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Self Drive Tour of Emerald Ireland (7 nights/8 days)

Dublin, Wicklow/Kilkenny, Waterford/Cork, Kerry, Clare, Galway, Westmeath, Return to Dublin.

Tour Ireland on our excellent customized self drive tour of Emerald Ireland. Spend a spectacular vacation in Ireland roving around the narrow roads and leafy lanes of Ireland on one of our most popular self drive tours. Commence your vacation in Ireland with a touchdown in thrilling Dublin, before embarking on a wonderful loop of the Emerald Isle encompassing its finest locations and most fantastic attractions. Prepare for a terrific trip of endless possibilities and timeless memories on your magical self drive tour of Emerald Ireland.

ACCOMMODATION	B&B’S	HOTELS	COMBINATION
Jan - Mar & Nov - Dec	€433	€510	On request
Apr & Oct	€455	€560	On request
May – Jul 16 & 20 Aug - Sept	€503	€608	On request
Jul 17 - Aug 20	€547	€652	On request

Prices per person based on 2 persons sharing with economy size manual car. All accommodations have private bathroom facilities. Note: Driver must hold a current driving licence valid for at least 1 year. You must be between 25 – 75 years old. Young drivers can be accommodated at an extra charge. Please contact us for details.

Package includes accommodation, breakfast each morning, exploring Ireland driving guide, heritage island guide, map of Ireland, car rental with unlimited mileage, insurances, CDW and taxes. Location service charge is excluded.

Day 1 - Dublin

Highlights

One of Europe’s most thrilling capitals, Dublin impresses on every level. Vibrant, youthful and energetic; the city pulsates with a compelling mix of cosmopolitan and traditional, a gripping fusion of hip and history. Lose yourself in one of its thousand bars all bursting with engaging characters in search of the ‘craic’. Crammed with a glut of boutique hotels, great shopping and chic restaurants, chock-full with museums and historical buildings, the capital doesn’t miss a trick.

Day 2 - Wicklow & Kilkenny

Highlights

Wicklow driving tour
Glendalough
Powerscourt House
Avondale House
Avoca Handweavers

Wild and wonderful Wicklow; a county of spectacular glacial valleys, towering mountain passes and forested glens. It is the land that time forgot with magnificent early Christian sites sharing the landscape with the elegant country homes of eighteenth century nobility. Lose yourself amongst the lush, rolling hills of the ‘garden of Ireland’, amongst which are nestled intimate villages, cascading waterfalls and dark, rippling lakes.

Kilkenny Highlights

Kilkenny Castle
Medieval Kilkenny City

Kilkenny’s Traditional Irish Music Pubs

Kilkenny welcomes visitors like long lost family, a few days here and you feel like a local, perhaps it’s because they have being entertaining guests since Norman times. Kilkenny is Ireland’s cosiest city, its winding medieval lanes secretively slumbering astride the meandering River Nore amongst rolling green hills, while Kilkenny Castle maintains it’s watchful vigil over the bustling town.

Day 3 - Waterford & Cork

Highlights

Waterford Crystal
Waterford City
Lismore Castle

Ireland’s oldest city, Waterford is a juxtaposition of medieval walls and elegant Georgian houses, of cobbled alleyways and modern thoroughfares. It contains the wondrous Waterford Crystal where you can marvel at the miraculous transformation of glowing-hot balls of glass into diamond-cut crystal.

Cork Highlights

Blarney Castle
Cobh Heritage Centre
Cork City
The Old Midleton Whiskey Distillery
Drombeg Stone Circle
Charles Fort

Corkonains are among the most friendly and hospitable people in the world and most visitors end up building a lifelong infatuation with Cork’s gentle charms. Oh, and make sure you pack a hefty appetite; the food in Cork is second to none. West Cork’s Atlantic battered coastline boasts a beautifully rugged natural beauty and is peppered with idyllic seaside villages.

Day 4 - Kerry

Highlights

The Ring of Kerry
Staigue Fort
Killarney National Park
Muckross House & Gardens
Killarney’s Traditional Music Pubs

Kerry is picture perfect, mythical Ireland - craggy cliffs overlooking perfect harbours, sleepy villages crammed with a cast of characters, multi-coloured cottages, sheep-filled traffic jams, tiny taverns filled with amiable locals pounding out wild traditional music. Kerry will stir the blood and lift the soul.

Day 5 - Clare

Highlights

Bunratty Castle & Folk Park
Cliffs of Moher
The Poulnabrone Dolmen
The Burren

Doolin Village

Clare is perfect desolation, the indescribable Burren flings it’s jagged limestone rocks from the plunging Cliffs of Moher as far as the eye can see. Hidden amongst this craggy desert are a bundle of prehistoric monuments, blankets of wildflowers and delightful villages like Corofin, Ballyvaughan and the secret Mecca of Irish traditional music – Doolin.

Day 6 - Galway

Highlights

Galway City

Galway Crystal
Kylemore Abbey
Galway Music & Theatre Venues
Dunguaire Castle
The Aran Islands

Weathered mountains, sheep studded hills, bogs and remote villages; all jaggedly sewn together by stonewalls and pounded by the mighty Atlantic forms the spellbinding beauty of Galway. Carved out of this tremendous landscape is legendary Galway City itself. Bohemian, funky and laid-back – revellers drink, sing and dance themselves around the curved, cobblestone lanes of this city steeped in history.

Day 7 - Westmeath

Highlights

Mullingar Market Town
Fore Monastic Site
Belvedere House & Gardens

Ireland’s hidden gem, Westmeath is a closely guarded secret. It is filled with beautiful lakes, lazy villages, intriguing period houses and gorgeous forest parks. The county possesses a wealth of attractions from the whimsical mansion house of Belvedere with it’s sinister past to the emerald green Fore valley and it’s seven wonders.

Day 8 - Departure

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Self Drive Tour of Emerald Ireland (7 nights/8 days)