We go to Doolin pier and take the ferry into the largest of the Aran Islands called Inismór.  Inis Mór is amongst a group of three islands running in a row across the outer end of Galway bay on the West coast of Ireland. The largest island is Inis Mór. Each island has a totally different atmosphere but the share the common trait of being havens of authentic Irish culture.

The landscape of Inis Mór has been hewn from linestone eroded over centuries by relentless Atlantic winter storms. Generations of islanders tending hard won fertile land have formed a patchwork of fields bounded by the dry stone walls typical on the western seaboard. The island is home to a wide range of historic and prehistoric monuments, from the dramatic bronze age cliff top fortification Dun Aonghasa to the Teampull Bheanáin, Said to be the smallest church in the world.

We return to the mainland in the evening and still have time to visit the amazing Cliffs of Moher. Nothing can be written about this place. It has to be seen and experienced. 

We leave Clare today and make our way to our accommodations in Sligo, but we stop at a few places on the way. Our first is Spiddal Craft Village.

Spiddal Craft Village & Cafe a place where magic happens. A weaving, painting, mixing, baking, moulding, printing, colorful type of magic. The best part is, you can see the magic with your own eyes in our workshops where our artists create authentic, traditional, one-of-a-kind pieces of craft and art. 

Based in the heart of the Connemara Gaeltacht, at the Spiddal Craft Village & Café you can meet the artist and watch them work while you shop for unique treasures, perfect to cherish or as a gift. Glass making, basket weaving, painting, pottery, screen printing, and more, there really is something for everyone. Some of our artists even have classes and workshops too.

We then take a few hours exploring Galway city with its museums, shops, art galleries, Jewelers. If you want to see the smallest Claddagh ring in the world, we will bring you there.

The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Knock, commonly referred to as as Knock Shrine, is a Roman Catholic pilgrimage site and national shrine in the village of Knock, County Mayo, Ireland, where locals claimed to have seen an apparition in 1879 of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, Saint John the Evangelist, angels, and Jesus Christ. There is also a beautiful basilica there that you can visit, and if you want to bring a small bottle with you, you can get some holy water to bring with you. We then go to our accommodation in Rosses Point Co Sligo. We stay for three nights in the Yeats Country Hotel just 4 mins walk from a beautiful golden sandy Atlantic Way beach and just outside the front door of the hotel is the golf course and club house.

We take a very scenic drive today, going around the North West coast of Mullaghmore, we can stop to take photo's before going further north to visit Donegal's version of the Cliffs of Moher. We take you to Sliabh Liag, with stunning scenery these cliffs are the highest in Europe. Your breath will be taken away at the scenery on the way there and when you get there you can view the cliffs and vast Atlantic ocean from the viewing platform. You can take a walk up along the cliffs if you wish. 

We then come back and take time to explore Donegal town with its Castle and Abbey ruins. Has great shops and restaurants where we can something light to eat before returning to our hotel.

Carrowmore is a large group of megalithic monuments on the Cúil Iorra Peninsula to the west of Sligo, Ireland. They were built in the 4th millennium BCE, during the Neolithic era. There are thirty surviving tombs, making Carrowmore one of the largest clusters of megalithic tombs in Ireland.

Lough Key Forest Park, formerly part of the Rockingham Estate laid out by the King Family, it is open to the public.

, in May 1959 The Land Commission officially took control of the estate in November 1959. The part of the estate that later became Lough Key Forest Park was handed over by the Land Commission to the Forestry Commission a few years later.

The Forest Park has been in operation since 1972 and contains a visitor centre with a restaurant and a number of nature trails and walks including the tree canopy walk, which is a short elevated walkway through the tree canopy and opened in 2007. The forested section of the park contains a mix of non-native evergreen trees and native deciduous trees. In particular, a number of impressive large cedars are found within the park.

We bring you to Sligo Town where you can have some time to explore the shops and if you wish you can call into the Yeats Gallery which houses many of Jack Yeats work.  We return to the hotel where we have some local musicians entertaining us and if there are singers in the group you will be very welcome to sing a few songs too! Show the locals how you do it.

We go North today and our first stop is Enniskillen Castle. Discover diverse histories within the castle walls from Medieval Stronghold to Plantation Castle to later Military Barracks. Today, the historic Castle complex houses two Museums, Fermanagh County Museum and The Inniskillings Museum, forming Enniskillen Castle Museums.

We then go on to Omagh in Co Tyrone to visit the Ulster American Folk Park. The Ulster American Folk Park brings to life the human drama behind three centuries of Irish emigration, telling the remarkable story of the vast human tide that crossed the Atlantic for the New World of North America.

The journey starts in the thatched cottages of Ulster, including the famous “Mellon” homestead, continues aboard a crowded sailing ship and finishes among the homesteads of the American frontier. Meet an array of costumed characters on your way with traditional crafts to show, tales to tell and food to share.

We then arrive at our Fitzwilliam Hotel where we can relax or go out on the town in Belfast and enjoy the night life. 

 We have a brief stop at Gobbins path. We bring you down to the viewing platform to see the path and scenery. The walk itself is a 4 mile hard walk and is equivalent  to descending 50 steps. So we will not do the actual path. We keep going further north and take in the scenic drive of the beautiful Glens of Antrim before arriving at the 8 wonder of the world......The Giants Causeway. 

The Giant's Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic fissure eruption. It is located in County Antrim on the north coast of Northern Ireland, about three miles northeast of the town of Bushmills. 

There are many myths and legends about the Giants throwing stones at each other or Finn McCool throwing stones to build a bridge to get to Scotland to kill the Scottish Giant. But we will learn all about the true story of the Giants Causeway when we get there.

Today you do what you wish. You can stay in the hotel and enjoy the facilities or you can go exploring the city. You can visit the Titanic Museum, Hillsborough Castle or you could take a bus tour around the city. You might like to explore the shopping centers and shops.

Newgrange is a prehistoric monument in County Meath in Ireland, located on a rise overlooking the River Boyne, 8 kilometres west of Drogheda. It is an exceptionally grand passage tomb built during the Neolithic, around 3200 BC, making it older than Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids.

We then go down to the city of Dublin and have the afternoon off to explore Temple bar or the city center, but you could also enjoy the facilities at the Fitzpatricks hotel. You could stroll down to Killiney beach and enjoy the park near to the castle. 

Day off to celebrate American Independence Day. We will search out some celebrations in town for you to attend.

The Gardens stretch over 47 acres and offer visitors a sublime blend of formal gardens, sweeping terraces, statues and ornamental lakes, secret hollows and rambling walks.
Managed by Head Gardener, Alex Slazenger and a team of four gardeners, Powerscourt Gardens were designed from 1731 onwards, with the desire to create a garden which was part of the wider surrounding landscape. Powerscourt Gardens include The Walled Gardens, The Italian Garden, The Dolphin Pond, The Japanese Gardens, Pets Cemetery and Pepperpot Tower, among other features and attractions. We visit the amazing waterfall on the grounds of the estate then before going to Glendalough.

Glendalough is home to one of the most important monastic sites in Ireland. This early Christian monastic settlement was founded by St. Kevin in the 6th century and from this developed the “Monastic City”. Most of the buildings that survive today date from the 10th through 12th centuries. Despite attacks by Vikings over the years, Glendalough thrived as one of Ireland’s great ecclesiastical foundations and schools of learning until the Normans destroyed the monastery in 1214 A.D. and the dioceses of Glendalough and Dublin were united. Close to the monastic city is the interactive centre. The centre features an audio visual and has a model of the monastic site on display. You will be welcomed by a friendly and knowledgeable staff where all your questions will be answered.  Glendalough is one of the top attraction on Ireland’s Ancient East

Few buildings in Ireland can boast a longer history of continuous occupation than Kilkenny Castle. Founded soon after the Norman conquest of Ireland, the Castle has been rebuilt, extended and adapted to suit changing circumstances and uses over a period of 800 years.  You will get a private tour with the local guide and learn all about the castles history. 

Set on a dramatic outcrop of limestone in the Golden Vale, the Rock of Cashel, iconic in its historic significance, possesses the most impressive cluster of medieval buildings in Ireland. Among the monuments to be found there is a round tower, a high cross, a Romanesque chapel, a Gothic cathedral, an abbey, the Hall of the Vicars Choral and a fifteenth-century Tower House.

Originally the seat of the kings of Munster, according to legend St. Patrick himself came here to convert King Aenghus to Christianity. Brian Boru was crowned High King at Cashel in 978 and made it his capital.

In 1101 the site was granted to the church and Cashel swiftly rose to prominence as one of the most significant centres of ecclesiastical power in the country.

The surviving buildings are remarkable. Cormac’s Chapel, for example, contains the only surviving Romanesque frescoes in Ireland.

We then reach our hotel in Shandon Cork. We stay in the Maldron Hotel.

This is a spectacular drive. The scenery is breath-taking. We will visit some very well known towns along the way and if you wish to take the day and do some golf at the "old head of Kinsale" Golf course, we will have that as an add-on.

We visit Kinsale, Clonakilty, Doonbeg stone circle on the way to Glandore, Skibbereen, Bantry, Béal na Bláith and back to Cork for our Second Night. 

How about kissing the Blarney stone at the Castle. Blarney Castle is a medieval stronghold in Blarney, near Cork, Ireland. Though earlier fortifications were built on the same spot, the current keep was built by the MacCarthy of Muskerry dynasty, a cadet branch of the Kings of Desmond, and dates from 1446. The Blarney Stone is among the machicolations of the castle.

Muckross House is located on the small Muckross Peninsula between Muckross Lake and Lough Leane, two of the lakes of Killarney, 6 kilometres from the town of Killarney in County Kerry, Ireland. In 1932 it was presented by William Bowers Bourn and Arthur Rose Vincent to the Irish nation. It thus became the first National Park in the Irish Free State and formed the basis of the present day Killarney National Park.

Ross Castle is a 15th-century tower house and keep on the edge of Lough Leane, in Killarney National Park, County Kerry, Ireland. It is the ancestral home of the Chiefs of the Clan O'Donoghue, later associated with the Brownes of Killarney. The castle is operated by the Office of Public Works, and is open to the public seasonally with guided tours. Staying in Killarney for two nights.

The Ring of Kerry is world renowned for its scenery and raw beauty. We will visit Torc Waterfall, Ladies View, Molls Gap, Sneem, Waterville and finish off with the "Bog Village" where you will see how life was lived in olden days. We can also pop into the Red Fox pub and enjoy an amazing Irish Coffee. 

We get back to Killarney and enjoy the night life there for our last night in Ireland. 

Today we bring you back for your trip back to the States. We ask you to book your flight to depart after 1pm on the last day. We bring you back at least 3 hours before your trip. 

We wish you a safe flight and hope to see you in Ireland again soon!