UNITED STATES TO DUBLIN

Depart your hometown and take an overnight flight across the Atlantic. Enjoy in-flight entertainment and meal service as you travel to start your vacation.

DUBLIN ARRIVAL & DONEGAL

After landing at Dublin Airport, complete customs and immigration formalities.  Then your CIE Tours driver/guide will welcome you to Ireland and escort you and your luggage to the coach. Stop for breakfast at the Man O’ War restaurant and pub which has been standing on a hill on original Dublin to Belfast Road since 1595. Then travel northwest through County Meath and farming country to Cavan, a region dotted with many lakes. Travel along the delightful route which follows the shoreline of Lower Lough Erne. Upon arrival in Donegal, check into your hotel with some time to relax and settle in before joining your group for dinner in the hotel restaurant.

DINNER & OVERNIGHT:  MILL PARK HOTEL, DONEGAL

SLIEVE LEAGUE CLIFFS & GLENCOLUMCILLE

Donegal, with its windswept hills where only sheep can thrive, is renowned for wool production. Drive to the fishing port of Killybegs and on to Teelin to view Slieve League sea cliffs, where the highest point reaches 1,972 feet making them the highest in Europe. The cliffs drop straight down to the wild Atlantic waves below. Continue through craggy scenery to Glencolumbcille Folk Village. Visit traditional cottages showing period furnishings and farming equipment to get a flavor of country life in past centuries. Drive a short distance to Malinbeg which is located in the unspoiled beauty facing the Atlantic Ocean and Rathlin O'Byrne Island.  It offers spectacular views of the rugged Donegal landscape. Return to Donegal and enjoy a free evening to explore and dine on your own.

OVERNIGHT: MILL PARK HOTEL, DONEGAL

INISHOWEN PENINSULA

Today drive to the Inishowen Peninsula and travel the 100-mile route, which mainly follows the coastline and provides wonderful views. Stop in Buncrana, the peninsula’s largest town which sits on Lough Swilly, a deep inlet of the sea. Drive to the ruined 14th century Greencastle, overlooking Lough Foyle and was built by Richard de Burgo as an English stronghold from which to fight the Irish Chieftains, the O'Donnells and the O'Dohertys. However, the O'Dohertys took the castle. Next, stop at Culdaff to visit the Temple of Deen, a fine and well preserved megalithic monument, sometimes call the Laraghill Cairn which lies on the opposite side of the road to the Bocan stone circle atop the Hill of Deen. There are twenty large stones remaining at the forecourt and the first chambers are well preserved. Then travel south along the western shores of Lough Foyle to the Grianan of Aileach which is one of Ireland’s greatest circular ring forts. Archaeologists say that the fort itself dates from 500 BC or earlier, but the circular ramparts may go back as far as 5,000 years ago. Visit the Grianan of Aileach Visitor Center, housed in a former 150-year-old stone church, situated at the foot of the monument. Various exhibits and interactive multi-media displays provide background on the fort ranging from its history and mythology, to the flora and fauna of the area. Return to Donegal and spend the remainder of day and evening free.

OVERNIGHT: MILL PARK HOTEL, DONEGAL

CARROWKEEL & KNOCKNAREA

Head out of Ballinasloe and motor west to visit Carrowmore, the largest cemetery of megalithic tombs in Ireland, and the second largest in Europe. About 60 tombs, a variety of dolmens, stone circles, and passage graves dot the site, spread over an area roughly half a mile wide and one and a half miles long, from north to south. Many consist of a stone burial chamber, which contained cremated remains topped by a roof cap and surrounded by a circle of large stones. Radiocarbon tests on samples from one tomb date it to around 4000 BC. Drive north through County Mayo to visit Knocknarea mountain, the 327 meter (1014-foot) high limestone mountain is visually striking, as it is monolithic in appearance and stands in a prominent position on the Cúil Irra peninsula between the bays of Sligo and Ballysadare. Afterwards continue north along the Atlantic shoreline and through Donegal to visit Carrowkeel passage tombs. Set high on in the Bricklieve Mountains of County Sligo and projecting from the jagged edges of the hillside gorges. Most of the graves are round, built from limestone, and date from 2500 to 2000BC. Cairn K, in the center of the group, has a cross-shaped tomb with a sloping stone roof, and seems to have been designed as a kind of solar calendar, because it catches the rays of the rising sun on the longest day of the year. After your visit, drive to Ballinasloe for overnight stay.

OVERNIGHT: GULLANES HOTEL, BALLINASLOE

CLIFFS OF MOHER & DINGLE

Drive south passing through the Burren Country, a unique region of limestone hills renowned for its flora and prehistoric stone monuments. Stop to view the majestic Cliffs of Moher, a rocky wall that rises nearly 700 feet above the foaming Atlantic Ocean. Take a short ferry ride across the River Shannon Estuary to the mountainous countryside of Kerry. Drive onto the Dingle Peninsula and to the town of Dingle. Check in to your hotel with some time to take a stroll before dinner in the hotel restaurant

DINNER & OVERNIGHT: DINGLE SKELLIG HOTEL, DINGLE

DINGLE PENINSULA

Motor south along the peninsula to the tranquil setting of Dún Chaoin and visit Dunbeg Promontory Fort, which gives you an insight on this triangular fort that defended the landward side by a massive, restored dry-stone wall with elaborate entrance and internal terraces and to seaward by high, eroded cliffs. As you travel, you will see that the Dingle Peninsula has the largest collection of Ogham stones which may have been used as landmarks, or could also have been linked in with land ownership. One of the one of the finest ogham stones, overlooks the Blasket Islands on the summit of Dún Mór (the big fortress). After visiting the fort, continue to the very tip of the peninsula and visit the Blasket Centre in Dunquin to learn about the Blasket Islands, inhabited until 1953 by hardy families who eked out a living by farming and fishing. Next, visit the primitive stone “beehive” huts of the early monks and the Gallarus Oratory, built in the 6th century of unmortared stone and watertight after 14 centuries. Return to Dingle and enjoy the balance of the day and evening at leisure for independent activities and dining.

OVERNIGHT: DINGLE SKELLIG HOTEL, DINGLE

GREAT BLASKET ISLANDS FERRY

After breakfast, drive to Dún Chaoin to appreciate the beauty of the Dingle Peninsula by sea. Travel from the mainland by boat to the magical Great Blasket Island. As you cruise to the magical islands, relax and enjoy the wonderful nature, unique landscape and stunning seascapes. View the spectacular standing stones and ring forts before returning to Dingle for a free evening.

OVERNIGHT: DINGLE SKELLIG HOTEL, DINGLE

ENNIS WALKING TOUR & free time

Depart Dingle and drive into County Clare to reach Ennis.  Upon arrival embark on a walking tour of Ennis with a local guide to see the principal sights and learn some of the city’s vibrant history. Ennis takes its name from 'Inis' which is the Gaelic name for Island. The town dates back to the 11th century and is full of character with its narrow streetscapes, quaint shops and shop fronts. It also has many streets, monuments and markets which give the town a medieval feeling. After your tour, check into your hotel and enjoy the balance of the day and evening at leisure for independent activities and dining.

OVERNIGHT: OLD GROUND HOTEL, ENNIS

RETURN TO THE UNITED STATES

Sadly, today your Irish vacation has come to its final day. Transfer to Shannon Airport in good time to check in for your flight.   You may do some last minute shopping at the duty free stores.  Then clear U.S. Immigration before boarding your aircraft and flying across the Atlantic Ocean back to the United States.