Explore Ireland & the UK with Shepherd University (Trip 206414)

Itinerary Highlights

June 12: Departure from Dulles to Shannon.

June 13: A World Strides private coach will meet us at Shannon Airport and transport us by private coach to Coole Park Visitors Center, the estate where Yeats and Lady Gregory conjured the Irish National Theatre and Celtic Twilight. The lake at Coole served as inspiration for Yeats’ famous “Wild Swans at Coole.” The Visitors Center features a film detailing the work of Yeats and Lady Gregory, as we enjoy the perfect lunch stop. Afternoon will find us at the Cliffs of Moher, one of the natural wonders of the world, a dramatic coastal setting with plunging cliffs and unforgettable views. Travelers can enjoy the Visitor’s Center, view the cliffs, and climb O’Brien’s Tower, a viewing point built by Victorians and included in the entrance fee. The evening will take us Limerick, the departure point for the Ring of Kerry.

June 14: Today we depart our hotel for a discovery journey through the famed Ring of Kerry, one of the world’s grandest drives through Iveragh Peninsula. Beautiful coastal vistas and a visit to Cahergall Stone Fort, dry-stone fort. The ring fort is the best-preserved example of a multipurpose edifice for defense, religious observance, and community gathering place, while the Bog Village will offer insight into the lives of early Celts in Ireland. At the day wanes, we alight in Killarney, where travelers can explore this quintessential Irish city and rest the night in a 3-star Irish hotel.

June 15: After breakfast we head for the famed Blarney Castle, famed seat of the Irish Kings of Desmond. There you may kiss the Blarney Stone to ensure the gift of gab, explore the castle, and stroll the gardens and Blarney Lake, and Badger Cave. The drive to the Rock of Cashel will first take us to Café Hans, a lunch stop before we enter Cashel ruins, one of the Romantic wonders of Ireland. This outcrop of limestone, stretching 197 feet above the landscape, possesses sixteen centuries of history. Cashel was the seat of the Kings of Munster, as far back as 360 AD, and it remained a fortress until 1101. Today there are ruins of a two-towered chapel, a cruciform cathedral, a round tower, a cluster of medieval buildings awaiting exploration by Celtic Roots travelers, and an orientation film. The afternoon finds us on the road to Sligo, stopping at Drumcliffe Church, where Yeats rests, and Glencar Waterfall, setting for his magical fairy poem “The Stolen Child”—both in the shadow of megalith Ben Bulben. The evening gives travelers free reign to explore the city of Sligo, with its music festivals, quaint streets, old abbey, famine memorial, and whimsical sculpture of Yeats, all with a river running through it. We rest the night at the Riverside Hotel.

June 16: Today is a propitious day, as we travel north to see the Giants Causeway, a Unesco protected site near Belfast. The causeway lies at the foot of the basalt cliffs, along the wild Irish North Atlantic at the edge of the Antrim plateau in Northern Ireland. The Causeway is made of some 40,000 massive black basalt columns sticking out of the sea. Moving on to Belfast, the Ulster heritage site of our Appalachian ancestors, we will explore and lunch at the splendid Ulster Museum, after which we head south for our Dublin hotel.

June 17: Our Dublin accommodations are located in the heart of the city, near O’Connell Street, Trinity College, and the Irish National Theatre. We start the day with our local Irish guide, who will share the stories of this historic city. The morning begins at Trinity College, home to the Book of Kells, the famed illuminated Gospels, a treasure of among early Christian manuscripts as we explore the Colonnades and Old Library. We’ll hear the stories of O’Connell Street, setting for the 1918 Easter Rebellion. See the statue of James Joyce, and the home where Oscar Wilde grew up as well as his image in the Green. The tour ends at the James Joyce Cultural Center, located in a restored 1784 Georgia town house once the home of Denis J. Maginni, a dancing instructor who appears in Ulysses. The Ulysses Portrait Gallery has a fascinating collection of photographs and drawings of Joyce’s characters and the city of Dublin made famous by his collection Dubliners. Spend the rest of your day on your own, enjoying this city founded by Vikings, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the National Museum or just sit in a pub with a bowl of Irish stew and a home brew. An evening performance at the Abbey Theater caps the perfect Dublin day.

June 18: An early start takes us to the Dublin port to ride the ferry to Holyhead, a two-hour journey by ferry. We’ll meet our coach at the port and head for Criccieth, Wales, and the Lion Hotel. Criccieth is a seaside resort in Wales with the ancient Criccieth Castle as centerpiece to the town, a picturesque spot from which to journey through Celtic Wales to Cornwall. We’ll spend the afternoon exploring the castle and this quaint seaside town.

June 19: As we set out to journey through Wales, we’ll see historic Tinturn Abbey for a brief stop and view of the abbey, one of Britain’s most beautiful abbey ruins, inspiring William Wordsworth’s most beautiful and poignant ode, still as magical today as when William and his sister Dorothy traveled there on their own 18th-century study tour. Wending our way southward into the magical countryside of Arthurian legend, we’ll spend a few magical hours in legend-filled Glastonbury. A climb up the Tor is a must and a lunch break as we explore the ancient town of Druids, Celtic priests, and Arthurian tale. As the afternoon wanes, we’ll head for Camelot Hotel, perched on a precipice, near Tintagel Castle ruin, King Arthur’s seat. Dining at the hotel or in the town of Tintagel will conclude the day.

June 20: Today begins with a short drive to Land’s End and Penzance, setting for the remarkable St. Michael’s Mount, the fortress island from which the first sighting of the Spanish Armada gave the alarm that would bring Britain to arms and first among sea powers in 1688. After exploring the mount, we’ll head for Penzance, setting for Gilbert and Sullivan’s wacky pirate tale and a congregating place for artists and writers. Penzance enjoys sunny breezes, fine seafood and sparkling green ocean. Travelers can explore the shops, the fine pubs and restaurants, and enjoy a leisurely afternoon. On the return to Castle Hotel, we’ll pass through St. Ives and Talland House for a view of the gardens. This Cornwall home built in 1895 served as a get-away sea-side vacation spot for Virginia Woolf’s famous family, Victorians Leslie and Julia Stephen and their talented and brilliant children, as well as the setting for her most famous novel To the Lighthouse.

June 21: This morning takes us through Wessex to the village of Chawton to have a look at Jane Austen’s parsonage home, her writing table, and the country gentry life that she captured so well in her books. Afterward, we’ll drive to the cathedral town of Winchester, royal seat for Alfred the Great, England’s Anglo-Saxon king who gathered the extant Old English texts we have today and established the Dane Law with the Vikings. Winchester is known for its fine food, the country’s largest farmers’ market, birthplace of modern cricket, and resting place of Jane Austen in the Cathedral. The afternoon takes us on to Salisbury and our hotel, our gateway to Stonehenge on the Salisbury Plain.

June 22: If we are lucky this morning, we’ll arrive before the tourist throngs at Stonehenge to enjoy the famous prehistoric stone circle and most famous archaeological site of prehistoric Celtic people. We’ll spend the morning exploring this ancient Druid site, seeing the museum, the stones, and enjoying lunch before we head for the short drive to London and three nights at our Kensington hotel, the Copthorne Tara. Enjoy the evening exploring the Kensington area of London, with its pubs, Kensington Palace where Princess Diana stayed, and the city sights.

June 23: We’ll start the day with a local half-day tour guide who will acclimate us to the city, the Underground, and sights around Parliament, Buckingham Palace, leaving us at Trafalgar Square, the departure point for the best that the world’s most exciting European city has to offer. You are free to explore in the afternoon on your own. The museums near Trafalgar and Covent Garden might offer a Friday afternoon matinee or an evening concert at St. Martins in the Field.

June 24: Today is your day, to explore to your heart’s content: London’s famous Tower, Tower Bridge, the British Museum near Bloomsbury, the Wheel on the Thames, a boat ride up the river to the Kew Gardens or down the river to Greenwich, or any of the city’s fine museums. Use your Underground pass to visit Hampton Court, Henry VIII palace, or any point on the compass for a taste of history and pageantry of this remarkable city. London offers all the adventures, cultural experiences, and excitement of Europe’s most vibrant city.

June 25: World Strides will provide a field specialist to accompany us to the airport for our journey back to Dulles and home to family and friends, enriched with a life-time of adventures.

June 26, 27, 28: Optional Copthorne Tara in London Extension at the St. Giles in London, which can serve as your base for daytrips to explore the south and east of England.