The Best of Ireland 2024 & 2025:
A 10 Day Tour: $2,980* per person
Sept. 11-20, 2024 ( Sept. 11 & 20 are fly out days.) Airfare not included. * $2,980 is based on double occupancy.
Please note: the tour starts in Ennis and ends in Dublin. Shannon airport is a short cab ride to Ennis.
2025 dates: June 7-16 (June 7 and 16 are fly out days).
We’re excited to introduce Jenni Madrigal to you. Jenni joined our team as a tour leader about 10 years ago. She’s guided all of our Costa Rica trips for us, she’s been with us on a few European adventures as well. Since she recently returned from Ireland where she led a group, she’s already built relationships with our local partners. She will be your tour guide for this trip. Please welcome Jenni Madrigal.
Tight on time? The Heart of Ireland in 10 Days — starts in Ennis (just down the road from Shannon Airport) and ends in Dublin. Each day along the way, you'll be amazed at all you'll experience in a mere week of touring the Emerald Isle: historical sites, charming towns, music-filled pubs, and walking tours — the Cliffs of Moher, Dingle Town, the Dingle Peninsula, a cooking class experience using traditional Irish recipes...and more. Join us for our Heart of Ireland adventure.
Your Tour Includes:
All Hotel Accommodations
Hot Irish breakfast every morning
Day trips listed
Services of a tour director 24/7
Services of local historians/guides
2 dinners PLUS....
Traditional Irish cooking class
A complimentary "Hop on and Off" bus pass in Dublin
And more...
Note that lunches and some dinners are not included. Nor are all museum entrance fees.
Daily activities listed may occur in a different order to accommodate our partners’ schedule.
Powerscourt, County Wicklow.
Dingle.
Your Adventure Awaits:
Day 1: Travel day
We’ll see you on the other side of the Atlantic.
Day 2: Ennis
We'll meet late afternoon. at the Old Gound hotel in Ennis for a walking tour with Dr. Jane O’Brien, our local historian. Optional visit of the Friary before the tour if you wish. Ennis is neat as a pin, rich in history and hearty Irish food.
In the evening, we'll share dinner together to get to know each other better, then it's up to you if you wish to rest, or enjoy the local Pub culture: music, stories, and perhaps a pint of Guinness.
For those of you who arrive early, feel free to walk around our first home base and explore.
The Old Ground, our hotel in Ennis.
Inside the Old Ground hotel.
Little town Ennis.
Day 3: Cliffs of Moher, Dingle
After a hot Irish breakfast, we'll pack up and board our bus, setting the course for Ireland's Dingle Peninsula. En route we'll stop and visit the dramatic Cliffs or Moher, where you'll find yourself leaning into the wind, teetering on the very edge of Europe, more than 600 feet above the churning waters of the North Atlantic. At the end of our drive, we'll arrive in the pastel painted, quintessential Irish harbor town of Dingle". A spirited walking tour is scheduled with Kevin O’Shea our local guide. Tonight you'll enjoy dinner on our own in a lively pub. Sleep in Dingle (3 nights) Bus: 5 hours. Walking: light.
Looking for puffins at the Cliffs of Moher.
Paved trails at the Cliffs of Moher.
Our 4 star B&B in Dingle.
The breakfast room overlooking the Dingle Bay.
Downtown Dingle: shopping, people watching… gelato?
Dingle walking tour.
Dinner at the Fish Box is always a good choice. He catches the fish, she cooks it, you eat it 😊
Day 4: Dingle, Slea Head Drive
We'll start the day and hop aboard our bus, with Dora McCarthy: our guide, to follow the famous Slea Head Drive (voted the most beautiful road in Ireland). We'll make various stops along the way, one stop is at the strikingly situated newly refurbished Great Blasket Center where we'll get a close look at the language, literature, and daily life of a traditional Gaelic Blasket community . Enjoy the evening on your own. Bus: 3 hours. Walking: light.
Dingle boarding school for girls where classes are held in Irish only. Traditions matter.
Rugged and wild Ireland.
Gallus Oratory.
Hug a lamb
Beer tasting at Dick Mack’s
Evening singing at the local pub.
Day 5: Free morning and Dick Mack brewery visit followed by lunch.
Today is a special day: free morning to do as you please, a nearby golf course might entice you... later on we will visit Dick Mack’s brewery followed by lunch. The rest of the day is for you to use as you please: concert at St-James church? Hiking to the Lighthouse? Shopping? More traditional music with the locals, this is your time to really plug into the Irish DNA.
Day 6: Cobh with its Heritage center and Titanic experience included
It's time to say goodbye to the Dingle Peninsula and its 500,000 sheep and head to the 'Cove of Cork': Cobh (pronounced Cove), and once called Queenstown in the 1800’s because of Queen Victoria's visit.. This seaside little town will charm you. We'll arrive there in time for lunch. Then it's off to the Titanic Experience: a fun, guided, interactive, educational opportunity and explore the Heritage Center. If you are of Irish origins, they offer genealogy services. The Heritage Center focuses on several things: the Immigration of the Irish during the potato famine, the sinking of the Lusitania, and the sinking of the Titanic. The elaborate Cobh cathedral is just up the hill from our hotel, and there is no entry charge. Dinner on your own. Bus: 3 hours. Walking: light.
Cobh
Mary Moore, voyage to America.
Day 7: Dublin
Today we will bid goodbye to Cobh as our bus transports us to Dublin. Upon arrival, we'll meet our local guide to soak in some of Dublin's history: from Vikings raids to British occupation, remarkable literacy legacy, and modern day city of today. Evening dinner on your own. Let yourself be surprised, the Pub culture is alive and well in Dublin. (Stay in Dublin: 3 nights) Walking: light. Bus: 3 hours.
Colorful bars in Dublin.
Trinity College library.
Christ Church.
Half Penny bridge.
Temple bar area.
Day 8: Day trip to Powerscourt and cooking class
Step inside and explore the magnificent 47 acre gardens, voted 3rd best garden in the World and only 35 minutes from Dublin. Marvel at the sublime blend of formal gardens, sweeping terraces, statues and ornamental lakes, secret hollows and rambling walks. The estate is owned by the Slazenger family. Cooking class at Dublin Cookery school: a great time for fun and food together.
Powerscourt
Day 9:
Today we will take the "Hop On and Off bus" after breakfast, with your complimentary pass you'll have a chance to stop and explore all the main sights: Guinness, Jamison museum, Trinity College... Go at your own pace, make all the stops you want, and stay as long as you wish. We'll get together for a farewell dinner and evening of traditional Irish music and dance..
Dinner and a show at the Belvedere.
River dance and traditional Irish music.
Day 10: Return home
Time to bid your newfound friends goodbye.
See you soon on another adventure abroad!
Self guided extension possible
Dingle Harbour