[wptabs style=”wpui-green” mode=”horizontal”] [wptabtitle] <big>Northern Welcome Tour</big> [/wptabtitle] [wptabcontent]
This Northern Welcome Escorted Coach Tour of Ireland Includes 9 days/8 nights and 15 meals
Highlights:
Cabra Castle Hotel Stay
Merry Ploughboy Pub Dinner/Show
Titanic Belfast
Ulster American Folk Park
Farmhouse Tea & Scones
Achill Island Tour
Hotels
Superior & First Class:
Cabra Castle Hotel,Kingscourt (1 night)
Europa Hotel,Belfast (1 night)
Maldron Hotel Derry, Derry (2 nights)
Clew Bay Hotel, Westport (2 nights)
Stillorgan Park Hotel,Dublin (2 nights)
Tour Includes:
Sightseeing by luxury coach
Professional driver/guide
8 nights in hotels listed
Full breakfast daily (B) except on day 1
6 dinners (D) including
– Welcome dinner in Cabra Castle
– Merry Ploughboy Pub dinner and traditional show
– 4 table d’hote dinners
1 lunch (L)
Welcome get-together drink
Walking tours of Derry and Galway
Ferry ride across Strangford Lough
Tour of Belfast with a local guide
Tea and scones at Shean’s Heritage Farm
Achill Island tour
Farm visit for tea with scones and sheepdog trials
Dublin open-top bus tour with a visit and drink at Guinness Storehouse or Old Jameson Distillery
Visits and admissions to Down Cathedral, St. Patrick Centre, Titanic Belfast, Giant’s Causeway, Ulster American Folk Park, Tower Museum, Donegal Castle, Belleek Pottery Factory, W. B. Yeats’ Grave, Westport House and Kilbeggan Distillery Experience
Headsets for walking tours
Deluxe carry-on backpack, ticket wallet, luggage tags & strap
All local taxes, hotel service charges & porterage for one suitcase per person
[/wptabcontent] [wptabtitle] <big>Tour Pricing</big> [/wptabtitle] [wptabcontent]
2020 Prices
Mar 21 – Mar 29 – €2045
Apr 25 – May 3 – €2165
May 9 – €May 17 – €1830
Jun 6 – Jun 14 – €1925
Jun 20 – Jun 28 – €2285
Jun 27 – Jul 5 – €1925
Jul 11 – Jul 19 – €1925
Aug 1 – Aug 9 – €1925
Aug 29 – Sep 6 – €1885
Sep 5 – Sep 13 – €2245
Sep 12 – Sep 20 – €1925
Sep 26 – Oct 4 – €1885
Oct 17 – Oct 25 – €2005
Single Room Supplement is 321 Euro
[/wptabcontent] [wptabtitle] <big>Tour Itinerary</big> [/wptabtitle] [wptabcontent]
Tour Itinerary:
Day 1: Dublin Arrival & Cabra Castle Hotel
Your first hotel on this tour is 50 miles from Dublin Airport so ensure that you have made appropriate transfer arrangements. Your delightful castle hotel is set in spacious grounds with a 9-hole golf course so that you may relax for the balance of the day. Play a round of golf, explore the castle and grounds or relax and soak up the historic atmosphere. Your tour program starts at 6:00 pm in your hotel when you join your tour guide and fellow travelers for a welcome drink and dine in the hotel restaurant.
(D)
Day 2: St. Patrick’s Country & Titanic Belfast
Admire the gentle slopes of the Mourne Mountains and peaceful coastline as you travel north to Down Cathedral where St. Patrick is reputedly buried under a huge boulder. Visit the St. Patrick Centre to learn about the life and teachings of Ireland’s patron saint. Take a short ferry ride across Strangford Lough and drive along the shoreline to Belfast. Take a tour around central Belfast with a local guide and visit the magnificent Titanic Belfast, a state-of-the-art attraction located beside the docks where the RMS Titanic was built in 1912.
(B, D)
Day 3: Sheans Farm Tea with Scones & Giant’s Causeway
Drive north along the Nine Glens of Antrim, one of Ireland’s popular scenic routes to discover lovely views of mountains, valleys and coastline. This area is where many scenes from the “Game of Thrones” series were filmed. Visit Sheans Heritage Farm for tea with scones and a turf-cutting demonstration. Stop at the Giant’s Causeway, hexagonal columns formed by volcanic activity over 60 million years ago. The different rock formations have spawned a number of legends about the mythical giant, Finn McCool. Continue to your hotel in Derry and relax before dinner.
(B, D)
Day 4: Derry’s Walls & Ulster American Folk Park
Join a local guide for a short walk around Derry’s medieval city walls that completely encircle the old city center. Learn about the development of the settlement throughout the centuries and right up to today. Drive south to visit the Ulster American Folk Park near Omagh where you can see cozy cottages depicting a bygone way of life in rural Ireland with demonstrations of crafts and skills. Also see a typical sailing ship that would have transported emigrants as well as colonial American cabins as they would have been when Appalachia was settled. Return to Derry and visit the award-winning Tower Museum, filled with local artifacts, near your hotel.
(B, D)
Day 5: Donegal Castle & Belleek China
Travel through rugged countryside with magnificent scenery to Donegal town to tour Donegal Castle, built in the 15th century by an O’Donnell chieftain. Visit the Belleek Pottery Factory, founded in the 19th century to bring employment to the area. Belleek is renowned for its use of fine clay and you will see how the craftspeople shape and decorate the raw material to create the world-famous fine china. Pause at Drumcliffe Churchyard to view the grave of W. B. Yeats, the Nobel Prize-winning poet, who based many poems on the delightful countryside around Sligo. Drive through County Mayo to your hotel in Westport.
(B, D)
Day 6: Westport House & Achill Island Tour
Visit the stately Westport House, which overlooks the ocean and contains a wealth of interesting portraits, furniture, silver and porcelain. Travel around Clew Bay, which is reputed to have 365 islands, to access Achill Island by bridge. Follow the Atlantic Drive to capture wonderful views of steeply-sloped mountains plunging into the shimmering Atlantic Ocean. Near Slievemore see the Deserted Village, the remains of nearly 100 stone cottages abandoned around the time of the 1840’s Famine. Stop for a casual lunch and return to Westport where the evening is free for independent dining and perhaps exploring some of the fun, traditional pubs with live music.
(B, L)
Day 7: Galway, Kilbeggan Distillery & Merry Ploughboy Pub
Drive south for a gentle walking tour around central Galway to see Eyre Square, Galway Cathedral and the Spanish Arch. Then browse around on your own through narrow streets that are closed to traffic. On Shop Street view the medieval Lynch’s Castle that gave the English language a new word. Travel through the center of Ireland to visit Kilbeggan Distillery, the oldest distillery in the world, to see artisanal whiskey production and enjoy a sample of the finished product. Drive to your hotel in Dublin and head to the Merry Ploughboy Pub for dinner and a lively traditional Irish show.
(B, D)
Day 8: Bus Tour with Guinness or Jameson
Spend an additional day in Dublin with an independent Dublin open-top bus tour (valid for 48 hours), plus a visit to Guinness or Jameson.
(B)
Day 9: Tour Ends
Your program ends after breakfast.
(B)
B: Breakfast; L: Lunch; D: Dinner
[/wptabcontent] [wptabtitle] <big>Tour Highlights</big>[/wptabtitle] [wptabcontent]
Achill Island 
Achill Island is home to five picture postcard Blue Flag beaches, some of Europe’s highest cliffs and large tracts of blanket bog sweeping over the island’s two peaks and down to the shore. Achill Island, or as it is known by its Gaelic name Oilean Acaill, has a long history of human settlement with megalithic tombs and promontory forts dating back 5,000 years. There is also a 15th century fortified tower house, Kildamhnait Castle, the 19th century Acaill Mission and the poignant deserted villages at Slievemore and Ailt. This windswept Island, the largest of Ireland’s offshore Islands, has attracted people to its shores for generations and now you can drive across to it. Once on the Island there is spectacular Atlantic Drive which takes one along a 40km drive that includes the best of the Islands scenery. Walking and cycling along the quiet lanes and trails is also a wonderful way to discover the island’s interior. The Great Western Greenway is a new 42km long track for cyclists, walkers and runners which follows the route of the former Achill to Westport railway line. There are plenty of opportunities to fish, surf, dive and kayak here. There are also a number of well renowned craft shops and art galleries to explore as well as numerous festivals to attend
Giants Causeway 
The Giant’s Causeway is Northern Ireland’s most famous landmark and has been an official Unesco World Heritage Site since 1986. Formed between 50 and 60 million years ago, the ’causeway’ takes its name from the legends of Finn MacCool and draws people from far and wide to this corner of north Antrim. Whether you are just researching about Ireland or planning an Ireland vacation, The Giants Causeway is a must see! The north Antrim coastline in renowned for its scenic beauty and the Giant’s Causeway is its unique jewel in the crown, known to the Irish as the 8th Wonder of the World. A jagged promontory of neatly packed columns of hexagonal basalt rocks created some 6 million years ago by a flow of basaltic lava. As the lava cooled it formed these distinctive hexagonal shapes just as the bottom of a dried riverbed would crack into shapes
Belfast Titanic Exhibition 
The newly-opened Titanic Belfast is a “must see” visit in any tour of Belfast and Northern Ireland. It is located in the heart of Belfast, right beside the historic site of this world-famous ship’s construction. Housed in an iconic, 6-floor building, this state-of-the-art visitor experience tells the story of the Titanic, from her conception in Belfast in the early 1900s, through her construction and launch, to her famous maiden voyage and tragic end. The adventure begins the moment you walk through the door and into the building’s giant atrium surrounded by the four ‘ship’s hull’ shaped wings which house the Titanic Experience. As you journey through the nine large galleries of this state-of-the-art interactive exhibition, you will uncover the true story of the Titanic.
Guinness Storehouse 
Located in the heart of the St James’s Gate Brewery, which has been home to the black stuff since 1759, Guinness Storehouse is Ireland’s Number One Visitor Attraction and you simply cannot leave Dublin without having paid a visit. The massive seven-storey building, a former Guinness fermentation plant, has been remodeled into the shape of a giant pint of Guinness. A visit will teach you everything you ever wanted to know about this world famous beer from how Guinness is made to the ancient craft of Guinness barrel making in the Cooperage. The highlight for many visitors is the Gravity Bar. Here visitors receive a complimentary pint of Guinness and can relax and enjoy the breathtaking 360-degree views across Dublin City.
Tour Includes:
Sightseeing by luxury coach
Professional driver/guide
8 nights in hotels listed
Full breakfast daily (B) except on day 1
6 dinners (D) including
– Welcome dinner in Cabra Castle
– Merry Ploughboy Pub dinner and traditional show
– 4 table d’hote dinners
1 lunch (L)
Welcome get-together drink
Walking tours of Derry and Galway
Ferry ride across Strangford Lough
Tour of Belfast with a local guide
Tea and scones at Shean’s Heritage Farm
Achill Island tour
Farm visit for tea with scones and sheepdog trials
Dublin open-top bus tour with a visit and drink at Guinness Storehouse or Old Jameson Distillery
Visits and admissions to Down Cathedral, St. Patrick Centre, Titanic Belfast, Giant’s Causeway, Ulster American Folk Park, Tower Museum, Donegal Castle, Belleek Pottery Factory, W. B. Yeats’ Grave, Westport House and Kilbeggan Distillery Experience
Headsets for walking tours
Deluxe carry-on backpack, ticket wallet, luggage tags & strap
All local taxes, hotel service charges & porterage for one suitcase per person
[/wptabcontent] [/wptabs]
