City Break

Only coming to Ireland for a couple of days on a City Break? Here are a couple of options although, we can organize anything you like, the only limit is imagination !

2 nights/3 days in Dublin City Break

Day 1

Arrive at Dublin Airport and meet your Tour escort and driver. They will take you on a Coastal Tour around Dublin Bay, travel from the airport out to Howth village. After a short walk on the pier, board the Dublin Bay Boat to enter the city in style, the boat will take you around the coast and into the city and up the River Liffey where your coach (with your bags on board) will meet you again for a short city orientation and then take you to your hotel.

You will be free for the evening to explore the Medieval streets and Georgian Squares at your leisure.

Day 2

This morning, we take you on a leisurely stroll around the city with a local guide. The guide will show you some of the favourite hidden local spots as well as the iconic images such as Trinity College, Guinness Storehouse and Merrion Square. In the afternoon, you are free to find your own favourite spot in the city….maybe it will be afternoon tea in the Shelbourne Hotel or grab a salad from Fallon & Byrne on Exchequer St or a Brown Bread Ice-cream from Murphy’s on Wicklow Street and head over to the Cricket Grounds at Trinity College for a lunchtime picnic.

We will meet you back that evening at the hotel for a transfer to a traditional Irish night at a pub on the outskirts of the city.

Day 3

Depending on your flight time, we can include a visit to Glasnevin Cemetary en route back to the airport. The museum there explores life and death in Dublin city throughout it’s long history. The famous and infamous are buried here and the stories you here will leave you with a lasting impression of Dublin.

From Glasnevin, it’s only a 20 minute drive to the airport. Slán Abhaile (Safe home).

Dublin City Breaks

4 nights/5 days – Galway & Dublin City Break

Day 1

Arrive Shannon or Dublin airports. We’ll transfer directly to Galway (2 1/2 hours from Dublin or 1 hour from Shannon).

On arrival in the City of the Tribes, you’ll meet a local guide for a walking tour of the city, then after settling in at the hotel, you will be free to explore the nightlife around the city. There is music in almost every pub and the buzz around the city is always switched on!

Day 2

If you haven’t overdone it the night before, we will head out to Connemara today stopping at Dan O’Hara’s Cottage on the way where you will have a turf cutting lesson with the ‘Fear an Tí’ (man of the house). After a bit of hard work outside, Nora will serve her famous potcheen cake washed down with some strong tea.

From there, we’ll head over to the village of Roundstone for a pint and some oysters in O’Dowd’s Pub. The little village is where the movie ‘The Matchmaker’ was based. The whole area is heartbreakingly beautiful, every bend in the road gives even more beautiful views.

We’ll head back into Galway for the evening, maybe a quick stop for one in Spiddal on the way back in.

Day 3

No trip to the West of Ireland would be complete without a visit to the Cliffs of Moher, they stretch for 5 miles around the coast and while they can be busy, they are pretty special. Even in bad weather, it’s fairly spectacular, it can be really windy and cold but a brisk walk will leave you feeling exhilarated, getting all that fresh clean air into your lungs!

After a drive through County Clare, we’ll head back on the motorway to Dublin and should be there in late afternoon. Depending on what you would like, we could also make a stop at the Chic Outlet Shopping Kildare Village or at the Newbridge Silverware Museum (delicious cakes in the cafe). The museum itself houses fashion and jewelry from style icons throughout the years including outfits that belonged to Princess Diana, Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn.

A visit to the National Stud and Japanese Gardens might also be an option, the Queen of England made a stop here on her visit in 2011.

We will return to Dublin late afternoon so you can explore more of the city yourself.

Day 4

We can do as much or as little as you like today. We’ll definitely do an orientation of the city in the morning with a local guide and then you could follow suggestions listed above (on Day 3 in previous itinerary) or we can include a museum day – National History Museum of Ireland on Kildare Street, National Gallery, National Library and Natural History Museum all lie within a block of each other and Trinity College lies across the road.

Or we can take a boat out to Howth village from the city centre, from there do a cookery demonstration at the Kitchen in the Castle at Howth Castle, before returning to the city for the late afternoon.

Day 5

How are your nerves? Maybe a visit to the Croke Park Skyline Tour will test that out! It’s a harnessed walk along the very top of the Croke Park Stadium, the fifth largest in Europe! If you don’t think you’ll be able for that, maybe a visit to the Botanic Gardens as a more gentler option may suit. Both options are no more than 30 minutes to the airport.

Slán Abhaile! (Safe home).