2023 West Cork & Kenmare

Welcome onboard our luxury coach to West Cork & Kenmare, you will receive the warmest of welcomes as you step onboard our luxurious coach. The journey will be broken with regular comfort stops using service stations to ensure it is a pleasant, relaxing journey for everyone onboard. Upon arrival, the hotel porters will take your luggage from the coach to your room, allowing you time to enjoy a welcome ‘cuppa’. 

Take some time to relax before joining the rest of your travelling companions for our ‘Welcome Dinner’ together in the hotel’s dining room.

Today, we’ll take an excursion to explore the glorious Mizen Peninsula, Co Cork. The highlight of the visit must be the Mizen Head Signal Station, located at Ireland’s most south westerly point with the swirling Atlantic Ocean tides crashing off the treacherous rocks below. There is a visitor centre here where you can learn about navigational aids, the geology of the Mizen Head area and the Fastnet Rescue Tide Clock.  We recommend you wear walking shoes today and cross over the magnificent arched bridge, keeping an eye out for the local wildlife of seals, kittiwakes, gannets and choughs in the deep blue water below. Spend some time exploring the keepers’ quarters in the former Irish Lights Signal Station, view the engine room with the Marconi radio room and the workman’s quarters with the Mizen map collection and CIL boat display. 
On our return journey to our hotel, we will drive through Schull and Skibbereen. 
A delightful day and exciting excursion for everyone.

We will return to our hotel with some free time, before dinner, to relax.

Today we visit the awe-inspiring Garnish Island, located in the sheltered bay of Glengarriff.  Garnish is world renowned for its beautiful gardens which are laid out in delightful walks and has some stunning specimen plants which are rare in this climate.  Our coach takes us right to the pier side in the pretty West Cork village of Glengarriff where we board the Harbour Queen boat for the short ride 15-minute journey out to the island. The captain will give you some background information, point out some beautiful homes (including the legendary Maureen O’Hara’s home) and if we’re lucky, you may even spot an eagle or two. 
The island has a small coffee shop on arrival and toilets.

Take your time, explore this delightful oasis of beauty at a leisurely pace before meeting everyone back on the pier side for our return boat trip back to the mainland.
Spend a little time strolling around the famous village of Glengarriff before boarding the coach and travelling to Kenmare, one of Ireland’s prettiest towns.
Enjoy time to relax and stroll through the streets of the town, bulging with shops, restaurants, cafes and galleries.

Returning to our hotel for dinner together.

Today, we check out of our hotel and travel towards Kinsale.  Our first stop will be Charles’ Fort. 
Charles Fort has been part of some of the most momentous events of Irish history. During the Williamite Wars, for example, it withstood a 13-day siege before it fell. Later, in the Civil War of the early 1920s, anti-Treaty forces on the retreat burned it out.

Charles Fort is a massive star-shaped structure of the late seventeenth century, well preserved despite its history. William Robinson, architect of the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham, Dublin, is credited with designing it. Its dimensions are awe-inspiring – some of the outer defences are 16 metres high.
The view from the ramparts looking out over Kinsale Harbour is spectacular.

The coach then travels the short distance into Kinsale town where we will meet our local expert tour guide for a very gently paced walking tour.  Listen carefully to the way the town’s history is vividly brought to life as our guide regales you with stories of battles fought and territories regained in the past centuries. 

You’ll have some free time, after your walking tour, to explore and perhaps have some lunch in Kinsale before boarding our coach in the late afternoon and travelling back to Rosscarbery.
  
Dinner is included tonight in the hotel.

After breakfast, we check out of our hotel and board our luxurious coach for the journey to the Cork City centre where you will have an opportunity to visit Cork’s iconic English Market, that has been trading since 1788.  It is one of the oldest and certainly the best covered market in Europe, it has survived famine, flood, war, fires and multiple recessions to be a strong part of Cork’s retail environment.  The reputation and history of the market has attracted thousands of visitors each year – heads of state, celebrities and tourists from across the globe have come to see the market.

Our journey then follows the path homeward bound along the M8 to our original pick up locations.  Sit back, relax onboard and let us take you home with lovely memories to share with your friends and family of your trip to West Cork & Kenmare.