Today, I am delighted to announced the official launch of my 15-day Ireland Grand Circle Tour.
It will start in Dublin on Oct. 1 and circle around the picturesque south coast and along the sensational west coast and up to Northern Ireland, Derry, Belfast and out to the Giant’s Causeway before returning to Dublin.
We will be staying in excellent hotels including a sumptuous castle and visiting many exciting and iconic sights as well as historic places and beautiful gardens.
On the way, we intend to indulge deeply into all the best of Ireland’s rich culture with its splendid dance and music traditions.
One of the important aspects of this unique tour is that you can relax as you are safely driven around the country and guided to all the fabulous destinations.
But firstly, let me give you a brief overview of the entire tour, starting in Dublin, home to Temple Bar, Grafton Street, Trinity College, the Guinness Factory, lovely Samuel Becket and Ha’penny bridges, the River Liffey as well as St. Stephen’s Green and more.
From Dublin, we will head south to Cork, stopping on the way at the Rock of Cashel.
From Cork we will visit the pretty seaside town of Cobh and also nip up to Blarney to see the castle. The village here is beautiful and there is no obligation to kiss the Blarney stone.
Further along the south coast, we will go to Glengarriff and the Island of Garnish by boat before continuing on to Killarney from where we explore the famous and picturesque Ring of Kerry.
This is also when we will visit Muckross House and its famous garden. The house is amazing and the garden divine.
By the sixth day, we will head to the Gap of Dunloe and Dingle and take the Slea Head Drive, one of Ireland most scenic roads.
On all our tours, we like to make sure you have plenty of time to explore on your own or with a friend and we also like to pack in moments when we all gather for a party.
With Irish pubs being the delight that they are, I know there will be an abundance of music and singing and laughter.
From Killarney, we continue our adventure up the west coast to Adare and the Cliffs of Moher and Galway.
By the way, Adare Manor, where we will be going, is a 19th century neo-Gothic castle steeped in history and surrounded by medieval ruins and walled gardens and woodland paths. Sounds cool, yes.
From Galway, we’ll pop over to Rossaveel to take a ferry ride to the charming island of Inis Oirr. This visit will include a tractor wagon tour of the island. How’s that for something different. I believe this is also one of the centres of great Aran sweater making.
Back in Galway, it will be party and music night at one of the best Irish music places in town.
Up the coast a little more and we will stop at Kylemore Abbey, so picturesque it is worthy of a sonnet or a love poem.
From Kylemore we go to Sligo with time to explore the town before we move on to Lough Eske Castle, a five-star hotel in a romantic setting on the waters edge of Lough Eske and close to the Blue Stack Mountains.
From Donegal, we next see the Slieve League Cliffs and then on to Crolly whiskey distillery for a tour and tasting. We will need to save ourselves as we head back for another fab night in our castle home.
Glenveagh National Park is a world class spectacle and it will be part of our day when we leave Donegal and head up to Derry in Northern Ireland.
Here, in Derry, we will get a close up look at the city with its Peace Bridge and amazing murals and we will also delve a little into its history.
From Derry, we skip over to Belfast and out to the Giant’s Causeway, one of the world’s most impressive landscapes. Our plan is to visit the Titanic Museum and St. George’s Market but also to give us all plenty of time to shop and check out all the other sites.
From Belfast, we complete our Grand Circle Tour by returning to Dublin for another party and farewell dinner and more shopping and sightseeing.
Whew! It is indeed a lot. And I am only giving you here is the briefest of highlights here.
The price for the tour is $7,912 per person for double occupancy; $9,904 for singe occupancy.
Complete itineraries have already been sent to people who have already expressed a desire to go on the tour. You can request a copy for yourself by emailing me at swhysall@hotmail.com.
I am, of course, as always, happy to answer questions. I see these tours as a wonderful opportunity for us all to reconnect and have fun travelling together in a safe and well organized way with likeminded people.
How to book your spot:
Our agent, Lyle Truden, of Truden Travel, is again handling bookings and other requirements. You can reach him at lyle@trudentravel.com or by phone at 778-995-6525, but the best way to contact him is by email.
