This was our long-contemplated first trip to Ireland. After many visits to England and with Barb firmly retired we were finally ready to tackle the Emerald Isle in 2024. We discussed going with our friends Dan and David and made initial plans together but they ended up going on their own for a variety of reasons. We also invited Ada but the timing did not work out with her, so Barb and I made the trip on our own.
We considered many different ways of seeing the country and which sights to see on this first trip. I researched many different tour itineraries and companies, considered driving on our own, and Barb consulted many people who traveled there. One of the most helpful recommendations came from Betsy’s friend Deanna and her husband, Patrick. They had been to Ireland many times on large tours, small tours, driving on their own, and using a private tour guide/driver. They firmly recommended the private tour/driver option and recommended Walter’s Way Tours.
I connected with Walter’s Way about a year in advance and together we concocted a two-week itinerary hitting many highlights in the southern half of the country, basically a stretched-out version of their Ireland South tour. I figured we could save the northern half for a separate trip someday. Walter’s Way was reasonably easy to work with by email and responsive to questions. We made several adjustments to hotels based on TripAdvisor ratings but I mostly went with their recommendations.
For several months before the trip I immersed myself a little too deeply in various videos and series about Ireland. Among the best of these were Tales of Irish Castles (which turned out to give a decent chronological history of Ireland) and The Great Tours: Ireland series. Walter’s Way had a pretty good set of videos on its own YouTube channel. Beyond that, I found myself falling into a YouTube black hole of other Ireland videos and finally made myself stop before I completely overdosed and ruined any surprises to be had on vacation. I also dialed back my efforts to exhaustively research every day and stop. A few weeks before departure I resolved to settle back and let our guide actually do his job and lead the way.
It was mildly disconcerting paying for the whole trip in advance based on little more than a few emails and a single-page spreadsheet itinerary with tiny print but my trust in Walter’s Way Tours was eventually rewarded. This trip ended up being one of the most enjoyable vacations Barb and I have taken.
The gory details:
Wednesday, Sep. 18 – To Dublin; Thursday, Sep. 19 – Dublin (EPIC Museum)
Friday, Sep. 20 – Dublin (Book of Kells, Kilmainham Gaol)
Saturday, Sep. 21 – Dublin (The Little Museum, Museum of Archaeology)
Sunday, Sep. 22 – To Kilkenny (Newgrange, Glendalough)
Monday, Sep. 23 – To Kinsale (Kilkenny Castle, Rock of Cashel, Cobh)
Tuesday, Sep. 24 – To Killarney
Wednesday, Sep. 25 – Killarney (Ring of Kerry)
Thursday, Sep. 26 – Killarney (Ross Castle, Muckross House)
Friday, Sep. 27 – Killarney (Dingle Peninsula)
Saturday, Sep. 28 – Killarney (Killarney House, afternoon tea)
Sunday, Sep. 29 – To Galway (Bunratty Castle, Cliffs of Moher, The Burren)
Monday, Sep. 30 – Galway (Connemara)
Tuesday, Oct. 1 – Galway (Aran Island Tour, Cliffs of Moher)
You must be logged in to post a comment.