Hidden Ireland
Joyce's Ireland Irish Tours
Walking holidays of Hidden Ireland - Irish Hiking & Walking Vacations

We will all meet at Dublin Airport and from there we drive up to the North Antrim Coast. The Antrim Coast has been designated an "Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty"

After dinner, a short walk will take us down around the coast at Ballintoy and to Carrick-a-Rede: a tiny island with a salmon fishery, joined to the mainland by a rope bridge, and back up via the harbour of Ballintoy.

We will be accommodated on the coast road near the world-famous Giant?s Causeway for the next two nights.

On the agenda today is a spectacular walk starting from White Park Bay on the Antrim coast and finishing at the Giants Causeway. On a clear day you will be able to see right across to Scotland. The Causeway is made up of 37,000 black hexagonal basalt columns. It is the result of a massive underground explosion some sixty million years ago. In 1693 the Royal Geographical Society publicised it as one of the great wonders of the natural world.

Our local expert guide will take you on this walk and entertain you with history, botany, geology, and folklore.

We now must move on into the west to County Donegal: our base for the next two nights is the Mill Guest House and Restaurant in the village of Dunfanaghy, in the Gaeltacht (Gaelic-speaking region).

Hopefully we shall find some excellent traditional music here. We will stop en route at Glenveagh National Park for a walk, which begins in the lonely wilderness of the mountains and finishes alongside the beautiful Lough Beagh and Glenveagh Castle gardens.

A visit to Donegal is like a trip back in time. Beautiful day-walks and spectacular sunsets are promised along the rugged Donegal coastline.

Setting out on foot from the hotel, our walk today will be at the Horn Head Peninsula. This is one of the northernmost peninsulas of County Donegal. Our walk will commence though pine woods bring us through large sand dunes interspersed with wild flowers such as wild mountain thyme and pyramidal orchids. We then come down to a spectacular beach before taking a coast / cliff track around by the sea. We finish near a great natural arch in the sea before turning back towards Dunfanaghy to visit the Poor House Museum. We will round off the day nicely with another wonderful four-course dinner at the Mill.

This morning we will head south to County Sligo, but on our way we stop to walk near Dunlewy Lough and the Poisoned Glen, in Donegal. This is a magnificent walk through the hills and forests of Donegal in the shadows of mighty Mount Errigal. You will be guided by John McGroary, a local expert guide. Tonight we will stay at the Drumcliff in County Sligo.

After visting Drumcliff Church and the grave of W.B. Yeats we will head south past Sligo Town to walk at Knocknarea Mountain overlooking a magnificent bay and the original Coney Island.

Tonight we will stay at Kilmena on the shores of Clew Bay on the outskirts of Westport Town, County Mayo. Our guest house is located on the sea shore and after dinner we can venture out to one of the islands via a causeway accessible at low tide.

From Galway City, we will head south to the Burren Region of County Clare - a huge plateau of limestone and shale aptly summed up with the words, "savage land, yielding neither water enough to drown a man, nor a tree to hang him, nor soil enough to bury him".

Our walk today is at the highest point in the Burren: Slieve Elva. We will be rewarded with great views across Galway Bay to the Aran Islands.

For the next two nights we will be accommodated in the Kincora Guest House in Lisdoonvarna. After dinner, we can venture into the village in search of traditional music in the pubs.

Today we will be accompanied by our local expert guide. He will take us to sites of botanical, geological and archaeological interest. This will include walking in two separate parts of the Burren with a break for lunch.

The Burren region is famous for its flora: you will never see anything like the carpets of primroses, or the white flower of the blackthorn cascading over all the hedgerows. Rare and spectacular plants occur in abundance. Nowhere else in Ireland, Britain or even north west Europe can such quantities of the blue Spring Gentian, cream Mountain Avens or yellow Shrubby Cinquefoil be encountered. Orchids grow everywhere in the Burren and 23 out of the 27 Irish species are to be found here.

At the end of the afternoon we may have time for a pint in County Clare's oldest pub.

The Cliffs of Moher: one of Ireland's most notable sights. Towering 660 feet above the wild Atlantic, these cliffs are noted for abundant birdlife including puffins. There is a new state of the art visitors centre built unobtrusively in to the hillside.

Leaving County Clare, we will drive south to County Kerry via the Killimer to Tarbert ferry across the Shannon (look out for dolphins!). Weather permitting, we will walk part of the Dingle Way. Alternatively we will stop to walk the beach from Castlegregory.

.For the next three nights we will stay in the award-winning Greenmount House in the heart of Dingle town: an excellent base for some wonderful craft shops, galleries, quaint pubs and restaurants.

We will drive across the highest road pass in Ireland, the Connor Pass. A lovely walk is on today's agenda: at Beenbo Mountain and the spectacular green valley of Magha na Bo. Enjoy the peace and tranquillity of this valley and witness 40 shades of green!

We then cross over the top of the pass and drop down to Annascaul village via Lake Annascaul. On arrival in Annascaul it is almost compulsory to take some liquid refreshment in the South Pole Inn.

We travel today to the western side of the Brandon Ridge to walk at Ballydavid Head, for one of the best walks on the Dingle Peninsula. We climb gently through moorland grass to reach a fine vantage point with expansive views of the surrounding hills, fields, mountains, sea and cliffs. This area could be described as a "photographer's paradise". We will take our time to take pictures, relax, and enjoy the views.

We will then return to Dingle for an excellent meal and a review of the day?s activity.

Today we will walk at Inch Beach (the setting for the film, Ryan's Daughter). We begin with views across to Glenbeigh and Ireland's highest mountains, the MacGillycuddy's Reeks, then on rounding the peninsula we have views back towards the Dingle Peninsula and the Slieve Mish Mountains. Look out for rabbits and lots of estuary birds.

We move on then to the Gougane Barra region of County Cork. Our accommodation is the Gougane Barra Hotel: we stay here for 2 nights. This is a stunning location on the shores of a lake in a deep valley.

Wake up to peace and tranquillity and fine lake views. Catherine, our local guide today will take us on a circuit of Gougane Barra Lake and the source of the River Lee. We will be able to walk directly from the hotel. This is a walk that follows very little in the way of track. It can be rugged and tough underfoot, but well worth the effort.

If you prefer a more restful day then this is the ideal spot to enjoy the quiet tracks beside the lake and forest.

Cahir in County Tipperary: the town is dominated by a 13th century castle, one of the largest in Ireland. After taking a tour of the castle we will walk alongthe banks of the River Suir to the "Swiss Cottage": an exquisite thatched cottage designed by John Nash as a retreat for the 12th Baron Cahir.

We will be accommodated in the town of Cashel at a wonderful guest houuse with the most amazing views of St Patrick's Rock. Highly recommended entertainment tonight comes in the form of music and dance "Riverdance" style at the Bru Boru Centre.

We must say Goodbye to Ireland after our 2 hour drive back to Dublin Airport.