John Boyle O Reilly Club Treasures of the North 2014 Ireland Tour 11-Day / 9-Night Customized Tour Sunday, October 5 Wednesday, October 15, 2014 Day 1 - Sunday, October 5. US - IRELAND: Depart the US for overnight flight from Boston/Logan Airport to Shannon Airport via Aer Lingus. Enjoy in-flight entertainment and meal service. Day 2 - Monday, October 6. SHANNON - ARDRAHAN - GALWAY: Arrive at Shannon Airport where you will be welcomed by your Celtic Tours Irish driver/guide in the Arrivals Hall and be escorted to your awaiting motor coach. Travel to Ardrahan, County Galway, where you will enjoy a visit to Rathbaun Farm with its 200+ year old thatched cottage for the best farmhouse scones and tea/coffee along with a brief sheep farm tour. Continue onto Galway City and enjoy a picturesque stroll along the Salthill Promenade overlooking Galway Bay. Arrive and check into your Galway hotel, Forster Court Hotel, with time to rest or enjoy a free afternoon. Dinner and overnight at your Galway hotel. Day 3 - Tuesday, October 7. GALWAY - ARAN ISLAND EXCURSION - GALWAY: Enjoy your first full Irish breakfast before departing for a day trip to Inishmore, the largest Aran Island, via a ferry at Rossaveal Harbour at mid-morning. Once on the island, enjoy a 2-1/2 hour mini-bus tour of island including a visit to the ancient monastic settlement of the Seven Churches and an optional climb to the Late Bronze Age (around 1100 BC) three ringed-fort of Dun Aengus, dramatically perched on a cliff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Surrounding the walls of this fort is a network of upright defensive
2 stones known as chevaux de frise. After our tour, there will be time to explore the island on your own and enjoy lunch in the village of Kilronan. Return from Inishmore and arrive in Galway City late afternoon. Tonight, enjoy dinner on your own and overnight at your Galway hotel. Day 4 - Wednesday, October 8. GALWAY - SLIGO - DONEGAL: After a full Irish breakfast, we will depart Galway for our journey north to Donegal. Traveling via Sligo, we will visit Drumcliffe Church and adjoining churchyard where Ireland s beloved poet, William Butler Yeats, is laid to rest. From the churchyard, you will be able to view the spectacular Ben Bulben tabletop mountain in the backdrop. We will then travel to the Mill Park Hotel in Donegal and arrive mid-afternoon. Dinner and overnight at your Donegal hotel. Day 5 - Thursday, October 9. DONEGAL - KILLYBEGS/ SLIEVE LEAGUE CLIFFS - DONEGAL: This morning enjoy a full Irish breakfast before we will head out to the seaport village of Killybegs to the Slieve League Cliffs (the tallest sea cliffs in Europe) with a mini-bus transport to these magnificent cliffs. Our next visit is to Triona Design to view a demonstration of Donegal tweed hand weaving, which is sadly becoming a lost art but is being kept alive by this family-run business with five generations of family weavers. There will be then time for shopping. We return to our Donegal hotel in the late afternoon. Dinner and overnight at your Donegal hotel. Day 6 - Friday, October 10. DONEGAL - DERRY - BELFAST: Enjoy a full Irish breakfast before travelling to Belfast. Our drive is via Derry where we will stop for a private Derry City walking tour (a completely walled city and among the best-preserved city fortifications in Europe) with our special tour guide, Ronan McNamara, and then tour the Neo-Gothic Guildhall with its beautifully detailed stained glass windows, which recount the history of Derry. Once we have completed our tour, we will travel further north to County Antrim s coast to visit the awe-inspiring Giants Causeway, often referred to as the "Eighth Wonder of the World", and has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This site is estimated to have 40,000 hexagonal-shaped interlocking basalt columns of all different heights, which was the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. We will then proceed to the Europa Hotel in Belfast and arrive late afternoon. Dinner and overnight at your Belfast hotel. Day 7 - Saturday, October 11. BELFAST: After a full Irish breakfast, we will embark on our morning tour of Belfast City including landmarks such as the City Hall, Grand Opera House, and Albert Clock Tower, and then proceed to the sectarian areas of the Falls and Shankill districts in West Belfast, where we will view the various-themed murals. Next, we will visit the new Titanic Belfast, which is the world s largest Titanic visitor experience and is located adjacent to the historic site of this world-famous ship s construction site, the Harland and Wolff Shipyard. We will then have free time to explore the city including the ornate Crown Liquor Saloon, which was refurbished in 1885 and is an outstanding example of a Victorian gin palace. It is one of Northern Ireland s best-known pubs and is located across the street from our hotel. Dinner and overnight at your Belfast hotel. Day 8 - Sunday, October 12. BELFAST - DUBLIN: Enjoy a full Irish breakfast before departing Belfast for our journey south to Dublin. Once we arrive in Dublin, we will visit the Guinness Storehouse for a self-guided tour where we will learn about this world famous brew and enjoy a complimentary pint in the rooftop Gravity Bar, which offers a 360-degree view of the Dublin City and beyond. Once we conclude our visit, we will then proceed to our Dublin hotel, Academy Plaza Hotel, mid-afternoon with free time to enjoy the city before dinner. Dinner and overnight at your Dublin hotel. Day 9 - Monday, October 13. DUBLIN COUNTY MEATH/ NEWGRANGE - DUBLIN: After a full Irish breakfast, we will depart the hotel to visit and tour the Kilmainham Gaol, which covers some of the most heroic and tragic events in Irish history. Built in 1789, this jail housed prisoners for 130 years including many involved in the fight for Irish independence, including Robert Emmet and Charles
3 Stewart Parnell. We will then proceed to north of Dublin City to the Boyne Valley in County Meath to visit Newgrange and the Bru na Boinne Visitor Centre. Here you will see this megalithic burial ground and passage tomb, which was constructed over 5,000 years ago (making it older than Stonehenge in England and the Great Pyramid in Egypt). Newgrange is best known for the illumination of its passage and chamber by the winter solstice sun. We will then return to our Dublin hotel late afternoon. Tonight, we will enjoy a special group dinner and entertainment event at The Irish House Party. Overnight at your Dublin hotel. Day 10 Tuesday, October 14. DUBLIN: Enjoy a full Irish breakfast before having an entire day to explore the country s capital on your own. You may wish to visit Dublin Castle, the National Museum of Ireland, Christ Church Cathedral, or Trinity College to view the 8 th century Book of Kells. Gorgeous local parks and gardens (St Stephen s Green and Merrion Square) are a quiet respite from this lively, bustling city. Shopping on Grafton and Nassau Streets are a shopper s paradise. A tour of the Old Jameson Distillery or a visit to Temple Bar may be on the top of your list. Walk a short distance to O Connell Street and visit the historic General Post Office or take a stroll over the Ha penny Bridge. The list of places to visit and things to do are endless in this vibrant city. Restaurants and pubs are easy to find. You can buy a ticket for the hop-on/hop-off Dublin bus for leisurely city touring. Enjoy dinner on your own tonight and overnight at your Dublin hotel. Day 11 - Wednesday, October 15. DUBLIN - US: Before saying goodbye to our driver/guide and the enchanting Emerald Isle, enjoy a full Irish breakfast before we depart for the Dublin Airport. Travel home to Boston/Logan Airport via Aer Lingus. YOUR HOTELS: Galway: Forster Court Hotel www.forstercourthotel.com Donegal: Mill Park Hotel www.millparkhotel.com (2 nights, 1 hotel dinner) (2 nights, 2 hotel dinners) Belfast: Europa Hotel (2 nights, 2 hotel dinners) www.hastingshotel.com/europa-belfast Dublin: Academy Plaza Hotel www.academyplazahotel.ie (3 nights, 1 hotel dinner) INCLUDED IN YOUR TOUR: Local roundtrip bus transportation JBO Club to and from Boston/Logan Airport Roundtrip airfare from Boston to Shannon on 10/5 and Dublin to Boston on 10/15 via Aer Lingus First Class and Superior Class hotel accommodations all rooms with private facilities Nine (9) full Irish breakfasts (except day of arrival) Tea/coffee and farmhouse scones at Rathbaun Farm on morning of arrival Six (6) hotel dinners One (1) special group dinner and entertainment event at The Irish House Party
4 Visits to: Rathbaun Farm, Drumcliffe Church, Slieve League Cliffs with mini-bus transport, Triona Design Centre, Giants Causeway, Titanic Belfast, Guinness Storehouse, Kilmainham Gaol, and Newgrange/ Bru na Boinne Visitors Centre. Roundtrip ferry excursion to/from largest Aran Island (Inishmore) with mini-bus island tour Walking tour of Derry with Ronan McNamara All transportation and sightseeing via deluxe touring motor coach with the services of a professional driver/guide throughout Porterage of one (1) suitcase per person Celtic Tours flight bag and portfolio of travel documents All other standard items: airfare and departure taxes, land, all hotel gratuities, porterage, etc. All gratuities to local bus drivers and Celtic Tours Irish driver/guide included in your tour price *Please notify us if you have any dietary, mobility, or medical requirements.* For tour and optional travel protection insurance pricing; reservations; and additional information, please contact Eric Devine, President (President@jbo-club.com) or Joyce Bosworth, Tour Director (413.330.6363 or IrelandTours@jbo-club.com). www.jbo-club.com *IMPORTANT NOTE REGARDING JBO CLUB IRELAND TOUR PRICING*: As you will see from this detailed itinerary, we have many very special visits included in this tour. Please note that our itinerary is all-inclusive, which includes land, air and departure taxes, admissions to all sites/events, roundtrip local bus transportation to and from the JBO Club/Boston Logan, and all gratuities (including hotels, local bus drivers as well as our Irish driver/guide). It is very rare to find a tour that bundles all gratuities into their tour price there is no digging in your pockets or purse on your last tour day for Euros for your driver/guide. The only items that you will be responsible for paying for are your daily lunches and two dinners (one in Galway and one in Dublin) -- ten breakfasts, six dinners, and one special group dinner/entertainment event in Dublin are all included in our tour price. Unlike other tours, we do not inflate our tour price. As with our past two annual tours, we have priced our tour at the net cost pricing that we receive directly from our tour company. We then pass on any free land or air bonuses that we receive from our tour company to our tour passengers in the form of special surprises and treats all along our tour. Each JBO Club Ireland Tour Committee Member [Eric Devine, Dick Devine, Jim Hoar & Joyce Bosworth] pays the full tour price so that we can pass the savings and treats on to our tour passengers.
5 Testimonials from our past JBO Club tour passengers: Perfect pacing, super sights, friendly folks; thanks for all you have done to make this a truly fabulous trip. KG & MG, Hampden Absolutely fantastic time. Count on us for the next trip. You guys do it well. BS & JS, Longmeadow Thank you for making our first trip to Ireland so wonderful. Appreciate all of your efforts! AP & LP, East Hampstead Joyce & Eric, you ve been terrific. We loved the trip. PT & PT, Ware Thanks for an amazing trip. Hope to join you all again. MG, Manassas Thank you for all of the time, effort, and patience you put into this trip. You made it wonderful. ES, Springfield Joyce, thank you a thousand times over... JC, Feeding Hills To the best JB, Hampden Thank you, Joyce, for a wonderful guided trip. I had a great time and loved all the surprises PW, Springfield Joyce & Eric, thank you for a wonderfully planned trip. You took care of every detail. Our Ireland trip is something we ll always remember. It was great. RS and TS, Feeding Hills Dear Joyce, we cannot thank you enough for the outstanding job you did in putting together our trip to Ireland. The trip was ideal from start to finish. The countless surprises made our trip a notch above anything that I ve ever seen. Your thoughtfulness and hard work were deeply appreciated. Most especially, your request for Martin to be our tour guide was invaluable. I can t imagine a tour without him. He, like you, goes way above and beyond to make everyone have a fantastic experience. Thank you KC, Springfield & GH, Southbury ************************************************************************************* HOTEL NOTICE CHECK-IN: In most areas, the check-in time is approximately 2:00 pm onwards. Most hotels will hold your luggage for you upon arrival, until your room is available. It takes time to prepare your room after other guests have left. The checkout time is usually between 11:00 am and 12:00 noon. If you arrive on an early morning flight into Ireland, every effort will be made to obtain an early check-in at your hotel; however, this is not always possible. Your patience is greatly appreciated. DRIVER WILL POST DAILY SCHEDULE ON HOTEL BULLETIN BOARD IN LOBBY. IN ORDER TO ENSURE FAIRNESS, DAILY ROTATION OF SEATS ON MOTORCOACH TOURS IS REQUIRED. *************************************************************************************