An Irish Holiday in Luxury Hotels

D-8/8127, Vasant Kunj,
New Delhi - 110070
Phone: (011) 26137817 / 26122052 / 26121108

Day 1

From the airport travel into the city centre to explore what was in the 18th Centruy "The Second City of Europe" and is still one of the most fashionable places to visit.  Dublin has long been a centre of art and culture. Stroll through the elegant Georgian streets of Merrion and Fitzwilliam Squares, shop in the elegant emporiums of Grafton Street and Powerscourt Townhouse, explore the collections of the National Museum and National Gallery, the Irish Museum of Modern Art, and many fine small private collections. The range of art and artefacts is enormous, and you will have no problem spending many hours enthralled.. The city is over a thousand years old, and many of the towns and settlements that surround it are equally ancient. Successive centuries have left their distinctive overlays of character and architecture which means that Dublin has a wealth of historically significant and fascinating sights to explore such as Dublin Castle, where the Normans ruled from the 12th Century, St Patrick's Cathedral, of which Jonathan Swift was Dean, and Trinity College, famous for The Book of Kells and for its alumni who include Oscar Wilde and Oliver Goldsmith. And no visit to Dublin could be complete without visiting either the Old Whiskey Distillery or the Guinness Storehouse!   Your rooms will be ready by 2.00 pm

Dinner and overnight at Brookes Hotel or The Four Seasons

Brookes is an excellent 4* family run hotel in a quiet street in the city centre.  The Four Seasons is the most 5* elegant hotel in Dublin.

A Tour of Dublin's Fair City

Bank of Ireland , College Green The prestigious offices of Ireland 's national bank began life as the first purpose-built parliament house in Europe . Completed in 1739 it served as Ireland 's Parliament until the Act Of Union in 1801

Trinity College Founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth. Among many famous students to attend the college were playwrights Oliver Goldsmith and Samuel Beckett. Trinity's lawns and cobbled quads provide a pleasant haven in the hearth of the city. The major attractions are the Old Library and the Book of Kells, housed in the Treasury. Exit form the front of the Trinity complex and walk from College Green to Dame St and Continue west passing:

The Olympia Theatre - Dating back to the 1800s, this Victorian music hall-style theatre has a capacity of 1,300. It presents an eclectic schedule of variety shows, musicals, operettas, concerts, ballet, comedy, and drama. As a variation, for the late-night crowd, live bands are often featured after regular programs.  A brief diversion here will bring you into the trendy Temple Bar area. Across the Street is

City Hall  Erected between 1769 and 1779, and formerly the Royal Exchange. It is a square building in Corinthian style, with three fronts of Portland stone. Since 1852, however it has been the centre of the municipal government. The interior is designed as a circle within a square, with fluted columns supporting a dome shaped roof over the central hall. The building contains many items of interest, including 102 royal charters and the mace and sword of the city. Adjacent to City Hall is:

Dublin Castle Built between 1208 and 1220, this complex represents some of the oldest surviving architecture in the city, and was the centre of English power in Ireland for over seven centuries until it was taken of by the Irish Free State in 1922. Highlights include the 13th-century record tower, the largest visible fragment of the original Norman castle and the State Apartments, once the residence of English viceroys and now the focal point for government ceremonial functions, including the inauguration of Ireland 's presidents. At this point Dame St takes on the name Lord Edward St , and leads to

St. Patrick's Cathedral Ireland 's largest church was founded beside a sacred well where St. Patrick is said to have baptised converts around 450A.D. A stone slab bearing a Celtic cross and covering the well was un-earthed at the turn of the century(20th). It is now preserved in the west end of the cathedral's nave. The original building was just a wooden chapel and remained so until 1192 when Archbishop John Comyn rebuilt the cathedral in stone. Much of the present building dates back to work completed between 1254 and 1270.  Cut back to

Powerscourt Town House Centre The townhouse of a famous Georgian family. Today the building houses one of the cities nicest shopping centres. In the 1960's major restoration turned it into a centre of specialist galleries, antique shops, jewellery stalls, cafés and other shop units. Carry on to Grafton Street down the narrow Johnson Court Alley

Explore the Great Georgian Squares and Doorways.;  Visit the famous Phoenix Park, Home of our President Mary McAllesse;  See the delights of the city of Roddy Doyle, James Joyce, Brendan Behan, Sean O' Casey, Oscar Wilde and Nobel Prize winners W.B Yeats, George B. Shaw and Samuel Beckett.; See Guinness Brewery, O' Connell Street;  The U2 Wall, The National Museum & Gallery

The U2 Wall

And of course Molly Malone herself "In Dublins fair city, where the girls are so pretty, I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone As she wheeled her wheel-barrow, through streets broad and narrow, Crying cockles and mussels, alive, alive o!"

Day 2

 The Battle of the Boyne is the location of the first major clash in Ireland between Williamite and Jacobite forces in 1690, a watershed in Irish and European history. Enjoy the Irish countryside as we travel along the banks of the river Boyne .  On to Monasterboice High Cross and the old monastery of St. Buite where you can see the amazing craftwork of the early Irish monks in the form of the Spectacular Muiredeach's High Cross.  Visit Mellifont Abbey, one of the first Cistercian abbeys in Ireland  Nearby is Newgrange, over 5,000 years old and a place of immense sacred importance to Ireland's earliest inhabitants, whose abstract stone carving still communicate with us across the nillenia.

Visit Slane where St. Patrick arrived in the early 5th century, He challenged the Druids authority by lighting the Pascal Flame - advancing the cause of Christianity in Ireland.  

Visit the ancient Hill of Tara, coronation site for Irish High Kings, where our Druid forefather ruled supremely before the arrival of Christianity. Traditionally this location was used for Pagan festivals. View 23 of Ireland 's 32 counties from this vantage point.  Either return to Dublin from here or head on to Trim with its great Norman Castle, setting for the movie Braveheart.

Day 3

County Wicklow , known as the Garden of Ireland ,  is 750 square miles of rolling hills, mountains, and waterfalls. Visit Powerscourt House and Gardens, located in a stunning natural setting at Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow, approximately 45 minutes from Dublin city centre. A magnificent period home dating from mid 18th century, overlooking wonderful terraced gardens and an ornamental lake, Powerscourt House was partially destroyed by fire in 1974. A long restoration project ensued during which the ballroom and the garden rooms were rebuilt.  On site at Powerscourt is also Ireland 's premier shopping emporium "Avoca Hand Weavers".

Explore Glendalough, follow in the footsteps of Saint Kevin, who established this spectacular 6th century monastic settlement, deep within the Wicklow Mountains , surrounded on all sides by steep mountain passes. Glendalough the valley of two lakes is one of the most spectacular locations to visit in Ireland . We will guide you through this mystical location, explore the round towers, cathedrals, high crosses, and enjoy a truly memorable stroll through the valley of two lakes.

Return to Dublin through the wild mountain landscape.

Day 4    Leave Dublin for  Killarney and Kenmare.

Deviate off through the little towns such as Nenagh, and Roscrea, each with its Norman Castle, market square and busy shops.  Limerick is a busy city and has several major attractions - the Hunt Museum in the 18th century customs house, King John's Castle, St Mary's Cathedral and the Georgian House on Pery Square .  Adare, a very pretty village and well worth a stop. There are three abbeys here as well as the Desmond Castle and the Trent Jones golf course surrounding the neo-gothick Adare Manor. Overnight The Killarney Park Hotel.

Day 5, 6 & 7

Over the next couple of days explore the three famous peninsulas of Kerry - The Ring of Beara, The Ring of Kerry and The Dingle Peninsula. Each takes a full day of over 100 miles of stunning seaside with the mountains always beside you. Kerry is a land of contrasts - velvet green golf courses, empty golden beaches, rugged cliffs, exotic gardens, wild scenery, unchanged since the ice age, hidden communes of artists and writers, stone age monuments, and fish filled rivers and lakes. When going around the Ring of Kerry be sure to visit St Flanans Bay where the wild fuchsia carpets the countryside and the Skellig Chocolate Company for the best chocolate in the world. A very spiritual place is the shrine in the slate quarry on Valentia island - take the car ferry from Cahirciveen and rejoin the mainland by the bridge to Ballinskelligs. On the Dingle Peninsula do explore the early Christian beehive huts and visit Louis Mulcahy's pottery. Fungi the dolphin is another must in Dingle - a wild dolphin who shows off for the fishermen. And if you seek complete tranquillity then explore the Ring of Beara, whose roads are too narrow for the tour buses so it has remained far wilder than the other peninsulas.   

Daniel O'Connell, the famous politician was born at Cahirciveen, and lived at Derrynane House, just beyond Waterville. The O'Connells are the most important of the Kerry septs, and controlled much of the western area from Killorglin to Sneem.  Overnight The Killarney Park Hotel.

Sheen Falls	Ring of Kerry	Kenmare

Day 8

Leave Kerry and head towards Dunbrody house on the Wexford Waterford borders.

Blarney Castle , with its eloquent stone is a short deviation off the road to the north. The Cobh Heritage centre presents a fascinating story of emigration to America and as you rejoin the main road to Cork the gardens of Fota Island and Barryscourt Castle are worth a visit.  Ballymaloe, with its shell house and associations with William Penn, is just to the South of Midleton, home of Irish Whiskey.  Shortly before Dungavan the church and holy well at Ardmore is delightful, as is the church in Youghal, where Sir Walter Raleigh worshipped   Overnight Dunbrody House

Day 9, 10 & 11