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- Day 1 Begin Your Journey in Dublin You'll arrive in Dublin with amber light glowing behind etched pub windows, brass gleaming at the bar and the notes of a fiddle or bodhrán perhaps slipping through an open door. At your hotel, you have time to pause before joining your Travel Director for dinner. Around the table, you learn the names behind the new faces and meet the people who will travel beside you through Ireland and Scotland. Locations Visited: Dublin IE.
- Day 2 Discover Dublin from Liffey to Trinity With your Local Specialist, you'll follow the Liffey beside the quay, watching broken reflections ripple below the Custom House’s green dome and carved stone. You'll pass the Guinness Storehouse and the medieval walls of Christchurch Cathedral before seeing St Patrick’s Cathedral, founded in 1191, where cool stone, dark oak and carved memorials line the soaring nave. At Trinity College, you'll wander between stately façades in courtyards that have welcomed scholars since 1592. You'll enter the Long Room, where the faint scent of timber hangs beneath dark galleries, marble busts and a barrel-vaulted ceiling. Therein lies the 9th-century Book of Kells, with its sparkling jewel-bright pigments, tiny figures and intricate knotwork painted across vellum by Celtic monks more than a thousand years ago. Locations Visited: Dublin IE.
- Day 3 Journey from Kildare Gardens to Cork At the Irish National Stud, you'll move behind the scenes of the stud farm, with the scent of hay and clipped grass in the air as the soft thud of hooves sounds from the yards. You'll learn how some of Ireland’s finest racehorses begin their lives before following the winding paths of the Japanese Gardens. Designed by Tassa and Minoru Eida, the gardens portray the journey of a soul beneath arching branches, past lawns clipped smooth as velvet and along paths that curve between shadow and light. Continuing south, you'll reach Cork, Ireland’s second most populous city, where the River Lee divides around the center in two broad channels. Along Grand Parade, you'll pass City Hall and Cork Opera House while stone façades and open sky shimmer across the water. Locations Visited: Dublin IE, Kildare IE, Cork IE.
- Day 4 Travel from Blarney Castle to Dingle Blarney Castle is where your choice experience begins as you may climb the medieval tower’s tight spiral stair, grazing rough stone with your fingertips before leaning back to kiss the Blarney Stone and test its legendary promise of the ‘gift of the gab’. Or follow the Wishing Steps to the Witch’s Kitchen beneath ancient yews, with curious rock formations and themed gardens waiting across the estate. In Killarney, you’ll settle into a traditional jaunting car, swaying with the carriage as it rolls from town into Killarney National Park. Your day ends at your hotel in Dingle, a fishing town beside a sheltered natural harbor, with a cool sea breeze wafting through the harbor and the Atlantic stretching beyond the peninsula. Locations Visited: Cork IE, Blarney Castle IE, Killarney IE, Dingle IE.
- Day 5 Dingle Peninsula: Cliffs, Islands and History Surf flashes white below the cliffs as you follow the Slea Head route around the Dingle Peninsula after a Relaxed Start, while the Blasket Islands lie beyond the headlands. Across Corca Dhuibhne, you pass ancient beehive huts and early Christian sites as wind combs the grass and the Atlantic breaks against the headlands below. Later, you may join an Optional Experience in falconry, raising a gloved arm as a bird of prey returns to you. Join another Optional Experience at Dingle’s oldest public house, where you'll taste a local tipple and listen as musicians play and stories travel from one teller to the next. Locations Visited: Dingle IE, Dingle Peninsula IE, Dingle IE.
- Day 6 Clare to Galway: Cliffs and Legends From the ferry deck, you watch County Clare grow nearer across the Shannon Estuary, the engine’s low thrum beneath you. Beyond the Cliffs of Moher Visitor Center, you'll follow the paved path and look down 214 meters of sheer rock to the sea, and an unbroken horizon. You'll cross Galway’s medieval center to the Lynch Memorial, where a Gothic window and carved skull and crossbones mark one of the city’s most haunting legends. In St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church, filtered light falls across the nave as you hear how Christopher Columbus is reputed to have prayed here before sailing west. Beside the water, you'll pass beneath the weathered Spanish Arch as the Corrib pours towards Galway Bay. You'll finish in Eyre Square, where green lawns soften the city’s old façades in the park dedicated to John F Kennedy. Locations Visited: Dingle IE, Cliffs of Moher IE, Galway IE.
- Day 7 Explore Sligo Before Crossing North Connemara stretches ahead in rust-colored peatland, pale granite and dark loughs, with the Twelve Bens rising beyond the water. You'll travel north through this wild landscape before reaching Sligo, where the River Garavogue rushes through the town, murmuring beneath the bridges, while the lakes and mountains of Yeats Country recall the places that stirred W.B. Yeats’s imagination. During your free time, choose a table for lunch or follow the river through the center at your own pace. Later, you'll cross into Northern Ireland and continue to Londonderry. Over dinner, you'll taste ingredients from the north-west’s surrounding fields, rivers and coast as the first evening in the city unfolds. Locations Visited: Galway IE, Sligo IE, Derry/Londonderry GB.
- Day 8 Walk Londonderry’s Walls and Giant’s Causeway Ronan leads you onto Londonderry’s 17th-century walls, where weathered cannon barrels overlook the rooftops and his tales of siege, survival and divided loyalties follow you around the ramparts. Shipquay Street slopes between Georgian townhouses towards the Guildhall, where red sandstone, pointed arches and panes of stained glass overlook the square. On the UNESCO-listed Giant’s Causeway, you'll move among more than 40,000 basalt columns, their hexagonal tops packed together like a vast black mosaic as white water bursts through the narrow gaps. The Antrim Coast then carries you towards Ballygally Bay, where you look out from your hotel across the long curve of shore and open sea. Locations Visited: Derry/Londonderry GB, Giant's Causeway GB, Ballygally GB.
- Day 9 Cross to Scotland and Visit Craufurdland Across the Irish Sea, the ferry carries you towards Scotland, its pale wake unspooling behind you along a passage used for centuries by traders, migrants and families. On a clear day, you may pick out Ailsa Craig beyond the rail, a solitary volcanic island whose granite has been cut for curling stones since the 19th century. The 29th Laird and Lady greet you before guiding you through Craufurdland Castle. Then you'll sit down for afternoon tea, tasting small sandwiches and slices of cake inside the castle. You’ll reach Glasgow, once loud with hammering from the Clyde shipyards and still distinguished by Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s strong geometry, spare interiors and stylised roses. Locations Visited: Ballygally GB, Glasgow GB.
- Day 10 Highland Scotland: Glencoe, Ben Nevis and Nessie Loch Lomond opens beside you in dark water and wooded banks as you follow the Bonnie Banks into the Highlands. The road winds beneath Glencoe’s steep ridges, where you hear how 38 members of Clan MacDonald were killed in 1692 after welcoming government soldiers into their homes. Standing before the Commando Memorial, you may, if weather permits, catch a glimpse of Ben Nevis, Britain’s highest mountain, piercing the horizon. You'll trace the Great Glen north to Loch Ness and board a cruise across its ink-dark water. The hull hums beneath you as forested shores and historic landmarks pass by, while tales of unexplained sightings tempt you to search the loch for Scotland’s most famous monster. Locations Visited: Glasgow GB, Loch Lomond GB, Glencoe GB, Loch Ness GB, Inverness GB.
- Day 11 Discover Inverness and Taste Highland Whisky Beside the River Ness, you’ll take in Inverness before traveling to Culloden Moor, where heather covers the exposed ground and clan stones sit low against the sky. Inside the Visitor Center, you'll examine artifacts from both armies before the immersive battle theater surrounds you with the sound and fury of the Jacobites’ final charge. Back in Inverness, you follow the warm scent of malt to the gleam of copper stills at Uile-bheist. During this MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience, you’ll taste a wee dram, feeling its heat linger on your tongue as tales of whisky smugglers and Highland legends accompany the distillery’s craft. Locations Visited: Inverness GB, Culloden GB, Inverness GB.
- Day 12 St Andrews and Beyond: Scotland’s Eastern Shores Amid the Grampians, you’ll pass Blair Castle’s white turrets between the trees before crossing the Tay towards St Andrews. The Old Course stretches beside the North Sea, its velvet-green links cut by deep bunkers and centuries of play. During your free time, wander through the university’s sandstone courts where William and Catherine first met, or head to West Sands, where the beach runs wide beneath the open sky. You’ll cross the Forth Road Bridge high above the water and continue to Edinburgh, where you may join an Optional Experience featuring peppery haggis, ceilidh music and dancing. On selected departures, massed pipes and drums roll across the castle esplanade during The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, with Edinburgh Castle lit above you. Locations Visited: Inverness GB, St. Andrews GB, Edinburgh GB.
- Day 13 Climb the Royal Mile to Edinburgh Castle As you move along Princes Street, you'll pass between two Edinburghs: the New Town’s pale stone, broad avenues and measured crescents, and the Old Town rising opposite in dark towers, steep closes and chimneyed roofs. With your Local Specialist, you'll take in the Scott Monument’s black Gothic spire before tracing the ordered elegance of the 18th-century New Town. The streets tighten as you enter the Old Town, passing the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the monarch’s official Scottish residence, before climbing the Royal Mile to Edinburgh Castle. Inside, the immense iron barrel of Mons Meg rests against the fortress stone, while the Honours of Scotland gleam in the Crown Room, gold and enamel catching the light. The afternoon is yours to browse the shops or follow one of Edinburgh’s narrow wynds. Later, you’ll join your fellow travelers for dinner and wine, tasting modern Scottish cooking. Locations Visited: Edinburgh GB.
- Day 14 Bid Farewell to Ireland and Scotland After breakfast, your 14-day journey through Ireland and Scotland comes to an end, with transfers to Edinburgh Airport. Locations Visited: Edinburgh GB.
Name: Best of Ireland & Scotland
Brand: Trafalgar
Quality: Superior First Class
Tour Type: Escorted
Start City: Dublin
End City: Edinburgh
Location Summary: Dublin, IE
Kildare, IE
Cork, IE
Blarney Castle, IE
Killarney, IE
Dingle, IE
Dingle Peninsula, IE
Cliffs of Moher, IE
Galway, IE
Sligo, IE
Derry/Londonderry, GB
Giant's Causeway, GB
Ballygally, GB
Glasgow, GB
Loch Lomond, GB
Glencoe, GB
Loch Ness, GB
Inverness, GB
Culloden, GB
St. Andrews, GB
Edinburgh, GB
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Highlights
- Dining Summary - 7 Dinner (D). 13 Breakfast (B). 1 Afternoon Tea (AT).
- How You'll Travel - Business class coach with extended leg room. Top-rated dining, from farm-to-table to local restaurants. Premium regional accommodation.
- Authentic Dining - Dublin: Join your Travel Director for a warm and friendly dinner and an opportunity to get to know your fellow travelers.. Kilmarnock: Visit Craufurdland Castle, home to the Craufurd family for over 800 years. Join the 29th Laird of Craufurdland and his wife for a guided look inside their historic residence before sitting down to afternoon tea: a cherished British tradition featuring finely cut sandwiches, scones with jam and cream, and a selection of sweet treats served with freshly brewed tea.. Edinburgh: Enjoy a memorable dinner, reflecting on your journey in the company of newfound friends..
- Premium Experience - Dublin: A stunning combination of cobblestone walkways, emerald-green lawns and 18th-century architectural gems, Trinity College is one of Europe’s elite universities and counts poet Oscar Wilde among its alumni. See the enchanting college campus and discover insights into its impressive history. Enjoy access to view the famous Book of Kells, an exquisite manuscript of the four gospels of the Christian New Testament, renowned for the intricacy, detail and majesty of the illustrations.. Kildare: Horse racing is key part of Irish culture; and you'll gain a rare insight into it on your visit to the Irish National Stud. Set in Kildare at the breeding ground of champions and the birthplace of legends, explore the foaling unit, museum and the stallions that continue to make racing history. As the only stud farm in Ireland open to the public, learn the insights of horse-racing at a site whose former visitors include queens and presidents. . Derry/Londonderry: There's no better way to experience sightseeing than with one of Northern Ireland's best storytellers, Ronan, as he takes you on a tour inside the city walls. See the Gothic Guildhall and the Georgian houses of Shipquay Street..
- Top Rated Highlights - Dublin: With a Local Specialist leading the way, discover Custom House and travel along the River Liffey. You’ll see the Guinness Storehouse, Christchurch Cathedral and even St. Patrick's Cathedral.. Cork: Ireland's second city - "Rebel Cork" dates back to the 7th century. Your Travel Director will show you the Grand Parade and South Mall, along with City Hall and the Opera House on an insightful orientation tour encompassing the development of the religious settlement of St. Finbarr, to Viking raiding and settlement, to the creation of the Norman city and Merchant Princes. . Killarney: Take a gentle orientation through Killarney as your Travel Director brings the town’s history to life. Streets lined with shopfronts, church spires and the curve of the surrounding mountains help you place the stories being shared.. Killarney: Settle into a traditional horse-drawn jaunting car and explore Killarney with one of the local jarveys who know these lanes by heart.. Dingle Peninsula: Follow the Slea Head route, a dramatic coastal drive around the Dingle Peninsula, where sheer cliffs, secluded beaches, and ancient ruins reflect centuries of settlement. Pass prehistoric ring forts, beehive huts and Ogham stones, evidence of early Gaelic communities. Offshore, see the Blasket Islands, once home to a resilient Irish-speaking population who, facing isolation and hardship, relocated to the mainland in 1953. . Cliffs of Moher: Towering cliffs and the dramatic sea, the Cliffs of Moher has inspired countless travelers. Visit the Exhibition Center and look out over the Wild Atlantic Way from these majestic cliffs that rise over 700 feet high. Gain insights from your Travel Director into the cliffs’ geology, history and the species that find sanctuary in its nooks and crannies.. Galway: Fascinating stories and interesting locals take center stage on your orientation of the historic heart of Galway. Visit the Lynch Memorial Window. Then make your way to the Church of St. Nicholas - the largest medieval parish church in Ireland in continuous use, Spanish Arch and Eyre Square. . Sligo: See Sligo’s streets and landmarks on an orientation that reveals why this part of Ireland inspired one of Ireland’s most famous literary figures, the poet William Butler Yeats. On your journey into town, you’ll quickly see why Yeats was inspired by the scenic beauty of the area. Explore its rich medieval history as well as its shops on an orientation with your Travel Director. After getting your bearings in town, enjoy free time to explore at your own pace or stop for lunch before your journey continues to Londonderry.. Giant's Causeway: Visit Northern Ireland’s only UNESCO World Heritage Site, formed by volcanic activity over 60 million years ago. Walk across thousands of interlocking basalt columns, shaped by nature and renowned for their striking geometric appearance.. Ballygally: Take a gentle orientation walk through Ballygally with your Travel Director, following the curve of the bay where the sea brushes against a strip of pale sand. The village sits between cliffs and shoreline, with neat cottages, salty air and views that open towards the Antrim Coast. . Larne: Board your ferry to cross the Irish Sea to Cairnryan.. Glasgow: Led by your Travel Director, take an easy orientation through Glasgow, where broad streets and bold Victorian architecture set the tone. Pause in George Square to take in its statues and grand civic buildings before continuing to St Mungo’s Cathedral, its dark stone and soaring interior hinting at the city’s medieval roots.. Loch Ness: Board your cruise on a loch stretching 37 kilometers through the Great Glen Fault, created by tectonic shifts millions of years ago. Its deepest point reaches 230 m (754 ft) and visibility is near zero due to peat content, conditions that have long inspired tales of Nessie, the elusive Loch Ness Monster. Pass Aldourie Castle and hear how this natural trench fuels both hydroelectric power and global fascination. . Fort William: Stop at the World War II Commando Memorial near Fort William, where bronze figures stand against a sweep of Highland landscape. From this quiet hillside, you get one of the clearest views of Ben Nevis, its ridges rising sharply above the glen.. Inverness: With your Travel Director, see the River Ness, Inverness Castle and beautiful scenery as you explore the history of this Highland city.. Inverness: At the Culloden Visitor Center, you’ll discover why the Battle of Culloden lasted only an hour yet changed the Highland way of life forever.. St. Andrews: Spend time in St Andrews, a coastal university town shaped by old quadrangles, sea air and open links. Walk to the stretch of West Sands Beach where Chariots of Fire filmed its iconic scene, then look across the Old Course, regarded as the birthplace of modern golf.. Edinburgh: A hush descends, and eyes turn to the castle. The skirl of the pipes rises and drums crack the night air as a tide of tunics and tartan flood from the drawbridge. For a limited time in August, witness the incredible spectacle of The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.. Edinburgh: Explore Edinburgh Castle with your Local Specialist to see the Scottish Crown Jewels and the Mons Meg up close.. Edinburgh: Explore the city with your Local Specialist as you travel along Princes Street to see the Scott Memorial, the neoclassical Adam facades of New Town and the official Scottish residence of the King, Palace of Holyroodhouse..
- Trafalgar Choice - Blarney: It is said that those who kiss the Blarney Stone, the famous stone of eloquence, are bestowed with the power to persuade, flatter and coax. Take your turn at giving it a peck knowing that the stone was sourced from 330-million-year-old limestone.. Blarney: Your up close and personal encounter with the lush gardens of the Blarney Castle estate is brought to life on a guided tour with a senior gardener. On your stroll enhanced by your expert’s insights, learn about the arboretum’s rare trees, mystical Druid rock formations and the Bog Garden boasting three 600-year-old yew trees. .
- MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® - Inverness: Step into the world of Uile-bheist distillery, where age-old whisky and beer traditions meet modern craftsmanship. Discover how folklore inspires its brews, explore the art of distillation, and savor a tasting of it's signature creations. Built with sustainability at its core, Uile-bheist is one of Scotland’s lowest-carbon distilleries, aiming for net zero by 2030. Your visit directly supports the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 13: Climate Action. .
- Choice Highlights - Choose between two carefully selected activities. Blarney: It is said that those who kiss the Blarney Stone, the famous stone of eloquence, are bestowed with the power to persuade, flatter and coax. Take your turn at giving it a peck knowing that the stone was sourced from 330-million-year-old limestone.. Blarney: Your up close and personal encounter with the lush gardens of the Blarney Castle estate is brought to life on a guided tour with a senior gardener. On your stroll enhanced by your expert’s insights, learn about the arboretum’s rare trees, mystical Druid rock formations and the Bog Garden boasting three 600-year-old yew trees. .
