Delphi Resort: At peace after banishing my fear of yoga Connemara Elle Gordon PUBLISHED23/11/2015 | 02:30 SHARE 1Delphi Adventure Resort Wellness Room An entire weekend of yoga. Sounds like a dream to most people. However, I felt chills down my spine at the thought. SHARE That is because I’m just not . . . how do I put it . . . bendy. I had visions of myself sweaty and frazzled, surrounded by a room full of smug people smoothly moving into pretzel-like positions. Yet my weekend of yoga turned out to be among the most enjoyable and peaceful few days that I have had in a long time – […]
Ireland by Instagram: Top travel photographers showcase Ireland to 3.5 million followers #TalesOfIreland Online Editors PUBLISHED04/12/2015 | 12:20 SHARE 8Dún Briste, Co. Mayo. Photo: Conor MacNeil Four of Britain’s top travel photographers have been sharing images of Ireland with millions of fans on Instagram. SHARE The snapshots of iconic landscapes, buildings and hidden gems were shared by Ruairidh McGlynn, James Wright, Allan Hinton and Conor MacNeil as they ventured along some of the country’s most spectacular driving routes this autumn. The #TalesOfIreland campaign, a collaboration between Stena Line and Tourism Ireland, saw the photographers split into pairs and hit the road in classic 1973 VW campervans for an action-packed weekend. […]
Travel Writer, Mayo: “Because it wasn’t vineyards and bistros we initially had a feeling of being hard done by. We were, of course, entirely wrong.” Emma Sides chooses Belmullet over Bordeaux and discovers a holiday she didn’t know she would appreciate “Blind Harbour’s secret beach within a beach, reached by clambering through a small cave, still gave me a thrill and brought me back to boogie boarding on wooden surfboards (purchased in Cornwall in the 1950s) and cartwheels and handstands on the sand to warm up after.” Last summer, trying to save money, we ditched our plans for a continental holiday and exchanged Bordeaux for Belmullet, pretty much as far […]
Ireland’s 100 Best Places to Stay – and they’re surprisingly affordable “It’s about authenticity” Pól Ó Conghaile Twitter EMAIL PUBLISHED12/03/2015 | 06:48 SHARE 7Newforge House, Co. Armagh McKennas’ Guides has published its 100 Best Places to Stay in Ireland, with some fascinating inclusions… and exclusions. SHARE The influential guide features 12 new entries this year, ranging from Dublin’s five-star Marker Hotel to Glencarrig Farmhouse B&B on Co. Clare’s Loop Head peninsula. Ard Na Sidhe in Co. Kerry – recently voted one of the world’s best affordable places to stay by Condé Nast Traveler – also makes the cut for the first time. Cork City’s River Lee Hotel is new to […]
666 years in the making, is this Ireland’s most haunted house? Loftus Hall’s devil in the detail Pól Ó Conghaile Twitter EMAIL PUBLISHED30/03/2015 | 22:46 SHARE 5Loftus Hall at Halloween. A group of paranormal investigators claims to have encountered “major temperature drops” and electro-magnetic field spikes at a house said to be Ireland’s most haunted. SHARE Irish Ghost Hunters (IGH) visited Loftus Hall on Wexford’s Hook Peninsula to carry out several paranormal investigations this March. The spectre-seekers found “major temperature drops” as well as “significant spikes” in electro-magnetic fields (EMF) in some areas of the house, they say. “Our team is scientific, we don’t work with psychics or mediums,” […]
The terrifying – but funny – world of the disgruntled TripAdvisor reviewer Ireland’s grumpiest visitors Joe O’Shea PUBLISHED12/08/2015 | 02:30 SHARE 7The Rock of Cashel at sunset. They’re our top attractions, but to some caustic critics, the Cliffs of Moher are ‘just cliffs with vicious parking fees’ and the Book of Kells is ‘old and dirty’. Joe O’Shea unearths the funniest TripAdvisor reviews… SHARE The Rock of Cashel is “just a rock and some ruins”, Blarney Castle is “basically hell on earth” and Cork’s famed English Market is “full of smelly fish shops”. Don’t even think about going to the Cliffs Of Moher, all you will see is “fog and […]
Subscribe It sounds like a cliche, but South West Donegal is truly a hidden gem. Sarah Jessica Parker and hubbie Matthew Broderick have been coming to this unspoilt region to escape the glare of the paparazzi for over a decade – and from the minute we arrived, we could see why. From its rugged, beautiful scenery to its delicious seafood and unrivalled traditional craft fare, you’d be hard pressed to find a more magical Irish getway. Castle Murray House 3pm : Hold court at Castle Murray House Father and daughter team Martin and Marguerite Howley have run this charming little hideaway since 2002. Quaint comfortable and homely, Castle Murray House […]
It was an exciting and successful weekend of competitions, concerts, céilithe and sessions as the Comhaltas 64th Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann was celebrated by an estimated 400,000 throughout Sligo. The biggest event to have ever been hosted in Sligo, organisers estimate that attendance was up 30% on the previous year. Sligo seemed to pulse with Irish rhythm and revelry as age-old traditions were celebrated by fresh generations. The Fleadh Cheoil featured a week-long festival of fun with over 250 events and in excess of 8,000 competitors taking part in the All Ireland Fleadh competitions. Sligo spared no effort ensuring an entertaining event-packed programme that brought the world’s premier festival of […]
Though we specialise in west coast tours we can customise tours to all parts of Ireland. We can draft or amend itineraries to meet your particular cultural or recreational interests. Where possible we can draft itineraries to coincide with festivals of music, film, food, theatre literature, and a broad range of sporting events. Our Writers Trail which focuses on the places that inspired such notable Irish writers as James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, George Bernard Shaw, W.B.Yeats, Sean O Casey, Seamus Heaney, Brian Friel, Frank McCourt Demote Healy, John McGahern and Tom Murphy is a very popular tour.
The Wild Atlantic Way is Ireland’s longest defined coastal touring route. From Donegal to Cork, you can explore the rugged beauty of the west. All of our west coast Itineraries take in the more spectacular sections of this ever increasing popular route.