What about a trip to Ireland?

As I love travelling, Ireland and the Easter break I thought why not combine these three things? Why not spend the Easter holidays travelling through Ireland? I have once been there with my English class years ago in the sixth grade. I was just 15 and now I'm 21 so I think it's a good time to revisit this beautiful country and spend some days in rainy Ireland (hopefully with less rain than it is known for :-))
At least I started planning a 10-day tour through the whole island and let's see, maybe I will realise my plans...

 

Day 1: 

The journey starts with a flight from Vienna to Shannon Airport, which will be the starting point. As the flight will not arrive before 1 p.m. there is just a short afternoon/evening programme. The hotel is located in the charming town called Ennis, where bus number 51 will take you in less than one hour. After checking-in at the hotel, a local guide will give you the opportunity to see some nice places and show you the main points of interest. After the walking tour you will have dinner in the hotel. 

Day 2: 

After having breakfast in the hotel you will go to the western coast to see the breathtaking Cliffs of Moher. The cliffs rise 120 metres above the Atlantic Ocean at Hag's Head and finally reach a height of 214 metres eight kilometres to the north near O'Brien's Tower. By going there you will have a marvellous view and will also be able to see the rounded limestone hills of the Burren and a huge stone monument marking a neolithic burial place called the Poulnabrone Dolmen. The next stop is Galway where you can have a tour through the city and enjoy Galway Bay. 

Day 3: 

Day 3 will lead you south again where you will visit Clonmacnoise Monastic Site. You will see many impressive round towers, old church ruins and the famous Celtic crosses Ireland is known for. In the afternoon you can join a tour to see Athlone Castle which was built in the 13th century. After that, you could have a typical Irish coffee in Ireland's oldest pub, Sean's Bar. After that it will be time for dinner which you could for example have at Glasson Village Restaurant. 

Day 4: 

On your fourth day you will visit the ruins of Boyle Abbey which was a Cistercian community founded in the 12th century but was mutilated during the 17th and 18th century. In the afternoon you will visit Glenveagh National Park in County Donegal. There you will have the opportunity to walk around the extensive gardens and see all the exotic plants. You can further visit Glenveagh Castle and learn something about Irish history. After that, you can drive along the Grand Atlantic Drive and finally have dinner in Stranorlar.

Day 5:

On the next day you will join a walking tour with a local guide to see all the places of Interest in Derry.  The guide will lead you to medieval city walls, the Diamond and St. Columb's Cathedral. After visiting Derry you will drive along the north coast and explore the really fascinating Giant's Causeway. These are enourmous hexagonal columns which were formed by volcanic activity millions of years ago. On driving along the coastal route called Nine Glens of Antrim you will have a wonderful scenery. In the late afternoon you will arrive in Belfast. 

 Day 6:

 On your sixth day you will have a panoramic tour around central Belfast and after that you can visit Titanic Belfast, an interactive museum where you get all the information about the famous ship and the history linked to it. The tour will go on by visiting Down Cathedral where you will see the place St. Patrick's burial place is suspected. In Belfast you can also visit the St. Patrick Centre to get an insight in his life and the period of time he lived in. In the late afternoon you will drive on to Dublin, the capital city of Ireland, where you will spend the next few days

  

Day 7: 

After breakfast you can walk through Dublin city. There are so many things to see and places to visit like the famous Georgian squares with brightly-painted doorways. You also have to cross River Liffey to O'Connel Street and see the General Post Office where the rebellion leading to the Easter Rising started. If you don't want to walk around the city there are also free tours, organised by an organisation called Sandeman (link: Sandeman's new Europe - Dublin). All their guides work on a tips-only basis so that highest quality is guaranteed. All these people are really passionate about their city and want tourists to spread this passion to tourists as well. 
In the afternoon you can revisit some places that you may have already been to with your guides like the Trinity College where you can see the Book of Kells, an 8th century manuscript. 

Day 8: 

On your eigth day you can decide wheter you want to visit either the famous Guiness brewery or Jameson. After lunch you will have time to go shopping, drink coffee or do anything else you want. There's also the opportunity to visit Kilmainham Gaol, the biggest unoccupied gaol in these days. On visiting it, you will get a dramatic and realistic insight what it must have been like to be imprisoned for example in times of the Easter Rising. In the evening you can go to Brazen Head Pub, Dublin's oldest one. 

 Day 9: 

On this day you will join a bus tour called The South Coast & Powerscourt Gardens tour. It takes only a day and it gives you the chance to visit not only a Victorian seaside resort, grand Renaissance gardens but also a National Park. Here's the link: South Coast & Powerscourt.The bus will bring you back to Dublin at 5 p.m. so there will be still enough time to go shopping, for example if you want to buy some souvenirs or just have dinner in the city.

 Day 10: 

Finally going home! Flight from Dublin to Vienna in the morning.