Study Tour: Itinerary
DAY 1: GOING TO IRELAND
Begin your voyage to Ireland.
DAY 2: DUBLIN
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Jacob's Hostel or similar in central Dublin
Early morning arrival in Dublin to be met by your coach and driver. Brief sightseeing tour of the city. Possible afternoon visits to include the National Museum (free entry) to see Ireland's golden treasures. There are no queues here—unlike the queue to see the Book of Kells. Other possible visits include the Writer's Museum or the exhibition of Irish Costume throughout the Ages in the Collins Barracks. Transfer to your hostel in central Dublin.
DAY 3: DUBLIN
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Jacob's Hostel or similar in central Dublin
Use the hop on/hop off bus for Dublin sightseeing—visits will be tailored to your particular requirements. For example, hospitality students may wish to visit a top class restaurant or business students may wish to visit a leading department store. Optional evening excursion to "An Irish Night" at Taylors Three Rock or a visit to the theatre.
DAY 4: CO. MEATH AND BELFAST
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
Accommodation: International Youth Hostel
Morning transfer via Causey Farm in Co.Meath. The farm is a living museum of Irish life and gives the students a hands-on opportunity to try cutting turf and making scones. Afternoon transfer to Belfast to stay at the International Youth Hostel, only 800 yards from the city centre.
DAY 5: BELFAST
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
Accommodation: International Youth Hostel in Belfast
Short (2 hours) city tour of Belfast followed by visit to the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum. This award-winning museum has complete streets of old houses, banks, churches and even a police station. The transport section has steam engines and the original "Flying Bedstead", developed in Belfast. Afternoon free for shopping —overnight in the International Youth Hostel.
DAY 6: DERRY AND BEYOND
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Derry City Independent Hostel
Scenic tour along one of the finest drives in Europe—the Antrim Coast Road. Passing the Norman fortress that is Carrickfergus castle, the Garden of Eden (honest!) and the Glens of Antrim, visit the Giants Causeway and then head west to the city of Derry/Londonderry for an overnight in the Derry City Independent Hostel.
DAY 7: OMAGH, ENNISKILLEN, AND THE BORDER
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Lough Melvin Holiday Centre
Morning visit to the Ulster American Folk Park near Omagh. Founded and funded by the Mellon banking family of Pittsburgh, this park explains the reasons for the early emigration of so many Ulster Scots to USA. Travelling via the town of Enniskillen, you see the scenery around Lough Erne and finish the day on the border between the two Irelands at the Lough Melvin Holiday Centre in the village of Garrison.
DAY 8: COUNTY DONEGAL
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Lough Melvin Holiday Centre
Full day touring County Donegal (weather permitting) and overnight at Lough Melvin.
DAY 9: SLIGO AND GALWAY
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Sleepzone Hostel in Galway
One long day's travelling via Sligo to Galway. (If time permits, stops will be made at Yeats' Grave and at the Marian shrine at Knock.) Galway is Europe's fastest growing city and is a bustling capital of the province of Connaught. Overnight in the Sleepzone, the best of Galway's many hostels.
DAY 10: ARAN ISLAND
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Sleepzone Hostel in Galway
Full day trip to the Aran Islands, spectacularly located in Galway bay. Visit the Stone Age fortress of Dun Aengus. Overnight in Sleepzone Hostel.
DAY 11: PLOUGHS AND STARS IN COUNTY OFFALY
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
Accommodation: Gurteen Cottage
Transfer to Birr in Co. Offaly to visit Birr Castle, site of what was once the largest telescope in the world. Onwards to Gurteen College in Co. Offaly, one of the leading agricultural colleges in the Republic of Ireland and run by the Methodist Church in Ireland.
DAY 12: FREE DAY IN GURTEEN
Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
Accommodation: Gurteen Cottage
Free day in Gurteen—activities to be agreed. Overnight in Gurteen.
DAY 13: FREE DAY IN GURTEEN
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Irish bed and breakfast in Bunratty
Relatively short transfer to the city of Limerick for an optional "Angela's Ashes Tour" and then on to the folk village at Bunratty for overnight in an Irish bed and breakfast.
DAY 14: DEPARTURE
Morning short transfer from Bunratty to Shannon airport for departure.
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