2025 Vacations

CONTINUING OUR EARLY 25 IN 25 CELEBRATIONS! 15% Discount on all self drive packages AND only €25pp deposit!

We continue to toast 25 years of creating Ireland vacations by extending our €25pp deposit AND offering you a 15% discount on any of our self-drive vacation packages! Book by 15th November 2024*

*CIE tours and Knitting tours not included

Tour Overview

‘Excellent’

Overview For the Family Tour of Ireland - Kilkenny Base

Kilkenny is located in the Heart of Ireland so is a fantastic location to base your family while on your Vacation in Ireland. This compact city is an easy drive from Dublin; Irelands capital so is a terrific location. Kilkenny is situated on both banks of the River Nore, in the province of Leinster. It is famous for its medieval building and castle. On reserving your vacation with us, you will get a complete tour pack which will include numerous day tours that you can choose to take from your base. This tour is flexible; you can do all of the day trips, some of them or you may choose to simply relax and enjoy the surroundings of your hotel.

Your Accommodation while touring Ireland: Hotel Kilkenny

While on your Family Vacation Tour, we realise that it can be difficult for families to move from hotel to hotel so these tours are ‘one-centred’ and designed in such a way as you would just pick up your rental car, drive to your hotel location and check in for the duration of your vacation. When you book your tour with us you will get a comprehensive tour pack which will include several day tours that you can chose to take from your base location.

Your hotel for this tour is tried and trusted friend of Irish Tourism: Hotel Kilkenny. This hotel is extremely family friendly and some of its many features are described below.

 

Great Kids Facilities

  • Kids Club open during school holidays every day – FREE to residents
  • Activities for the little ones such as Arts & Crafts, Splashmania – Swim Fun, Talent Shows, Cooking
  • Great Kids Play Area
  • Kids Menus available

Flexible Family Rooming Arrangements

  • Spacious family rooms available
  • Children until 3 years stay FREE
  • Hotel Kilkenny allows children until the age of 14 are charged at child rates
  • Family room consists of 1 double & 1 single bed plus space for one rollaway bed, tea & coffee making facilites, FREE Wifi in all rooms and public areas

Escapes for Mom & Dad

  • Extensive leisure club Free to all residents 
  • An extensive menu of eastern and western inspired beauty and wellbeing treatments are available in the on-site Lilac lodge.
  • On-site hairdresser featuring a wide range of services, including the latest cuts, styles and colours.
  • On-site Golf Academy providing a unique and beneficial way to practice your golf.
  • The Pure Bar offers adults a smart smart urban bar to relax in and babysitting services are available (payable locally).

 

What's included

  • Accommodation in rooms with private facilities 
  • Full Irish Breakfast Each Morning
  • Rental Car (Chauffeur Option Available)
  • Local Telephone Support During Your Trip

Tour highlights

  • Aran Islands
  • Bunratty Castle & Folk Park
  • Burren
  • Cliffs of Moher
  • Cobh Heritage Centre
  • Conor Pass
  • Dingle Peninsula
  • Doolin
  • Dun Aengus
  • Gap of Dunloe
  • Ring of Kerry
  • Titanic Walk
  • Bantry House & Gardens
  • Blasket Centre
  • Connemara National Park
  • Crag Cave & Kingdom Falconry
  • Desmond Castle & Wine Museum
  • Galway
  • Kinsale
  • Kylemore Abbey
  • Mizen Head Signal Station
  • Garnish Island
  • Blarney Castle
  • Muckross House, Gardens & Traditional Farms

Overnights for this tour

Hotel Kilkenny for 7 Nights 

Accommodation options

All of the hotels we have chosen for our Family packages have great family facilities, many of them have kids clubs during the summer holidays, playground or playroom, special meals, movie nights, babysitting and great escapes for mom and dad including leisure centres and spas, bars, restaurants and live music.

Day 1 - Galway

Due to its compact size, Galway city is easily explored on foot. The redeveloped Eyre Square area encloses a pleasant courtyard and park, nearby you will find a new shopping centre leading out to shop street which is lined both sides with a mix of cafés, restaurants, traditional and modern shops.    The city comes alive during the summer months with tourists not just from overseas but also other parts of Ireland. Sites of interest include the Cathedral of Saint Nicholas, the old Spanish Arch and the Claddagh, which the famous Claddagh ring is named after. Galway city is a great place to enjoy some traditional Irish music with many pubs having live music on a weekly and in some cases a daily basis. You will also find many lovely restaurants to enjoy a romantic meal, Galway has something to suit every visitor’s taste buds and pocket!

Day 2 - Connemara

Your time in Connemara may well be the highlight of your romantic getaway in Ireland! This wild region of Galway encompasses serene seascapes, rugged coastlines and magnificent mountains. Visit Kylemore Abbey which is often referred to as Ireland’s most romantic Castle as it was built by Mitchell Henry for his wife having fallen in love with the area whilst they visited on honeymoon!  Further west visit the town of Clifden with its colourful buildings, craft shops and lively pubs. Drive the breath-taking Sky road from Clifden passing desolate scenery and the narrow inlet at Clifden Bay, from here you could easily take the coastal route to the village of Roundstone. Your Irish Tourism itinerary will guide you with all the route options that you could possibly take.

Day 3 - Clare

You can’t miss the Burren when travelling the coast road from Galway to Clare, and you will find Romance in every corner of it! Scramble over karst limestone formations where the bleak landscape and unusual plants give the area an other-worldly ambience. In the Southern area of the Burren the limestone rock gives way to the black shale and sandstone that form the Cliffs of Moher. The cliffs are one of Ireland’s most visited attractions offering outstanding views. Well-worn visitor walkways lead in both directions, offering various viewing points. At night we recommend spending a few hours in Doolin, which is often considered the traditional music capital of Ireland. You are surely to find a comfortable pub to soak up the lively atmosphere. On a sunny evening, join the crowds at Doolin Pier which has become famous for its stunning sunsets that somehow give the watcher a great appreciation for life and nature.

Day 4 - Clare to Kerry

Bunratty Castle & Folk Park is always a nice stop to begin your day touring. Bunratty Castle was built in the 15th Century by the McNamara Clan and is widely regarded as Ireland’s best furnished Castle, complete with authentic artefacts throughout the inside. Next to the Castle, Bunratty Folk Park gives a sense of what Ireland was like in the early 19th Century with each building representing a different element of Irish life from the humblest one roomed abode, to Bunratty House an exquisite example of a fine Georgian residence. Travelling onward towards Kerry your next stop is the town of Adare where many a couple has stopped to walk beside its charming thatched cottages or paid a visit to Desmond Castle, a 13th century feudal Castle set on the banks of the River Maigue.

Day 5 - Romantic Kerry

Kerry is an essential stop on any Ireland Honeymoon because of its wonderfully romantic sweeping sea views and curious history. The Dingle Peninsula and the Ring of Kerry are two of its most popular attractions. Because of the Dingle Peninsula's isolated position beside the North Atlantic Ocean there is a remarkable preservation of over 2,000 monuments.  Killarney, known as the gateway to the Ring of Kerry is famous for its lakes, recommended stops include Torc Waterfall where the Owengariff river cascades through breath-taking wooded glens and the Gap of Dunloe where Ice Age glaciers once carved a dramatic mountain pass through which the ‘gap’ offers spectacular views of three small lakes.

Day 6 - Romantic Cork

Cork city is quickly gaining a reputation as one of Europe’s trendiest cites and notable city attractions include the Church of Saint Anne Shandon which from the top gives a panoramic view of the city, St Fin Barre’s Cathedral and Cork City Gaol. Cork city is noted for its ethnic restaurants, chic bars and trendy boutiques. A great starting point for your city centre explorations is Cork’s English Market. The market is located in Cork city centre with its main entrances on Grand Parade, and on Princes Street, with further smaller entrances off Oliver Plunkett Street and Patrick Street. Established in 1788 by the Protestant or ‘English’ corporation that then controlled the country, the market has been at the heart of Cork city culture since its foundation.

Day 7 - Romantic Cork - Beyond the City

There are lots of things to see and do further afield from Cork City. The town of Kinsale with its attractive harbour font is always a popular stop with honeymooners because of its many romantic restaurants and bars. The town of Cobh is historic and a memorable touring stop, it was from here that the Titanic famously departed for the last time and it was also the final port of call for millions of Irish people leaving Ireland to live overseas, mainly to the US & Canada. Of course while in Cork you may wish to visit our famous Blarney Castle. Blarney Castle has been drawing honeymoon couples for centuries. Legend has it that when you kiss the Blarney Stone, you will be forever endowed with the ‘Gift of the Gab’! There is a lot to see and do in Cork and your Irish Tourism itinerary will show you all the possibilities.

Day 8 - Dromoland Castle

Today we recommend setting off early in order to give you enough time to truly enjoy the luxury that surrounds Dromoland Castle. Dromoland Castle is steeped in history, its roots going back to the year 1014 when the son of Brian Boru held a fortress here. The present building was built in 1800 and was opened to guests in the early 1960’s. Dromoland Castle is certainly considered to be one of Ireland’s most luxurious castles due to the high standard imposed on every feature; from the elegant bedrooms to the perfectly landscaped grounds. The hotel has a superb spa and leisure centre that is perfect for the discerning honeymoon couple and plenty of other activities for you both to enjoy, from the onsite falconry, archery, horse-riding and fishing to their world renowned golf course.

Route map

Tour attractions

2025 Vacations

CONTINUING OUR EARLY 25 IN 25 CELEBRATIONS! 15% Discount on all self drive packages AND only €25pp deposit!

We continue to toast 25 years of creating Ireland vacations by extending our €25pp deposit AND offering you a 15% discount on any of our self-drive vacation packages! Book by 15th November 2024*

*CIE tours and Knitting tours not included

Tour Prices

The 7 Night family tour of Ireland using Kilkenny as a base for your vacation is one of the best ways to see the south of Ireland . This exciting tour stops at some of Irelands top tourist attractions including Rock of Cashel, National Stud and Japanese Gardens, Dublinia, Blarney Castle and an enchanting medieval evening of “ceol agus craic” at Bunratty Castle & Folk Park whilst staying in wonderful child friendly accommodation along the way.

HOTEL KILKENNY FAMILY ROOMS INCLUDING CAR RENTAL

Accommodation Type B&B's 3* Hotels 4* Hotels & Manor Houses Combination
Jan-Mar & Nov-Dec €990 €1,168 €1,375 €1,260
April & October €1,090 €1,290 €1,590 €1,431
May-June €1,386 €1,690 €2,067 €1,790
July-September €1,490 €1,846 €2,187 €1,890

Notes

  • Standard Family Room can sleep 2 Adults & 1 Child or 2 Adults & 2 children when one child sleeps on rollaway bed
  • Larger Family rooms that sleep up to 2+3 are available also
  • All prices quoted in this section are per family as specified

Prices Includes;

  • Detailed Irish Tourism Day Trip Itineraries
  • 7 Nights accommodation in Hotel Kilkenny including full Irish breakfast and taxes
  • 7 Days Family Car rental: 7 Days Manual Transmission Ford Mondeo/Opel Insignia or Similar
  • Included with your car is all compulsory insurances - Collision Damage Waiver insurance (CDW with an excess/deductible), theft protection insurance, location fee of €30, Road fund tax, sales tax at 13.5%, unlimited free mileage, third party liability insurance, 24 hour peace of mind break down cover.

Private Chauffeur Option Available For This Tour

  • Enjoy the services of an experienced and friendly driver guide
  • Luxury vehicles so you get to travel in style and comfort
  • Take the stress out of driving on unfamiliar and sometime narrow roads
  • With our knowledgeable drivers you see more in less time
  • You get to see the scenery instead of worrying about crashing into it!
  • Contact Us for a price quotation today

Prices in other currencies are indicative only. Please note that we charge in Euro.

Detailed Enquiry Form

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For customers based in North America, please note that as we are based in Ireland, we are 5 hours ahead of EST.

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