beauty of ireland and scotland

DAY 1: ARRIVE CORK - KINSALE OVERNIGHT

Upon arrival at the Cork airport, you will be greeted by your John Hall’s Alaska representative and escorted to
your awaiting motor coach. You then travel to Kinsale where you check into Actons Hotel,overlooking Kinsale Harbour for a two night stay.
Kinsale is a historic fishing town on the southern coastline of County Cork. The remainder of the afternoon is free to relax after your travels and this evening you will enjoy dinner in the hotel’s Fisher Street restaurant. 

Dinner Included.             Hotel Overnight: Actons Hotel, Kinsale

DAY 2: BLARNEY CASTLE - QUEENSTOWN STORY

Start off your time in Ireland with a visit to Blarney Castle and Gardens. The castle was built in 1446 and today
you will have an opportunity to climb the spiral stairs to the top of the castle and kiss the famous Blarney Stone, said to bestow the gift of eloquence on all those who dare. Also on the castle grounds, you can visit the Castle Gardens and Rock Close. You will have some free time in the town of Blarney or to visit the Blarney Woollen Mills before traveling to Cobh, one of the main points of emigration during the great  famine. Here you will visit “The Queenstown Story” which portrays the hardship of life on board ship as it sailed to the “New World”.
Annie Moore, the first ever emigrant to be processed on Ellis Island when it officially opened on January 1st, 1892 left from Cobh with her two brothers. Return to Kinsale with the remainder of the late afternoon free to enjoy browsing in its many shops. 

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Included.             Hotel Overnight: Actons Hotel, Kinsale
 

DAY 3: WEST CORK - MIZEN HEAD - KENMARE - KILLARNEY

Depart Kinsale and travel along the southern coast line to Mizen Head - the most southerly point of Ireland.
Here you will visit the award winning Maritime Museum and Heritage Attraction. You can also take a ten-minute walk across the Arched Bridge over the crashing waves to the Lighthouse. Following this adventure you will travel up the coast via lovely lazy towns & villages to Kenmare, an example of one of Ireland’s few planned towns. Kenmare and its Gaelic name Neidin (Little nest) so named because of its fine setting nestling as it does among
the mountains of Cork and Kerry. You continue to Killarney taking in a 20-mile stretch of the famous Ring of Kerry. This evening you will check into your hotel for a two night stay. 

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Included.             Hotel Overnight: The Killarney Park, Killarney

DAY 4: BLARNEY CASTLE - QUEENSTOWN STORY

Start off your time in Ireland with a visit to Blarney Castle and Gardens. The castle was built in 1446 and today you will have an opportunityto climb the spiral stairs to the top of the castle and kiss the famous Blarney Stone, said to bestow the gift of eloquence on all those whodare. Also on the castle grounds, you can visit the Castle Gardens and Rock Close. You will have some free time inthe town of Blarney or to visit the Blarney Woollen Mills before traveling to Cobh, one of the mainpoints of emigration during the great famine. Here you will visit “The Queenstown Story” which portrays the hardship of life on board ship as it sailed to the “New World”.Annie Moore, the first ever emigrant to be processed on Ellis Island when it officially opened on January 1st, 1892 leftfrom Cobh with her two brothers. Return to Kinsale with the remainder of the late afternoon free to enjoy browsing in its many shops. 

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Included.             Hotel Overnight: The Killarney Park, Killarney
 

DAY 5: FOYNES FLYING BOAT MUSEUM - DROMOLAND CASTLE

Leaving Killarney this morning, travel to the Foynes Flying Boat Museum. This museum recalls the historic time from 1939 to 1945 when Foynes became the center of the aviation world. You will enjoy a guided tour and go inside a full scale replica of a Boeing 314 flying boat, the only one of its kind in the world. It was in this very building that the Irish Coffee originated in 1943 and before departing you will be shown how to make the perfect Irish Coffee. Continue on to Newmarketon- Fergus where you will check into the luxurious Dromoland Castle Hotel around midday. The castle built in the 16th century was once the royal seat of the O’Brien clan.  The remainder of the day is free to enjoy some of the castles many activities which includes golf, fishing, falconry, clay pigeon shooting, tennis, archery and horseback riding. The golf course at Dromoland is regarded by many as one of the finest 18 hole parkland golf courses in the country. You may also like to try out the luxurious health spa. This evening you will enjoy dinner in the elegant surroundings of the castle’s Earl of Thomond Restaurant.

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Included.             Hotel Overnight: Dromoland Castle, Newmarket on Fergus.

DAY 6: CLIFFS OF MOHER - RATHBAUN FARM - DUBLIN

Bid farewell to Dromoland Castle and travel to the majestic Cliffs of Moher which rises to a height of 600 ft over the Atlantic Ocean. O’Brien’s Tower stands near the highest point and has served as a viewing point for visitors for hundreds of years. Your tour continues through the lunar type landscape of the Burren which takes its name from the Irish word ‘bhoireann’ meaning, ‘a stony place’ or ‘a rocky place’. Your next stop is Rathbaun Farm where we will enjoy a traditional ploughman’s lunch. This will be followed by a guided tour of the sheep farm. Farm owner Fintan Connelly will give a demonstration of sheep shearing and sheep herding. You can spend
some time in the thatched cottage and smell the peat fire before departing. From here you continue across the Irish midlands to Dublin for a two night stay. This evening you will enjoy dinner at your hotel. 

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Included.             Hotel Overnight: Castleknock Hotel, Dublin
 

DAY 7: DUBLIN - ST PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL - BOOK OF KELLS - GUINNESS BREWERY

Enjoy breakfast and then travel a short distance to Dublin City on the banks of the river Liffey and enjoy a tour of Ireland’s capital city. On your tour you will see the Georgian Squares with their 18th Century houses, the Phoenix Park (the biggest town park in Europe), statue filled O’Connell Street and the fashionable Grafton Street. You will visit Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, an architectural and historical site which has been at the heart of Dublin history for over 800 years. You will also visit the Old Library at Trinity College to view the famous Book of Kells. No visit to Dublin would be complete without a visit to the Guinness Brewery founded in 1759 by Arthur Guinness.
Here you will enjoy a guided tour which concludes with a leisurely pint of Guinness in the 360-degree roof top bar while enjoying some spectacular views of Dublin City. You will have some free to in the city before enjoying dinner in a local restaurant.

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Included.             Hotel Overnight: Castleknock Hotel, Dublin

DAY 8: BELFAST CITY - TITANIC BELFAST

Travel to Belfast this morning for a tour of the city including City Hall - one of the finest Classical Renaissance buildings in Europe, the Linen Hall Library which has been lending books for over 200 years, and the Grand Opera House often described as the most beautiful Victorian theatre in the world! You will also see the Ulster Museum and Queen’s University. Visit Titanic Belfast, nine galleries that tell the story of the RMS Titanic, her completion in Belfast and her famous maiden voyage and tragic end. This evening you check into the Titanic Hotel. 

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Included.             Hotel Overnight: Titanic Hotel, Belfast
 

DAY 9: FERRY FROM BELFAST TO CAIRNRYAN – ALLOWAY – GLASGOW

Scotland awaits! Journey to the port of Belfast where you will board a ferry for a 2 ½ hour sailing across the North Atlantic to Cairnryan in Scotland. On arrival in Scotland, you will travel the coast road to Alloway - the birthplace of Robert Burns, regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. Following a stop at Burns Cottage, you continue to Glasgow for an overnight stay. This evening you
will enjoy dinner in your hotel.

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Included.             Hotel Overnight: Grand Central Hotel, Glasgow

DAY 10: GLASGOW CITY - INVERNESS

This morning you will enjoy a panorama tour of Glasgow, often described as Britain’s finest Victorian City. On departing Glasgow, you travel north along the bank of Loch Lomond, one of Scotland’s most beautiful lakes, into the Scottish Highlands. Surrounded by spectacular scenery you continue through the historic glen of Glen Coe to Fort William on the shores of Loch Linnhe. From here, your tour winds its way around the foothills of Scotland’s highest mountain, Ben Nevis (4,406ft) to Fort Augustus. You continue along the banks of Loch Ness,
keeping your camera ready for a view of the monster, to Drumnadrochit before arriving in Inverness - the capital of the highlands for an overnight stay. This evening you will enjoy dinner in your hotel. 

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Included.             Hotel Overnight: Kingsmill Hotel, Inverness
 

DAY 11: CULLODEN BATTLEFIELD - GLENLIVET DISTILLERY - ATHOLL PALACE

After breakfast, depart Inverness and travel a short distance to Culloden for your first stop. The last major battle in Britain was fought here on April 16, 1746 and this morning you can relive the drama with a visit to Culloden Visitor Centre. No visit to Scotland would be complete without a visit to a distillery and today you travel to Glenlivet in the heart of Scotland’s whiskey-making country. Here you will visit the Glenlivet Distillery and enjoy a guided tour through the production area followed by a sampling of three whiskies before departing.
With the taste and aroma of the whiskey still in the air, you continue south through the scenic Grampian Mountains to Avimore. From here, you continue to Pitlochry the geographical center of Scotland where you will check into the luxurious Atholl Palace Hotel for a two night stay. This evening you will enjoy dinner in your hotel.

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Included.             Hotel Overnight: Atholl Palace Hotel, Pitlochry

DAY 12: ATHOL PALACE ADVENTURE DAY

The day is yours to spend how you wish. You will have many options without leaving the grounds of your hotel. You will find several walks and jogging routes around the hotel gardens and estate to enjoy as well as four all weather tennis courts. A 9 hole Pitch ‘n’ Putt course, putters and golf balls are available at reception. Take a stroll through the hotel’s award winning gardens and visit the Black Spout Waterfall. You may wish to spend some time in the hotel leisure center which includes a spa bath, plunge pool, steam room, sauna and gym or indulge yourself in a spa treatment in the Lavender Spa while enjoying spectacular views of the Scottish countryside.
Your coach will be available to facilitate other activities such as fishing in one of the nearby lakes or golf at the Pitlochry Golf Course, said to be one of the finest inland golfing facilities in Scotland. You may also like to wander through the quaint Victorian Spa town of Pitlochry where you will find a variety of craft shops, pubs and restaurants in a relaxed atmosphere. This evening, regroup and exchange stories of your day’s activities while enjoying dinner at your hotel.

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Included.             Hotel Overnight: Atholl Palace Hotel, Pitlochry
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DAY 13: ST ANDREW’S - SCOTLAND’S SECRET BUNKER - EDINBURGH

Checking out of Atholl Palace, hit the road for Dundee before crossing the Tay Bridge to St. Andrew’s. Not only is St. Andrew’s famed as the home of golf, it is also an ancient ecclesiastical capital and home to Scotland’s oldest university. Following lunch in St. Andrew’s, you continue to Scotland’s Secret Bunker. Hidden beneath a Scottish Farmhouse, a tunnel leads to an underground Nuclear Command Bunker
built in 1951 and operational until 1993, Scotland’s best kept secret for over 40 years. You continue south traveling over the
Forth Road Bridge to Edinburgh City for a two-night stay.

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Included.             Hotel Overnight: Dalhousie Castle Hotel, Edinburgh

DAY 14: EDINBURGH HIGHLIGHTS

A full day of touring historic Edinburgh City is the highlight today. First, travel down Princess Street and the historic Royal Mile before
visiting the Palace of Holyrood House - the official Scottish residence of her Majesty the Queen. Hear the tales of some truly intriguing
characters - the Bodysnatchers, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Greyfriars Bobby. You will visit the majestic Edinburgh Castle and enjoy the breathtaking views of the city from the castle ramparts. You will have some free time in the city before returning to your hotel. This evening
you enjoy the Spirit of Scotland Show at the Jam House. A traditional Scottish evening of song and dance accompanied by a great
selection of Scottish cuisine.

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Included.             Hotel Overnight: Dalhousie Castle Hotel, Edinburgh
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DAY 15: FLY HOME FROM EDINBURGH 

After breakfast, transfer to the Edinburgh airport for your flight home.

Breakfast Included.

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