Let your imagination be stirred by the fairytale turrets of Renaissance royal residences, the ruins of ancient Norman strongholds and medieval towers. Fly into Shannon airport to meet your guide and the rest of the tour group. You'll begin by visiting King John's Castle in Limerick, a fully-restored Norman fortification built in 1210. The following day you'll explore the Ring of Kerry and receive a guided tour of an 18th-century mansion. Your bus will continue to weave you through different time periods, with stops at the fourth century seat of the Kings of Munster; Kilkenny Castle, which originated in the 1100s; the medieval monastery Clonmacnoise and the grounds of a mansion once visited by W.B. Yeats. You'll also visit the Waterford Crystal factory, the 3,000-year-old megaliths at Bru na Bionne and have time to explore Dublin.
Ireland Escorted
Danesfort,Kilkenny
Ireland
irelandescorted.com
Midway between a fully escorted and a fully DIY tour, this company provides you with a route to drive for a nine-day castle tour and makes your overnight reservations for you. You'll travel a roughly horseshoe-shaped route from Dublin southwards to Waterford City and Cork, then west to Killarney, then north through Limerick, Adare, County Mayo and Galway City. Along the way you'll see Ashford Castle, Ballynahinch Castle, The Burren, the Cliffs of Moher and Dromoland Castle. You'll enjoy gorgeous scenery and have the opportunity to rub elbows with the locals in traditional pubs in small villages before taking your departure from Shannon Airport.
My Guide Ireland
Unit 9
Curragh Commercial Park
Marsh Road
Skibbereen
Co. Cork.
Ireland
011-353-617-318-1114
My Guide Ireland
P.O. Box 320217
100 Spring St.
Boston, MA 02132-0005
myguideireland.com
If dealing with the unexpected is part of the charm of travel, map your own tour route to visit castles at your own pace, lingering longer at your favorite places. Be prepared to drive on the "wrong" side of the road if you're from the U.S. and for the fact that Irish country roads sometimes have "traffic jams" in the form of sheep blocking the lane. Several converted castles and manor houses now do duty as hotels. Upon alighting at Shannon Airport, you can take a 15-minute drive to check in at the Dromoland Castle Hotel, which dates from the Renaissance era and was once the seat of the O'Brien clan. You can also overnight at the 700-year-old Ashford Castle Hotel, which contains two restaurants, one offering traditional Irish food, the other serving French cuisine. You can check out the many other options for sleeping steeped in history and as if "to the manor born" at several websites, including irishtourism.com.
