FEBRUARY 12th       DEPART US
Depart the US on your overnight transatlantic flight to Ireland. Dinner, drinks and in-flight entertainment will be offered on board.

FEBRUARY 13th       ARRIVE SHANNON
Cead Mile Failte! Welcome to Ireland. This morning you will arrive into Shannon Airport where you will be met by your driver and escorted to your luxury touring motor coach. Your tour of the Emerald isle will bring you northwards to Galway City via the area of Co. Clare known as the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren.

The Cliffs of Moher are great dark sandstone cliffs that rise majestically from the Atlantic for almost five miles. Throngs of screaming sea birds make their homes precariously on the ledges or wheel and swoop about the waves. Some of the best views can be enjoyed from O'Brien's Tower, built in 1853 by Cornelius O'Brien. On a clear day you can see the Aran Islands and beyond. The views will leave you breathless. Continue northwards to the Burren, which is a vast, bare, eerie limestone plateau, which covers much of Co Clare. The limestone is deeply fissured and most of the rivers have gone underground creating an extensive cave system. 4000 years of farming has largely denuded the country of trees and vegetation but the Burren is noted for the "opposite" contrasts of its flower population with Mediterranean and Alpine species flourishing side by side.

Your final destination today is Galway City, the focal point of Co. Galway and the west of Ireland. It nestles at the neck of Galway Bay and is reputed to have been Columbus' final point of departure on his voyage of discovery. Before you check into Jurys Inn, your driver will give you an orientation tour of the city, pointing out St. Nicholas Church, the Spanish Arch and Eyre Square - which is the focal point of the modern city.

This evening you will enjoy dinner & overnight at the Forster Court Hotel. This new hotel is excellently located in Galway City Centre and is easily accessed by all major approach roads. The hotel is impeccably finished incorporating every comfort for our guests. It comprises 48 stylish en suite guest rooms, all designed to cater for your every need. Enjoy dining in the intimacy of Elwood's Restaurant or why not relax in our extensive bar. The Forster Court Hotel gives you Freedom of the City.

February 14th       GALWAY TO KINNITTY
This morning after a hearty Irish Breakfast your driver will bring the group on a short tour of the Connemara countryside, made famous by a number of well known movies - such as the John Wayne movie - "The Quiet Man", and more recently "The Field". Connemara is a wild and beautiful region of mountains, lakes, tumbling streams undulating bog, unspoilt beaches and panoramic views. It is a Gaelic- speaking region. The centre of Connemara is composed of mountain peaks, the Twelve Bens or Pins which culminate in Benbaun.

In the early afternoon, you will travel eastwards to Kinnitty Castle where you will overnight for the next two nights, with dinner on the first night. The luxuriously refurbished Castle is located in Birr, Co.Offaly and is situated 1.5 hrs from Dublin, Galway and Limerick. The Castle boasts 37 magnificent ensuite rooms, stately reception rooms in the main castle and an excellent restaurant decorated in the style of 1811, with gourmet food and fine wines. The library bar contains over 1,000 ancient books and an exquisite Louis XV style drawing room. The Castle offers guests the opportunity to enjoy a range of leisure activities to suit all ages and tastes including: equestrian, golf, tennis, fishing, game & clay pigeon shooting.

FEBRUARY 15th       OFFALY
Enjoy your morning at leisure at Kinnitty Castle; perhaps enjoy a walk amid the splendor of the Slieve Bloom Mountains. In the late morning, you will travel northwards to Tullamore in Co.Offaly and visit Tullamore Dew Heritage Center. The Centre, housed in the 1897 Bonded Warehouse, relates the story of Tullamore Dew Whiskey/Irish Mist liqueur and the development of the town. Visitors can wander through the various recreated working stations that were at the distillery such as malting, bottling or cooperage areas and learn how the whiskey was made. Throughout the tour visitors can interact with the artefacts, admire bees collecting honey for the production of Irish Mist, try out outfits worn on canal barges in the 1850's and learn about the history of Tullamore Town. The tour end with a complimentary tasting of Tullamore Dew Whiskey or Irish Mist liquer!

Traveling westwards, your next stop is Clonmacnoise in Shannonbridge, Co.Offaly. Saint Ciaran founded an early Christian site, one of Ireland's most famous monastic sites, in the 6th century on the banks of the River Shannon. The site includes the ruins of a cathedral, eight churches (10th - 13th century), two round towers, three high crosses and a large collection of early Christian grave slabs. The original high crosses and grave slabs are on display the Visitor Center.

Tonight, enjoy dinner and entertainment at Leap Castle. Leap Castle was once the Stronghold of the O'Carroll Chieftains in Ireland. The Castle has experienced many turbulent times through its 400-year history. Sean Ryan and his family purchased the Castle in 1991. Enjoy an evening of entertainment with storytelling, music, food and dance.

FEBRUARY 16th       KINNITTY TO DINGLE
This morning you will depart the midlands and travel southwards to Dingle in Co.Kerry via Co.Limerick. Your first stop this morning will be the Hunt Museum in Limerick. The Museum exhibits a unique internationally renowned private collection of over 2000 original works of art and antiquity collected by John and Gertrude Hunt over their lifetimes. The wide range and fascinating collection is a treasure trove which reflects not only the Celtic past but includes objects such as the Leonardo da Vinci horse, the Mary Queen of Scots Cross and one of the original "30 pieces of silver". Paintings include works by Renoir, Picasso and Yeats.

Continue southwards through the picturesque village of Adare in Co.Limerick to the Dingle Skellig Hotel where you will overnight for the next three nights. Dingle Skellig is a renowned hotel situated on the beautiful harbor of Dingle Bay. The hotel boasts a luxurious leisure club and pool; Jacuzzi, geyser pool, steamroom, gymnasium. Ki-massage, reflexology and aromatherapy. The restaurant's excellent cuisine specializes in locally caught seafood.

FEBRUARY 17th       DINGLE PENINSULA
The Dingle peninsula is particularly notable in that apart from possessing the highest peak in the country after MacGillycuddy's Reeks and some of the most magnificent coastal scenery in Munster, it preserves an unequalled series of Early Christian monuments, Iron Age fortifications and bee-hive huts which are now under the care of the state. Also a very large portion of the peninsula is a native Irish speaking area noted for its purity of its idiom. The town of Dingle enjoys a superb situation on its almost landlocked harbour, but the town itself has no traces of antiquity.

It was inevitable that the extraordinary landscape of the Dingle Peninsula would be captured on film, and it has played its part in the Ryan's Daughter and more recently in Far and Away. As one proceeds from the town of Dingle to Slea Head, the road commands fine views of the Atlantic and the Blasket Islands, which are a group of ironbound islands, uninhabited since 1953. Visit Gallarus Oratory, one of the most perfect relics of early Irish Christianity probably constructed around the year 800.

Visit Kilmalkedar where there is an interesting 12th century church consisting of a roofless nave with a good doorway and ornamented arch. In the churchyard there is an Ogham stone and an ancient sundial. As you proceed along this road view Mount Brandon in the distance en route back to Dingle town.

Return to Dingle town and enjoy your night at leisure. Dingle itself is an easy-going town where people of many nationalities meet at the height of summer, it has a number of fine restaurants that offer fare to please all palates. It is estimated that the town has over 50 pubs - from large and modern to pubs so small that five's a crowd! One pub is a travel agancy! another sells wellingtons and another that sells everything from beds to bicycles. Dingle also has the Cafe Liteartha, the most interesting bookshop in Kerry, where the business of browsing among books can be combined with the equally serious business of drinking tea and eating.

FEBRUARY 18th       DINGLE & TRALEE
Enjoy your morning at leisure in Dingle. Perhaps you would enjoy a boat ride (weather permitting) or a visit to Dingle Aquarium!. In the early afternoon, you will travel northwards to the town of Tralee in Kerry. Tralee sits in the shelter of Tralee Bay, with a panorama of sea and mountains stretching into the west. Lying in the heart of Kerry, the coast, lakes and mountains of the Kingdom are all within arm's reach. The town is the capital of the county, the hub of its affairs. The Celtic people who first settled here gave Kerry its name. The town itself was founded in the 13th century, first as a stronghold of the Earls of Desmond, then a borough under royal charter. Though much has been lost in the turmoil of history, the mark of former years is still present in Tralee's Georgian streets, the cut sandstone of its mills and churches, the simple style of the houses which line the old lanes of the town. Tralee has set about recovering that heritage. You will visit the Geraldine Experience, which recreates the town's medieval past.

Return to the Dingle Skellig where you will enjoy your farewell dinner.

FEBRUARY 19th       DEPART THE EMERALD ISLE
Alas it is time to bid farewell to the Emerald Isle. Your driver will bring the group to Shannon Airport where you will take your transatlantic flight to the US.

Slan Abhaile (Safe Home)!

COST - LAND ONLY

$957.00 USD

Air $348 plus tax on Aer Lingus from NY

INCLUSIONS

• 13th February x 1 night: Forster Court Hotel, Galway
• 14th February x 2 nights: Kinnitty Castle, Co. Offaly
• 16th February x 3 nights: Dingle Skellig Hotel, Dingle, Co. Kerry
• Full Irish Breakfast daily
• Dinner in your hotel in Galway on day 1
• Dinner in your hotel in Dingle on Day 1 & Day 3
• Dinner in Kinnitty Castle
• Dinner in Leap Castle
• Porterage of 1 bag per person at hotels & airports
• Luxury touring motorcoach throughout inclusive of drivers overnight accommodation & meals
• Morning coffee & scones on arrival
• Walking tour of Galway
• Entrance fees to: Clonmacnoise, Tullamore Dew, Hunt Museum Limerick, Gallarus Oratory, Geraldine of Tralee.
• Service & taxes