October 14 – 22, 2014
Dublin * Belfast * Derry * Donegal * Roscommon
Join award-winning WGN Radio host Steve Bertrand on his 2nd trip to Ireland for a unique literary tour of the country. Explore Irish heritage and scholarly traditions, discover where many world famous writers, poets and playwrights were born and lived and were inspired to write about the spectacular beauty, culture and history of their native isle; and visit famous galleries, and towns that celebrate Ireland’s proud literary history.
Departures:
Chicago: $2,799.00
Rates include all departure & government taxes
Package Includes:
Air
• Round-trip air from Chicago on Aer Lingus
Accommodations
• Dublin – 1 night, 4-Star Davenport Hotel
• Belfast – 1 night, 4-Star Europa Hotel
• Derry – 2 nights, 4-Star Tower Hotel
• Ballyfarnon – 1 night, 4-Star Kilronan Castle
• Dublin – 2 nights, 4-Star Davenport Hotel
Transportation
• Private Luxury Motorcoach
Other Inclusions
• Breakfast each morning, except day of arrival
• 5, three-course dinners including: A special castle dinner, and
dinner and traditional entertainment in Dublin’s Taylor’s Three
Rock pub
• Luxury motorcoach with services of a professional Irish driver/guide
• Dublin Castle
• Neolithic monument Newgrange
• Titanic Museum, Belfast
• Giant’s Causeway
• Tower Museum Derry
• Derry City walking tour
• Special Literary evening in Derry
• Strokestown Famine Museum
• Dublin Literary walking Pub tour
• Portfolio of travel documents
• Porterage of one suitcase per person
Click here for reservation form
For more information contact:
Steve Bertrand: 847-606-6065
Email: stevebertrandonbooks@gmail.com
Terms and Conditions: Rates are per person based on double occupancy, and include all departure taxes and fuel surcharges. Single supplement is additional $495. Air inclusive rates are subject to availability and are based on departure from Chicago on Aer Lingus. Not eligible for accrual of frequent flyer points/mileage. Child/infant discounts not available. Cancellations /Changes: Fares are non-refundable.
Itinerary (Details subject to change):
DAY 1 USA / DUBLIN: Fly transatlantic overnight to Dublin Ireland. Dinner is served and in-flight entertainment is
provided.
DAY 2 ARRIVE IN DUBLIN, IRELAND: Welcome to Ireland. ! After collecting your bags, you will meet with your driver in
the arrivals hall at Dublin Airport. Shortly afterwards, your group transfer will depart and make its way towards your
Dublin hotel. PLEASE NOTE: Check-in at Dublin hotels is normally 2:00pm. The hotel will try to accommodate earlier
arrival but this is not guaranteed. This afternoon, take a guided tour through parts of Dublin Castle, which was the seat
of power and government for many centuries and today plays a leading role in European Union activities. This evening,
join your fellow travelers for a Welcome Dinner. Hotel Name: Davenport Hotel.
DAY 3 DUBLIN / NEWGRANGE / BELFAST: This morning, depart Dublin and travel north towards Belfast. Pause to visit the
Boyne Valley Visitor Centre to learn about the 5,000-year-old burial tombs of Newgrange and Knowth. Tour one of them
to see how primitive people managed to align huge boulders precisely with the movements of the sun. Afterwards,
travel past the gentle slopes of the Mourne Mountains to Belfast. Stop to visit the newly opened Titanic Belfast. It is
located in the heart of the city, on the slipways where RMS Titanic was built. You truly re-live the entire Titanic story
from her birth in Belfast to the fateful maiden voyage and her eventual discovery on the seabed. This evening, enjoy
dinner in your hotel. Hotel Name: Europa Belfast.
DAY 4 BELFAST / GIANT’S CAUSEWAY / DERRY: In the morning after breakfast, you will be joined by a local Guide for a
living history city tour of Belfast. Afterwards, travel north along the scenic route of the “Nine Glans of Antrim”. Visit the
unique Giant’s Causeway and hear the legend of the giant Finn MacCool. View enormous hexagonal columns formed by
volcanic activity 60 million years ago. Continue to Derry where the remainder of your day and evening are free to
explore. Hotel Name: Tower Hotel.
DAY 5 DERRY: This morning, join a local guide for a walking tour around the defensive walls that encircle the old city.
Afterwards, visit the award winning Tower Museum located within the city’s historic walls at Union Hall Place.
Permanent exhibitions at the museum include The Story of Derry exhibition and the Armada Shipwreck – La Trinidad
Valencera exhibition. Later this afternoon, enjoy a very special literary event. Afterwards, dinner in your hotel. Hotel
Name: Tower Hotel.
DAY 6 DERRY / DONEGAL / ROSCOMMON: Depart Derry and travel through the rugged countryside of Donegal. Enjoy
spectacular scenery of heathery hills and deep valleys. In Ardara visit Triona Design to sample freshly-baked scones with
tea and see demonstrations of spinning and weaving. Pause in Donegal before continuing on towards County
Roscommon and Kilronan Castle. Tonight, enjoy a castle dinner. Hotel Name: Kilronan Castle.
DAY 7 ROSCOMMON / DUBLIN: After breakfast, depart from Kilronan Castle. Stop to visit Strokestown Park House. This
grand 18th-century estate still has its original furnishings. The Famine Museum, designed to commemorate The Great
Irish Famine of the 1840s, is located in the former stable yards of the house. Afterwards, travel onwards towards Dublin.
This evening, immerse yourself in Dublin’s rich literary heritage on a literary pub crawl through Dublin. This walking tour
is a wonderful introduction to Dublin’s literary past and exciting pub culture. On this tour that’s as educational as it is
recreational, you’ll embark on an animated and entertaining journey through the sights and sounds that inspired great
Irish writers including James Joyce, George Bernard Shaw, Brendan Behan, Sean O’Casey, Samuel Beckett, Oscar Wilde
and W.B. Yeats – not forgetting modern scribes like Seamus Heaney, Eavan Boland, Paula Meehan and Brendan Kennelly.
You are free to enjoy dinner on your own. Hotel Name: Davenport Hotel.
DAY 8 DUBLIN: Enjoy a leisurely breakfast this morning. The remainder of your morning and afternoon are free in Dublin.
Later this afternoon, meet back in your hotel lobby and depart for Taylor’s Three Rock Pub located at the base of the
Dublin Mountains. Enjoy dinner and traditional Irish entertainment. Hotel Name: Davenport Hotel.
DAY 9 DUBLIN / USA: After breakfast, bid farewell to Ireland as transfers begin to Dublin airport, where after check-in
you will have plenty of time for your last minute duty free shopping. Your flight to the US arrives the same day. Have a
safe journey!
Click here for reservation form
For more information contact:
Steve Bertrand: 847-606-6065
Email: stevebertrandonbooks@gmail.com