Adams & Butler - Luxury Travel Experts
Tel +353-1-2889355 Fax 353-1-2889282
book@irishluxury.com
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Offer
Experience the abundance of the un-exploited & un-trampled gardens of Ireland where a profusion of plants grow with unparalleled exuberance; and to every gorgeous garden there is a house with a fascinating history & a wonderful interior. This itinerary will suit all interests from gardener to decorator, antique collector to historian. In 6 days you will see more than a quarter of Ireland and most of its finest houses and gardens.
Day 1 Arrive Dublin. Your driver/concierge will meet you at the airport & take you to the your Hotel. Your driver will be able to answer any questions and help with arrangements. A gentle day is suggested, strolling in the park, wandering around the city, or enjoying some of the spa treatments at the hotel.
Day 2 Your guide will meet you at breakfast and give an overview of Irish houses and gardens. First stop will be Airfield Garden, a time capsule from 1880 surrounding a manor house on the southern outskirts of the city. Here you will find rare and unusual plants sourced from around the world, many obtained from seed and plant exchanges with other plant collectors and gardeners. You'll then depart for a tour of the National Botanic Garden. The Botanic Gardens were established in 1795 ; occupying a beautiful forty-eight acre site on the banks of the Tolka River & contain over 20,000 different plant species and Turner's magnificent Victorian curvilinear glasshouses. Then on to Malahide Castle to see The Norman castle with its impressive collection of portraits and 18th century furniture and The Talbot Botanic Gardens. The Gardens are over 8ha with an emphasis on plants from Lord Talbot’s Australian estates. You'll spend a little time today seeing some of the more traditional sites of Dublin including St Patrick's Cathedral.
Day 3 After breakfast visit an old-fashioned terraced Regency house, near the centre of Blackrock. Lunch at Powerscourt Gardens. Set in the foothills of the Wicklow Mountains, it is a sublime blend of formal gardens, sweeping terraces, statuary and ornamental lakes together with secret hollows, rambling walks and over 200 varieties of trees and shrubs. Our final visit will be to Fernhill Gardens There the giant Wellingtonian redwoods in the broadwalk at Fernhill form a cathedral-like aisle. Beyond them stretches the greeness of the Victorian laurel lawn and a magnificent springtime blaze of colour from rhododendrons and azaleas. Dine at leisure in the hotel or one of the nearby restaurants.
Day 4 First to a romantic Victorian garden, with "a jungle area of walks, pool, shrubs, ferns, rose beds and an old orchard, with apple trees festooned with roses and clematis". On to Mount Usher, a lovely 8ha 1850s "Robinsonian" garden, laid out along the Vartry River. The Earl of Meath’s stately home Killruddery is your next stop - unique in having the most extensive early formal gardens, still in their original style, surviving in Ireland. On to an Italianate sea side villa. A Mediterranean grove was planted with a Cork tree as its centrepiece. In the remains of this romantic wilderness designed a garden punctuated by a collection of architectural follies Return to Dublin for tea at The Dillon Garden - an urban garden, an oasis in the city, where a series of little gardens, each with a different theme, are arranged around a central stretch of water. Dine at leisure in the hotel or one of the nearby restaurants.
Day 5 Harristown House was originally built in 1740 by one Whitmore Davis as the country seat of the La Touche family. For more than 150 years the late Georgian house stood undisturbed, overlooking the Liffey and adjacent parklands. From there on to The Japanese Gardens at Kildare, created from 1906 by the Japanese gardener Tassa Eida. The the Japanese Gardens were planned to symbolise the 'Life of Man' from the cradle to the grave. On to Coolcarragin, approached by a long, woodland avenue with a large collection of rhododendrons and azaleas. The formal gardens around the house have a good herbaceous border, rockeries and fine Victorian greenhouse and a very interesting collection chosen by plantsman, Sir Harold Hillier. Return to Dublin via Castletown House, the largest Palladian mansion in Ireland, and Primrose Hill in Lucan, a lovely, old-world garden. Dine at leisure in the hotel or one of the nearby restaurants.
Day 6 At Straffan the 18th Century walled garden adjoining Lodge Park has been under restoration for the last few years and the old brick-faced walls are clothed with climbers, fruit trees and roses. Your next stop, Larchill, is one of Ireland's most important, mid 18th century 'Ferme Ornée' (Ornamental Farm) - the only surviving complete garden of its type in Europe with 10 magical garden follies. On to Beaulieu Gardens, Drogheda to see both the magically beautiful 17th century house and the walled garden which was designed by Van De Hagen and is one of the earliest examples of an Irish walled garden . Your last visit is to Knockabbey Castle & Gardens are currently under major restoration. They reveal some of the finest historical water gardens to be found anywhere in the country, dating back to the 11th century. The gardens contain a wide range of magnificent specimen trees and the tulip tree ranks among the largest and finest in Ireland.
Return to Dublin for a farewell dinner.
Day 7 Depart Dublin Airport
Your tour includes 6 nights accommodation, breakfast every day, all
admissions and transport within Ireland and a farewell banquet
Adams & Butler - Luxury Travel Experts
Specialists in Ireland, Scotland, England, Aspen, South Africa & Kenya
The Carriage House,58 Foster Avenue
Mount Merrion, Co. Dublin, Ireland
Tel +353-1-2889433 Fax 353-1-2889282
book@irishluxury.com
US Toll Free 1-800-8945712
http://www.privateluxurytravel.com http://www.irishluxury.com
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