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Ireland

Ireland at a Slower Pace: Countryside & Culture, Galway to Dublin

Program No. 22586RJ
Experience Ireland’s cities, villages, farms and nature, and interact with her people as you journey at a leisurely pace from the rural West through County Kerry and on to Dublin.

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Select your type of room
Price will update based on selection
Prices displayed below are based on per person,doubleoccupancy.
DATES & starting prices
PRICES
Apr 25 - May 5, 2024
Starting at
3,899
May 9 - May 19, 2024
Starting at
3,949
Filling Fast!
May 16 - May 26, 2024
Starting at
3,949
Jun 6 - Jun 16, 2024
Starting at
3,949
Filling Fast!
Aug 8 - Aug 18, 2024
Starting at
3,949
Sep 19 - Sep 29, 2024
Starting at
3,949
Sep 26 - Oct 6, 2024
Starting at
3,949
Oct 3 - Oct 13, 2024
Starting at
3,949
Oct 10 - Oct 20, 2024
Starting at
3,949
DATES & starting prices
PRICES
Apr 25 - May 5, 2024
Starting at
4,649
May 9 - May 19, 2024
Starting at
4,699
May 16 - May 26, 2024
Starting at
4,699
Jun 6 - Jun 16, 2024
Starting at
4,699
Aug 8 - Aug 18, 2024
Starting at
4,699
Sep 19 - Sep 29, 2024
Starting at
4,699
Sep 26 - Oct 6, 2024
Starting at
4,699
Oct 3 - Oct 13, 2024
Starting at
4,699
Oct 10 - Oct 20, 2024
Starting at
4,699

At a Glance

Experience Ireland’s cities, villages, farms and natural environments and interact with her people as you journey from the rural West through County Kerry and on to Dublin. Friendly locals accompany your discovery, moving at a relaxed pace that allows for thorough exploration of the Cliffs of Moher, Galway, Bunratty Castle and more, as well as for conversation in cozy pubs where lively traditional music is played.
Activity Level
On Your Feet
Walk a few blocks indoors and out, stand for up to an hour at a time, climb a few stairs.
Small Group
Small Group
Love to learn and explore in a small-group setting? These adventures offer small, personal experiences with groups of 13 to 24 participants.

Best of all, you’ll…

  • Learn about the natural forces behind the legendary beauty of Ireland’s wild spaces on expert-led discoveries of the Cliffs of Moher, the Burren and County Kerry.
  • Discover traditional Irish food on a local food trail.
  • Join locals to take part in customary Irish pastimes, including the country’s vibrant music and dance traditions.

General Notes

You may be interested in a more active version of this program, "Enchanting Ireland: Town and Country" (#21258).
Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop
You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
For the Love of Ireland: A Literary Companion
by Susan Cahill (ed.)
A rich anthology of writing about Ireland by such Irish luminaries as James Joyce, William Butler Yeats, Seamus Heaney, William, Trevor, Frank McCourt, Edna O'Brien, and Samuel Beckett. The well-chosen excerpts, organized by province, evoke in wonderful literary detail the geography of Ireland. Highly recommended for any traveler, the anthology is also a fine introduction to Irish literature.
A Traveller's History of Ireland
by Peter Neville
From the Celts to the Norman invasions and modern-day Ireland, this short history is highly recommended for those who would like a brief overview of the Emerald Isle through the centuries
Luck and the Irish: A Brief History of Change, 1970-2000
by Roy Foster
From 1970, things were changing in Ireland; the Celtic Tiger had finally woken, and the rules for everything from gender roles and religion to international relations were being entirely rewritten. Luck and the Irish examines how the country has weathered these last thirty years of change, and what these changes may mean in the long run. R. F. Foster also looks at how characters as diverse as Gerry Adams, Mary Robinson, Charles Haughey and Bob Geldof have contributed to Ireland's altered psyche, and uncovers some of the scandals, corruption and marketing masterminds that have transformed Ireland and its luck.
The Secrets of Ireland
by Kevin Eyres
A breathtaking land of wildly varied landscapes, Ireland is shown here in all its awe-inspiring glory. From familiar tourist spots to seldom-seen vistas, this stunning new illustrated book captures the country as you've never seen it before. It covers the whole of the Emerald Isle from Ulster North to Munster South, from Giant's Causeway to the Cliffs of Moher.
A Concise History of Ireland
by Marie O'Brien and Conor Cruise
Ireland in the 20th Century
by Tim Pat Coogan
Ireland entered the twentieth century savaged by poverty and memories of the famine but inspired by the Celtic Dawn, a remarkable cultural renaissance led by Yeats, Synge and Lady Gregory. She left it in the era of the Celtic Tiger, with unparalleled prosperity and a new, confident, outward-looking view of herself and the world - although this prosperity and self-confidence is now giving way to uncertainty. In the intervening hundred years, Ireland has experienced more 'history' than almost any other country: beginning under the British crown, she was racked by revolution, the Anglo-Irish war, partition and civil conflict. Led by towering figures such as Michael Collins and De Valera, she has suffered terrible hardships and disputes but has nevertheless provided brilliant cultural and literary examples and is now a country of importance in the wider international community, providing leadership in a variety of moral and development issues. In this readable and authoritative study, Ireland's bestselling popular historian tells the extraordinary story of how contemporary Ireland came into existence. Covering both South and North and dealing with social and cultural history as well as political, this will surely become a definitive single-volume account of the making of modern Ireland.
Walking Dublin
by Pat Liddy
Ireland (Landscapes Countryside Guides)
by Peter Singer
This guide covers the Republic and Northern Ireland and includes: 13 car tours, 22 walks, 30 picnic suggestions; walking maps; timetables for public transport; pull-out touring maps; many short walks and picnic suggestions.
After the Famine: Irish Agriculture 1850-1914
by Michael Turner
After the Famine examines the recovery in Irish agriculture in the wake of the disastrous potato famine of the 1840s, and presents an annual agricultural output series for Ireland from 1850 to 1914. Michael Turner’s detailed study is in three parts: he analyses the changing structure of agriculture in terms of land use and peasant occupancy; he presents estimates of the annual value of Irish output between 1850 and 1914; and he assesses Irish agricultural performance in terms of several measures of productivity. These analyses are placed in the context of British and European agricultural development, and suggest that, contrary to prevailing orthodoxies, landlords rather than tenants were the main beneficiaries in the period leading up to the land reforms. After the Famine is an important contribution to an extremely controversial area of Irish social and economic history.
See Dublin on foot, an architectural walking guide
by Julie Craig
7 Days in Dublin: Everything to See and Do
by Shane Kennedy
Ireland and the Irish
by John Ardagh
impressionistic portrait of the two Irelands, based on interviews with leaders and ordinary people from every walk of life, includes their insights and the author's own observations and analysis. Anatomy of the country, this book is a most useful guide for the visitor wanting a complete picture of modern Irish life and the prevailing social and economic trends.
EXploring Rural Ireland
by A.Sanger
Ireland : The Emerald Isle and Its People
by Mark Morris and Anthony Cassidy
Ireland, a Bicycle and a Tin Whistle
by D.Wilson





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