Ireland Forever
Create family memories in Ireland. Have fun at step dancing lessons and go on a Dublin treasure hunt. Learn pottery making and Celtic jewelry design with a local artisan. Go on a bike ride along the Lakes of Killarney lakeshore and walk with a hawk at Dromoland Castle.
- 18 meals (7 breakfasts, 5 lunches, 6 dinners)
- All gratuities to Tauck Director, local guides and drivers
- Service charges, taxes, and porterage
- Airport transfers on arrival and departure as noted
- Private sightseeing in Dublin aboard a World War II amphibious vehicle
- Step dancing lessons and a Dublin treasure hunt
- Pottery making and Celtic jewelry design with a local artisan
- A farm-fresh cooking demonstration and dinner with entertainment
- Sheep dog and sheep shearing demonstrations
- A walk with a hawk at Dromoland Castle
Your family's Ireland vacation begins: 3:30 PM, Conrad Dublin. A transfer is included from Dublin Airport to the Conrad Dublin hotel, centrally located in the heart of the Irish capital steps from St. Stephen’s Green. With a bustling city center and the River Liffey running through the middle of it, the best way to explore Dublin is is by land and water! You'll get a great introduction aboard a "Viking Splash Tour"... see all sides of the city while traveling aboard a World War II amphibious vehicle – its medieval core and Georgian squares... Trinity College... St. Patrick’s Cathedral and much more. Please join us for a welcome reception and dinner tonight, where we kick your off a week of fun on your Tauck Bridges Ireland vacation with Celtic music and Irish step dancing lessons!
The city of Dublin dates back to the 9th century, when seafaring Vikings founded a settlement here. This morning, you'll hunt for clues to its ancient history – and meet some costumed characters of days past – as you go on a scavenger hunt in the city's very old streets that ends in Trinity College with a look at the Book of Kells, dating back to the 9th century. Following lunch at a traditional Irish pub in a centuries-old setting, the rest of the day is free to explore as you please.
Continue your Ireland vacation adventure as you travel first class from Dublin on a train bound for the Irish countryside at the southern tip of the Emerald Isle. There, in County Cork, you’ll visit the legendary Blarney Castle, where high up in the battlements await views of green lands... and a chance to lay a kiss upon its famous stone. Be prepared for a backward bend, or two, and a gift – of the gab! After a fitting welcome at Castlemartyr Resort, where you'll spend the next three nights, Irish eloquence of another kind will be yours to enjoy at tonight’s private barbecue, featuring an Irish storyteller.
Enjoy a leisurely morning on the grounds of your Irish home-away-from-home before heading to the Kinsale Pottery and Art Centre for a tour and an artful, hands-on afternoon spent making colorful ceramic pottery and traditional Celtic jewelry. Local artisans show you how to make traditional pottery, helping you hand-build and paint your sculpted piece. You’ll also get to try your hand at Celtic jewelry making using a range of skills covered in today’s class – from design to threading, knotting, fitting crimps and finishing – all in a workshop in the converted stables of the home farm for Ballinacurra House, which dates from the late 1700s. You'll have some free time to explore the town of Kinsale prior to returning to your resort for a free afternoon before dinner tonight.
Have fun working up an appetite for a home-cooked Irish dinner tonight by enjoying a variety of outdoor activities at your resort this morning – including golf, hurling, archery*, and pony trap* rides. After lunch, head out to Ballymaloe, the only cookery school in the world located in the middle of its own 100-acre organic farm. Join your culinary hosts for a guided tour of the gardens and the working farm, experience a cooking demonstration by expert chefs... then show what you've learned when you pair up and cook your own authentically Irish dinner! After you've enjoyed the fruits of your culinary efforts, the fun continues when an Irish musician performs for your group tonight.
Say goodbye to Castlemartyr and continue your Ireland family vacation through lovely, lush landscapes to Killarney. There's no better way to explore Ireland than by bicycle, and that's just what you'll do today on a bicycle ride along the lakeshore of the world-famous Lakes of Killarney – among the most beautiful places in Ireland. Say hello to the townsfolk during lunch in Killarney, then depart for Newmarket-on-Fergus. Have you ever spent the night in a real castle? You will tonight – and tomorrow night too – as we roll out the red carpet for you in Dromoland Castle!
Keep your camera at the ready today as you travel to the County Clare coast to visit one of the world’s most photographed natural wonders. Some five miles long, the Cliffs of Moher soar 659 feet over the crashing Atlantic Ocean waves below, providing you with amazing bird’s-eye views of the craggy Irish coast... can't wait to see the pictures! Back on your castle grounds, you'll learn how to take a bird walk – with a hawk*! More fun for all ages awaits when you head to a nearby farm in the Irish countryside for an evening of farewell festivities to remember. Watch skilled dogs herd the farm’s woolly flocks; see a sheep shearing demonstration; feed the lambs; dig into a hearty, home-cooked Irish dinner... and more. It's the perfect way to end your family's perfect Ireland vacation adventure!
Your family's Tauck Bridges Ireland vacation ends: Newmarket-on-Fergus. Fly home anytime. A transfer is included to Shannon Airport from Dromoland Castle. You should allow a minimum of 3 hours for flight check-in.
Ireland Forever, by Tauck Bridges
