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Waterford & Suir Valley Railway

Blowing Waterford Crystal

The Grand Tour –

Derry to Kerry

DAY 1

Customers booking our rail-inclusive package

will begin their holiday with the ‘Burns

Country Line’ through Galloway to our hotel

for one night, the North West Castle Hotel in

Stranraer. (D)

DAY 2

Our morning ferry crosses from nearby

Cairnryan to Belfast Port. A local coach

awaits our arrival for the transfer to

Belfast

itself, where we visit the popular

Titanic

Experience

. The world’s largest Titanic visitor

37 years ago Michael Palin’s first ‘Great Railway Journey’ to Kyle

of Lochalsh prompted Dave to organize his first tour. We thought

now would be a great time to recreate Palin’s second ‘Great Railway

Journey’ from ‘Derry to Kerry’! Experience the fabulous line from

Coleraine to Londonderry and the scenic East Coast Line from Dublin

to Wexford, enjoy the contrasts of Belfast, Dublin, Waterford and

Tralee, and wonder at the natural beauty of the Causeway Coast and

the Ring of Kerry, all rounded off with a final shindig

in Dublin. Cead Mile Failte!

Giants Causeway

TOUR HIGHLIGHTS

★

Marvel at the Giant’s Causeway, a

unique natural phenomenon

★

Arrive at the Causeway aboard the

Bushmills Railway

★

Taste Bushmills Whiskey at the

distillery

★

Experience Northern Ireland’s great

scenic rail journey

★

Tour the walls of Derry-Londonderry

★

Visit the Titanic Experience in Belfast

★

Sightsee in Dublin’s fair city

★

Take in the Irish Republic’s most

scenic railway along the East Coast

★

Learn about Ireland’s emigrant history

at Dunbrody Emigrant Ship Museum

★

Explore Waterford and visit the

famous Waterford Crystal

★

Trundle through the Suir Valley on the

heritage Suir Valley Railway

★

Enjoy the fabulous views of the Ring

of Kerry

★

Let your hair down with a final night’s

dinner and Irish Show in Dublin

Fares

From

£1595

attraction is housed at the spot where it all

began. We then continue to the unspoilt

Antrim coast

and our hotel for three nights,

the Londonderry Arms in the seaside village

of Carnlough. (B,D)

DAY 3

Transferring to Ballymoney, we join arguably

the

most scenic stretch of railway on the

island of Ireland

. From Coleraine the line runs

alongside the River Bann before passing

through Castlerock and Downhill tunnels, the

longest in Ireland. From the seaside village of

Castlerock we pass Binevenagh Mountain,

the track running alongside the golden sands

of Benone Strand, with views of unspoilt

beaches and rolling waves from the Atlantic

Ocean. Arriving in

Derry-Londonderry

, we

enjoy a guided walk on the city walls of

Ireland’s only completely walled city, before

retracing our tracks to Ballymoney. (B,D)

The Great Railway Journey

Coleraine to Derry-Londonderry

Also included in your Tour Fare:

★

Dinner every evening

★

Rail travel & seat reservations from

your Home Station to/from the

mainland ports (Standard or First

Class)

★

Standard Class rail travel in Ireland

★

Ferries and coach travel, as described

★

Services of experienced Railtrail Tour

Manager

★

Hotel Porterage

DAY 4

Today we head along the Antrim coastline

Bushmills

. Here we board the

Giant’s

Causeway & Bushmills Railway

, a railway

built to the Irish narrow gauge of three feet

and running for two miles along the track of

the former Giant’s Causeway Tram. At the

Giant’s Causeway

we visit the Visitor Centre

and walk the short distance to the stones.

Returning to Bushmills, we visit the

Bushmills

Distillery

for a tasting of their malts. (B,D)

DAY 5

Transferring to Ballymena, our train takes us

through Antrim to Belfast. Changing trains,

we continue southwards, with the Mountains

of Mourne in the distance, crossing into the

Irish Republic. From

Drogheda to Dublin the

railway skirts a pretty coastline of beaches

and harbours

. In Dublin we stay for two

nights at Cassidy’s Hotel. (B,D)