Itinerary for The West Less Traveled
Please note: When traveling to Ireland from the United States you LOSE a day; returning you GAIN a day. There is a 5-hour time difference from East Coast Standard Time, 8 hours from PST.
Day One:
After transferring on our own from Shannon airport we will meet up at our B&B in Bunratty, within easy walking distance of Bunratty Folk Park, which features a re-created Irish village and an authentic, restored castle. We will get to know each other while enjoying a dinner featuring a trad (traditional) Irish music performance.
Day Two:
After looking around Bunratty in the morning we will board our luxury 16-seat bus for the drive to Portmagee, on the tip of the Iveragh Peninsula. Along the way we will stop for lunch and a private tour at Adare Manor, a stately mansion built in the 1830s by Lord Dunraven. It is now a 5-star hotel and golf course. We will also stroll through the thatched roofed village of Adare, dubbed Ireland's "cutest" village. We end the day at the seaside village of Portmagee, where we will stay in a guesthouse attached to its own pub and restaurant.
Day Three:
After a hearty breakfast we will board a small boat to make the trip out to Skellig Michael, an austere, rocky island where monks lived in stone "beehive" huts until the 12th century. For those who choose not to partake in the boat trip, our bus and driver will be available to explore the area surrounding Portmagee.
Day Four:
We leave Portmagee and drive around the famous Ring of Kerry, stopping at some lesser known sites, with a stop for lunch and look around in Kenmare, jumping-off point for the Beara Peninsula. After a leisurely drive down the west side of the Beara we will reach our guesthouse in the village of Allihies. In the evening after dinner we will begin getting to know some of the residents by visiting the local watering hole.
Day Five:
Today we meet up in Castletownbere with the chairman of the Beara Historical Society, who will be our personal guide for the day. We will visit the remains of Dunboy Castle and hear the fascinating "Seige of Dunboy" tale. We will visit several of the spectacular standing stones and Neolithic sites for which the Beara is famous and, weather permitting, we will board a cable car for the short ride over to Dursey Island, the southwesternmost point in Ireland.
Day Six:
Our exploration of the Beara continues, with opportunities to visit more ancient sites — the beautiful Gleninchiquin Park, the copper mines around Allihies, and a cliffside Buddhist retreat. Or you can just take off on your own for the day. The Beara Way crisscrosses the peninsula with spectacular views in all directions. There is also a large sandy beach, or "strand" near Allihies.
Day Seven:
We bid the Beara goodbye and travel up the west side of the peninsula and along the coast of County Cork. We will visit the elegant Bantry House, the 12th century friary, Timoleague, and stop for lunch in Kinsale. By late afternoon we arrive in Cork City where we will stay at a boutique hotel in the Shandon area, very close to downtown. We will have time for exploring on foot before finding our way to one of Cork's many fine restaurants. After dinner we will visit a trad music pub or take in a cultural event.
Day Eight:
We will spend most of the free day exploring Cork on our own before regrouping in the late afternoon and driving on to Adare, where we will spend our last night at a top-rated B&B. We will share a farewell dinner at a cozy restaurant. A taxi service will be available to take tour members to Shannon airport the next day.