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10 Day Taste Of Scotland & Ireland
Overview
Highlights (Bullets)
- Enjoy a true Scottish Evening
- Enjoy a Dublin Canal Cruise Dinner
- Visit Bunratty Castle Medieval Banquet
- Embark on a Loch Ness Scenic Cruise
- Visit the Cliffs of Moher
- Enjoy a jaunting car ride to view Ross Castle set on Lough Leane.
- Visits and admissions to Provand’s Lordship, Spean Bridge Woollen Mill, St Andrews, Edinburgh Castle, Titanic Belfast, Book of Kells at Trinity College, Blarney Castle, Blarney Woollen Mills, Skellig Experience, Cliffs of Moher
Short Description
Glasgow is a city that flourished in Victorian times due to the shipbuilding industry and international trade. Travel alongside the famous Loch Lomond, renowned for its unsurpassed beauty. Travel through the deep valley of Glen Coe, notorious for the Campbell massacre of the Clan Macdonald in 1692. Drive south through Ayrshire and along the coast. At Cairnryan take a ferry ride to Belfast for a visit to Titanic Belfast.
Itinerary
Day 1: Glasgow Highlights
Meals: Dinner
Your Scottish trip starts at 2:30 pm when you meet your tour director at your Glasgow hotel and set out on an introductory tour of central Glasgow. This is a city that flourished in Victorian times due to the shipbuilding industry and international trade. Drive around George Square with its ornate City Chambers and visit Provand’s Lordship, Glasgow’s oldest house built in 1471. The house was originally part of a hospital and has been extensively restored and furnished. Join your tour director, guide and travel companions for a welcome drink before dinner.
Day 2: Loch Lomond & Loch Ness Cruise
Meals: Breakfast and Dinner
Travel alongside the famous Loch Lomond, renowned for its unsurpassed beauty and through Glen Coe, often considered one of Scotland’s most spectacular and beautiful places. Drive through Fort William and stop at a woolen mill for some refreshment and shop for quality Scottish goods. At Fort Augustus embark on a short cruise on Loch Ness to keep an eye out for “Nessie.” Continue your journey north to Nairn for your next overnight stay.
Day 3: Whisky Tasting & St Andrews
Meals: Breakfast and Dinner
Drive to Blair Athol Distillery in Pitlochry to see how whisky is distilled and sample some before continuing south to St Andrews, renowned as the “Home of Golf”. Take a panoramic drive around and then spend some time exploring on your own. Head towards Edinburgh and your gracious manor house hotel, set on 1,000 acres with two golf courses and spa facilities a few miles from the city. Dine at a Scottish Evening on some excellent local cuisine with haggis, followed by a lively show with bagpipes, kilts and Highland dancing.
Day 4: Edinburgh Castle & City Tour
Meals: Breakfast
This morning tour the principal sights of central Edinburgh. Drive along the bustling Princes Street and through the gracious, wide streets of the 200-year-old Georgian New Town. Walk along part of the Royal Mile. Visit Edinburgh Castle, which dominates the city and contains the Scottish Crown Jewels and the Stone of Scone. The balance of the day is free. On August 01 to 22 departures, seats are reserved for the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.
Day 5: Ferry to Ireland & Titanic Belfast
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch
Depart Edinburgh early this morning and drive south through Ayrshire and along the coast. At Cairnryan take a ferry ride to Belfast and enjoy a casual lunch on board. Visit Titanic Belfast to learn about this famous liner which was built in the adjacent docks. State-of-the-art displays describe working conditions in the shipbuilding industry and the construction of the Titanic. Drive south to Dublin and check in to your hotel, located overlooking Dublin Bay. The evening is free.
Day 6: Dublin Sightseeing & Canal Dinner Cruise
Meals: Breakfast and Dinner
Tour central Dublin today to see fashionable shopping areas around Grafton and Nassau Streets, view elegant Georgian squares and pass the General Post Office, where the 1916 Uprising started. Take a brief walk through Trinity College with a student guide to view the illuminated manuscript of the 8th century Book of Kells and learn how monks created this and other masterpieces. In the evening enjoy a canal dinner cruise with traditional Irish music aboard a former Guinness barge through central Dublin.
Day 7: Farmhouse Tea & Blarney Castle
Meals: Breakfast and Dinner
Travel through the midlands of Ireland, stopping for photos at the stately Rock of Cashel. Visit a farmhouse for tea with scones and watch skilled sheep dogs herd sheep. Continue south to visit Blarney Castle and kiss the famous “Stone of Eloquence.” Also visit the Blarney Woollen Mills where you can find quality Irish-made goods. Drive to Killarney, picturesquely set beside lakes and mountains where you’ll check in to your hotel and relax before dinner. Afterwards you may like to explore some of Killarney’s famous “singing pubs.”
Day 8: Ring of Kerry & Skellig Experience
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch
Experience a jaunting car ride to view Ross Castle set on Lough Leane. Then embark on the Ring of Kerry drive – a winding route with breathtaking sights of mountains and coastal views. Drive through Killorglin and Cahirciveen to cross the bridge to Valentia Island. Visit the Skellig Experience, which explains the life of early Christian hermits on Skellig Michael, a rocky offshore island, and how it featured in the “Star Wars VII” movie. Enjoy a casual lunch and stop in the pretty village of Sneem. Pause at Moll’s Gap for panoramic mountain views and return to Killarney where the evening is free.
Day 9: Cliffs of Moher & Castle Banquet
Meals: Breakfast and Dinner
Take a ferry ride across the River Shannon to reach the Cliffs of Moher, a spectacular wall of sandstone that reaches 700 feet above the Atlantic Ocean. Check in to Bunratty Castle Hotel, close to Bunratty Castle and Folk Park. If you wish, you may visit the Folk Park, have a drink in the 200-year-old Durty Nelly’s Pub or shop at the Bunratty Mills. In the evening head to either Bunratty or Knappogue Castle for a memorable medieval-style feast where the lords and ladies will serenade you with song and harp music, evocative of the Middle Ages.
Day 10: Tour Ends Shannon
Meals: Breakfast
Your program ends after breakfast today.
Availability
- Deposit Price: $ 270
- Single Supplement: $ 539
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195 CIE Tours Travel Reviews & Ratings
10 Day Taste Of Scotland & Ireland
Our Guide was awesome. John did an amazing job
Best vacation ever
We had a phenomenal time
Both countries were exquisite and this tour showed us the best of both Scotland and Ireland.
We definitely would book another trip with CIE.
Company Reviews
Terrible Company
Pick another tour company
To make matters worse, the hotel accommodations ranked more as lower end budget hotels—in particular Fosshotel Nupar which we were stuck at for two nights was filthy. The bedding while clean (I hope) was stained which was disconcerting, the room safe was inoperable and not fixed. When we dropped something on the floor and had to retrieve it from under the bed, the filth beneath the bed was nasty. Ostensibly, this hotel was picked because it was out in the middle of nowhere to facilitate viewing the northern lights. And yet, there were not wake up calls available for that. In fact, there weren’t any phones in the room. There was no way to notify guests if there were Northern Lights (which was one of the main points of this tours.)
The Hotel Selfoss was supposed to have had an outdoor hot tub to be able to watch the Northern Lights if they were visible. Well, the hotel did not have an outdoor hot tub. Also given the location of the hotel, I’m not sure they would have been visible there. For the price of this tour, the accommodations at Hotel Selfoss were, at best, mediocre.
Iceland was on my bucket list, and I saved for a long, long time to be able to travel there with my daughter. For the price (and compared to other tours I have taken) this was a very overpriced tour which under-delivered in every single capacity and at every single turn.
The only saving grace was the natural beauty of Iceland, but I’m certain that if CIE could have ruined that, they would have.
Perfect First Time Segue into Ireland
Pros and cons:
The bus was clean and comfortable. Information was always at the ready. Atmosphere was upbeat, fun, pleasant.
Hotels were modern and well equipped. Yes, there were washcloths except in Dunboyne Castle. No AC but fortunate for a cool night and awakening to the sounds of birds and peacocks was an unexpected pleasure. The Newpark Hotel was nice but water pressure was too weak for a hair wash. The breakfasts were always hearty but monotonous in both selection and presentation. This is not a “con” as much as an observation. None of the hotels except for Killarney, were in a city/town center. That meant taxis or 15-30 minute walks for “dinner on own” nights. Hotel restaurants and bars were always available and not bad but, simply did not lend themselves to the Irish experience. Last night dinner at Abbey Tavern OK but definitely not worth the hour traverse across Dublin to get there. Would have stayed behind and eaten in town had we known. Seems this would have been a better place to begin tour rather than end it, given the start and end hotel locations. And the lively Irish song and dance would be a great way to kick off the trip.
The itinerary was what we expected, covering the miles we did in only 8 days. “Time on own to explore” was rarely more than 90 minutes or so. Shopping at Moriarty was lovely for the high end Irish goods it offered though we were not aware that it was government owned at the time. We learned after holding out for this particular excursion that there was more variety and more economical choices along the way, both before and after, if you made shopping a priority when on own. We did not, preferring eateries and pubs.
Castle tours, museum tours, walking tours all excellent.
Sheep farm, excellent. Food there excellent
Pub stops and talks, lunches and drinks, excellent
Historic site visits, humbling and awe inspiring
Kilkenny Design Center lunch, tasty but poor bordering on rude service. Rush you in/rush you out venue. Skip the free food and find a local pub.
Aran Island lunch- Stuck with it because bus drove directly to this location but even though we had to pre-select the choices they ran out of some items and rather rudely stated, “ this is what we’ve got”. Food wasn’t bad but attitudes were abysmal.
Every part of the trip went off with smooth transitions, no stress, no worry. This was largely due to Frankie, our wonderful tour guide. We would definitely recommend CIE for it’s value and service. The tour was exactly as described with some wonderful surprises along the way.
Details
Flight & Transport Inclusions
All internal ground transport
Group Size
Standard Group - 25 + people
Accommodations
The Glasgow City Hotel
Glasgow (1 night)
Newton Hotel
Nairn (Sun & Tue depts.) or
Columba Hotel
Inverness (Fri depts.) (1 night)
Marriott Dalmahoy Hotel
Edinburgh (2 nights)
Royal Marine Hotel
Dun Laoghaire, Dublin (2 nights)
Killarney Avenue Hotel
Killarney (2 nights)
Bunratty Castle Hotel
Bunratty (1 night)
Cancellation policy
All cancellations must be advised in writing (by mail, fax or e-mail) to CIE Tours prior to tour departure during normal business hours (9:00 am to 5:00 pm GMT/BST, Mondays through Fridays). Cancellations received within 70 days of departure date are subject to the following penalties on the land portion:
Between: 70 days or longer Forfeiture of deposit
69 & 46 days 25% per person
45 & 8 days 35% per person
7 & 1 days 50% per person
On day of departure 100% per person
Minimum cancellation fees are $38 per person.
Trip ID#:
TasScoCie
Meals Included
9 Breakfasts, 1 Lunch and 6 Dinners
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