Ireland Walk

Arrive at Dublin’s international airport or Cork’s international airport and take a group transfer to our first hotel, in the capital of the west of Ireland, the city of Cork.

This morning we concentrate on Ireland’s “second city.” Our morning walking tour begins at University College Cork before a visit to Blarney Castle, where those who wish can kiss the famous stone. After our walk around the superb grounds, we drive on to the beautiful riverside town of Kenmare, where we spend the next three nights in our Relais & Châteaux hotel.

Today’s walk leads us onto the southernmost of the three famous peninsulas that jut into the Atlantic Ocean. Beara is perhaps the least well known of these wonderful mountainous ridges. We will walk across low hills to the coast at the pretty little village of Eyeries near the mouth of the Kenmare River estuary, from where we return to our hotel by road. Dinner is on your own tonight, perhaps in a typical Kerry pub with local Irish music.

We head north from this delightful town up into the legendary Ring of Kerry, where the scenery is spectacular. Our route takes us along an ancient hill path that crosses the peninsula to Killarney National Park. After a picnic lunch in the heart of the mountains, we descend to a waterfall before returning to Kenmare by road.

We return to the Ring of Kerry and begin our day with a short walk to an isolated hunting lodge. From here a delightful boat ride takes us across the loughs (lakes) to the magnificent stately home of Muckross House, where Queen Victoria was once hosted. Here we have our picnic lunch before setting out for an afternoon walk around the edge of the lough, then driving on to our hotel in the center of the charming town of Killarney.

We concentrate on the Dingle Peninsula today as we walk around Sleagh Head, with breathtaking views across the water to the Blasket Islands, once the most westerly inhabited islands in Europe. On our way we can examine some of the ancient vernacular architecture of the west of Ireland as we visit beehive huts composed of local stone. This is some of the most sublime scenery in the region. After lunch on the beach, we continue our walk before driving on to the town of Dingle and from there back to our hotel.

We leave the southwest corner of Ireland and drive north to Tarbert, where we take a ferry across the mouth of Ireland’s greatest river, the Shannon. From here we make for the wild west coast at the famous Cliffs of Moher for our walk, which gives spectacular views over the dramatic coastline. After our picnic we continue our walk before driving on to our beautiful hotel in Ballyvaughan, where we spend the next three nights.

Our day begins with a short drive onto the Burren, a vast limestone pavement that lies across much of County Clare. Our walk leads up onto a plateau before we visit an early church hidden in the woods. After lunch we continue our walk through this wild and rocky landscape and on to the famous megalithic site of Poulnabrone Dolmen. We return to our hotel by road.

We leave our hotel and drive to the dockside at Doolin, where we take a ferry to the Aran Islands, the inspiration for so many stories and folk tales. Our walk today leads us to the much-photographed wreck of the Plassey on the island of Inisheer. We return by boat to Doolin this evening.

Our final day takes us north to the edge of County Clare, where our walk leads us around a magnificent headland overlooking the sea and the famous Galway Bay. After a final picnic lunch, we continue to Straffan to spend our last night in a beautiful country house and enjoy a celebratory farewell dinner.

Transfer to the Dublin airport for outbound flights.