You’ll arrive in Dublin with twelve days of Celtic adventure ahead, meeting your Travel Director and the fellow travelers who’ll share the journey with you. On your orientation drive, you’ll begin to find your bearings in Ireland’s capital, perhaps passing the River Liffey, Georgian terraces and some of the city’s familiar landmarks as Dublin unfolds beyond the window. The evening is yours. Follow the glow from a pub doorway, listen for live music drifting into the street or wander towards the river as the city lights begin to shimmer on the water, enjoying your first taste of Dublin entirely your way.
Begin with your Local Specialist among Dublin’s old brick courtyards, colorful streets and Gothic spires, with centuries of stories waiting behind the city’s familiar landmarks. Along the way, you’ll hear how Viking settlers, literary greats and rebels each left their mark on the Irish capital, with stories that turn familiar landmarks into something far more human. The rest of the day is yours to shape. You might choose an Optional Experience and try the speed, skill and competitive spirit of traditional Gaelic games, or spend the evening at an interactive Dublin cabaret, where music, laughter and live performance fill the room.
Traveling south to Kilkenny, you’ll see medieval lanes, painted shopfronts and weathered stone line streets layered with centuries of folklore. With your Travel Director sharing the stories behind its past, you’ll have free time to wander the Medieval Mile, pause for lunch or look across the River Nore from the grounds of Kilkenny Castle. Then it’s on to Blarney Castle, where cool castle walls, green gardens and winding paths lead you towards one of Ireland’s most famous traditions: the chance to kiss the Blarney Stone. In Cork, you might round out the evening with an Optional Experience of hearty pub food, live music and classic Irish entertainment, with song and laughter carrying you through your final hours of the day.
You’ll follow the Ring of Kerry, where the road winds between Atlantic inlets and green hillsides as sheep scatter across the slopes and sea air drifts in through your journey south. In Waterville, you’ll have free time to choose your own lunch, breathe in the Atlantic air and linger beside the water before continuing to Killarney. Your Travel Director introduces you to the town, then the time is yours to wander its streets at your own pace. You might choose an Optional Experience by traditional jaunting car, clip-clopping past the Lakes of Killarney and Ross Castle as horse hooves strike the road and reflections shimmer across the water. With the lakes behind you, the road leads back to Cork to close out the day.
Leaving Cork behind, you’ll travel towards Adare, where rows of 19th-century thatched cottages, clipped gardens and painted doors line the village streets. From there, the land rises towards the Cliffs of Moher, their dark rock dropping sheer towards the water as the air cools against your skin and seabirds circle far below. Take your time here, listening to the rush of wind across the cliff tops and watching the horizon stretch beyond the edge before continuing to Galway. Your Travel Director will introduce you to this harbor city, where narrow streets lead towards the waterfront and music may spill from pub doorways as you explore at your own pace. This evening, you can choose an Optional Experience with a walking tour of Galway followed by dinner.
Through Ireland’s northwest, you’ll pause in Sligo, the seaport town that served as a muse to W.B. Yeats, before continuing to Donegal, where the River Eske runs through town and Donegal Castle stands close to its banks. Your Travel Director will introduce you to the town, and then there’s free time for lunch and a wander of your own before the journey continues to Derry/Londonderry. The evening is yours, or you can choose an Optional Experience at the Walled City Brewery, where a beer-paired dinner layers roasted, malty flavors with each course and adds a warm local finish to the day.
Your morning in Derry/Londonderry is yours to shape, or you can choose an Optional Experience with a Local Specialist and follow the city’s historic walls while hearing the stories behind them. Then the landscape turns dramatic at the Giant’s Causeway, where thousands of dark basalt columns lock together beside the Antrim coast. Pick your way among the geometric rocks, feel the cool surface beneath your hand and listen as waves break against the shore. Later, continue to Belfast, where your Travel Director introduces you to the Northern Irish capital before you explore further at your own pace. You might choose to visit Titanic Belfast, tracing the city’s shipbuilding past, then spend the evening on an Optional Experience with a guided walk, a pub stop and hot fish and chips to finish the day.
You’ll begin the day with a drive through Belfast, where your Travel Director points out the city before you head for the ferry port. Out on the Irish Sea, the crossing opens into a sweep of water and sky, with gulls overhead and Scotland waiting beyond the horizon. Back on land, continue to Glasgow, where your Travel Director introduces you to the city along the way, from sandstone buildings to the hum of its streets. The evening is yours to explore, or you can choose a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience pairing a seasonal Scottish dinner with a comedy show, where hearty flavors and sharp Scottish humor round out the evening.
Towards Loch Lomond, you’ll watch the landscape open into wooded shores and mountain slopes as the loch stretches ahead, its cool surface broken by scattered islands. From the water, listen to the skipper’s local stories as the boat glides past forested banks and quiet coves. Continue through Glencoe, where steep-sided mountains rise around deep valleys and the road threads through one of Scotland’s most dramatic landscapes before your photo stop. In Fort William, you’ll have time for lunch at your leisure. Later, pause in Fort Augustus and look out across the deep, shadowed waters of Loch Ness before continuing into the Highlands for dinner.
You might spend the morning at your own pace or choose an Optional Experience inside Blair Castle, moving through grand rooms, polished wood and centuries of family history gathered beneath its roof. Then travel to St Andrews, where you’ll wander through this famous university town, feel the coastal air on your face and take in a place whose name is inseparable from the game of golf. In Edinburgh, the evening is yours, or you can choose an Optional Experience at a traditional Ceilidh. Settle in for dinner and a welcome drink, then listen for the skirl of the pipes as the famous ‘Piping in the Haggis’ ceremony begins. Tickets to The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo are included on certain departures.
With your Local Specialist, you’ll weave through Edinburgh’s stately streets and narrow closes, hearing tales of monarchs, ambition and intrigue as centuries of royal history echo through the Old Town. The rest of the day is yours. You might choose to visit Edinburgh Castle, standing high above the city and home to the Honours of Scotland, or spend your free time following whichever streets, viewpoints and tucked-away corners catch your eye. This afternoon, an Optional Experience through the Old Town pairs a guided walk with hot fish and chips, crisp from the fryer and warming in your hands. Later, you can choose another Optional Experience on the Royal Mile, where a Johnnie Walker whisky tasting and dinner fill the evening with smoky aromas, warming flavors and the glow of Edinburgh after dark.
After breakfast, your Ireland and Scotland adventure comes to a close, but the memories travel home with you: castle walls and loch-side landscapes, the call of the pipes, hearty flavors and twelve days shared across two countries.
