Northern Highlights Chauffeur Drive

Arrive in Dublin airport where you are met and assisted to the awaiting car by your friendly Irish driver and guide.  Transfer direct to your pre-booked hotel.

Intimate as a village, sophisticated as a metropolis and friendly as a pub, the capital of Ireland is a centre of infinite interest and variety. Monuments in literature and stone mark the history, writers, poets and people of Dublin. Mediaeval, Georgian and modern architecture provide a backdrop to a friendly, bustling port which can boast literary giants such as Shaw, Joyce, Yeats, Beckett and O’Casey as native sons. Spawned by the need to ford the River Liffey, fortified by the Danes, developed by the Normans, adorned with fine buildings by the Anglo—Irish, the city has grown in stature and elegance over the centuries.

Overnight - The Merrion Hotel, Dublin

A hearty Irish breakfast in your hotel and then you are free to explore Dublin’s ‘Fair City’ on your own.  A Dublin Bus Hop on / Hop off ticket is an easy way to do this.  

Fine museums and galleries chronicle the long and colorful heritage of this city. Fashion shops and boutiques rival the best in Europe. The theatres and concert halls attract prestigious national and international artists, while the pubs buzz with traditional entertainment, cabaret, jazz sessions and, of course, friendly and exuberant Dubliners.

Overnight - The Merrion Hotel, Dublin

After a hearty Irish breakfast in your hotel, we leave Dublin and travel north into the lush pasturelands of the Boyne Valley. The history of the area predates the Pyramids of Egypt, and has historical sites dating back to 5000 BC. The remarkable burial mounds of Neolithic man at Newgrange and Knowth still puzzle the experts. The straightness of the road to Slane, not a common characteristic in Ireland, is due to the romantic needs of a certain 18th century nobleman from Dublin whose mistress lived in Slane in County Meath. He had the road straightened to cut down on traveling time.

Continue thru’ the Mourne Mountains to Downpatrick, where St. Patrick established his first church in 432 AD.

Overnight - Grand Central Hotel, Belfast 

Spend a full day exploring Belfast City.  Take a tour of Belfast City Hall.  Visit the new Titanic Belfast Centre and the shipyard where the Titanic was built in 1909.

Northern Ireland has some of the most enchanting landscapes on the whole island from the rugged Atlantic-torn cliffs of Antrim in the north to the warm wooded shores of Carlingford Lough in the south.  The starting point for most visitors is Belfast, with its grand Victorian buildings, good pubs and the excellent Ulster Museum.  Hills and mountains rise to the north and west of the city which stands at the mouth of the River Lagan that flows through the city.  A ‘must see’ are the political wall murals located on the Protestant Shankill Road and the Catholic Falls Road - a unique cultural experience.  A cruise on the river taking in the Harland & Wolfe shipyard where the Titanic was built in 1909 and other famous sites associated with the vessel is a possibility. 

Hills and mountains rise to the north and west of Northern Ireland’s capital city, which stands at the mouth of the River Lagan that flows through the city.  The settlement dates from 1177, when John de Courcy invaded Ulster and built a castle nearby.   But Belfast’s history really begins in 1603, when the castle and lands of Belfast came into the possession of Sir Arthur Chichester who planted the land with settlers from Devon and Scotland.

Belfast’s linen industry thrived in the 17^th century, helped by the influx of Huguenots.  It grew rapidly in the 18^th and 19^th centuries because of its busy port, shipbuilding yards and linen industry.  The Industrial Revolution brought a new prosperity and many fine buildings from this time grace the city still, and are reminders of its prosperous past.

Overnight - Grand Central Hotel, Belfast

The Glens of Antrim, the Giant’s Causeway, Old Bushmills  Distillery, Dunluce Castle and Derry are today’s highlights as you travel from Belfast to Donegal.

Northern Ireland’s greatest attractions lie along its coast.  These range from the extraordinary volcanic landscape of the Giant’s Causeway to Carrickfergus, Ireland’s best preserved Norman castle.  There are also Victorian resorts like Portstewart, tiny fishing villages and unspoiled sandy beaches such as Benone Strand.  On the road north from Belfast you pass the nine green valleys of the Glens of Antrim leading to the Giant’s Causeway and Bushmills, home of the oldest whiskey distillery in the world.  In Londonderry or Derry as most people call it, you can walk the very well preserved 17^th century walls of this very historic city.  

Overnight - Lough Eske Castle, Donegal

This morning you can enjoy a leisurely breakfast at the Castle, and explore the grounds.  Donegal Town, Enniskillen, Malin Head, and Glenveagh are some of the places you can discover today.

This enchanted corner of Ireland lies off the beaten track and is an unexpected wonder to those who venture there. From the quaint charm of Donegal town, with its ruined castle and town square, to the stunning sunsets at Bloody Foreland, Donegal takes the breath away. All of Ireland has a great supply of physical beauty, and Donegal is no different. Ireland’s most northerly point, Malin Head, is on the Inishowen Peninsula where motorists can take the 160 km drive round and visit Fort Dunree spectacularly poised above Lough Swilly. The other peninsulas to the west offer delightful landscapes of incredible beauty. Deep in a lovely lake adorned valley is the Glenveagh National Park and castle where you can spend an enchanting day. Donegal tweed, renowned and imitated the world over for its texture and design, are a marvel to see being created on the loom, and a great souvenir to take home.
 
Overnight - Lough Eske Castle, Donegal

This morning you will travel through Co. Sligo, and on to Galway. Take a tour of rugged Connemara possibly the wildest and most romantic place in Ireland, or head straight to Galway and spend the afternoon exploring this fascinating city.

The region around Sligo Bay is known as Yeats’ Country - a romantic corner of Ireland watched over by the impressive bulk of Benbulben. Yeats is buried at Drumcliffe. Lough Gill, the Lake Isle of Innisfree and Lissadell House are other great landmarks of Yeats devotees.

The West of Ireland conjures up images of stone walled fields, mounds of brown peat, thatched cottages and red—haired children. They are all here in the heartland of Ireland where traditional values endure and hard work is good work. Connemara, that wild and haunting beauty, makes memory pictures that last. The soft curves of the Twelve Bens and the shimmer of silver on the waters, the bright yellow of the gorse and vivid red of the fuchsia create natural wonders to inspire poetry.

Galway is the main city in the west. It is known as the City of the Tribes as it was ruled for many centuries by a number of Irish patrician families.  Galway was an important port in the middle ages and it is said that Christopher Columbus stopped in Galway on his way to the New World.
 
Overnight - The Galmont Hotel, Galway

Sadly all good things must come to an end.  

NOTE: -  This itinerary is a suggestion only.  It may not be possible to include all areas / places mentioned.