

• Admire the Blue Stack Mountains of Donegal as you cross into Northern Ireland, bound for the ancient walled city of ‘Derry.’
• What better way to experience sightseeing than with one of Northern Ireland’s best storytellers, Ronan, as he takes you on a tour inside the city walls, still topped with cannons.
• Walk down Shipquay Street, with its elegant Georgian houses, to the Gothic Guildhall.

• Journey to the iconic Giant’s Causeway for a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience.
• Learn how the National Trust is enabling farming and biodiversity to work together, supporting both wildlife and quality food production.
• Next, prepare yourself for miles of breathtaking beauty as you travel along the road clinging to the Antrim Coast.
• Continue onto your hotel, overlooking Ballygally Bay.
• For those who are brave enough, perhaps check out The Ghost Room, in one of the castle’s turrets?
• In the evening, please join us for a finale Celebration Dinner, where old-fashioned hospitality is blended with good food and wine for an experience that delights the senses.

• Continue around the Antrim Coast, past the huge Norman castle at Carrickfergus, to arrive in the Northern Ireland capital of Belfast.
• Meet your Local Expert for a passionate city tour including views of the City Hall, Queen’s University, the Parliament Building at Stormont and murals in different locations indicating political sentiments of local residents.

• Departure transfers arrive at Belfast George Best City Airport and Belfast International Airport.

Departure Transfer Arrive at George Best Belfast City Airport (BHD) at 08:00