Ireland is a perennial favorites for travelers, inspiring pilgrimages with families and repeat visitors who fall in love with its people, its landscape, its music, its heritage, and its beer. (I'm certainly one of them; full disclosure) Right now, Sceptre Tours (tel. 800/221-0924; www.sceptretours.com) has a special on Ireland Coast-to-Coast starting from $799 for six nights. The package includes pre-booked accommodations, round-trip airfare from several departure cities in the U.S., full Irish breakfast daily, and weekly standard transmission economy class rental car, with unlimited mileage. You can of course upgrade to an automatic transmission car for $35, or stay at the five-star Adare Manor, a luxury hotel and resort, Irish-style, located in Limerick; ask for the "super upgrade." September travel from Washington, D.C. (Dulles), including airfare, starts from $889, and $1,049 for Boston or New York, $1,189 from Chicago and $1,269 from Los Angeles. October travel is slightly cheaper, starting around $919 for New York/Boston departures, but the least costly months to travel are November-February. Winter is not exactly a terrible time to visit Ireland, as it does not typically get very cold, although last winter parts of Ireland did see some snow. Travel during November February and you'll pay $799 from Washington, D.C. or $829 from New York or Boston, for example. There are travel blackout dates December 17-31, and airport taxes/fees/facility charges of about $98-$125 per person are not included in the quoted price. Other gateways are possible for additional fees.
There is no scheduled itinerary, and in Ireland, a laid-back, beautiful place, that seems optimal. You can either fly into Shannon, closer to the West coast, or fly into Dublin, but you'll stay at the same places the company has arrangements with. The Dublin trip has you at the Clare Inn, ensconced in the countryside and an 18-hoel golf course for the first and last night, the Breaffy House in County Mayo, an 1890 mansion a few miles from Castlebar, and the Green Isle Hotel, just southwest of Dublin's city center; the bus stops outside the hotel. If you land in Shannon you'll spend the first and last night at the Clare Inn and two nights apiece in the other properties.
Accommodations are within easy driving distance of one another and by car you can easily reach attractions and destinations such as Newgrange, Trinity College, the Guinness Storehouse, Jameson Distillery, Bunratty Village and lots and lots of ruins. Deals that bundle flights, accommodations and car rentals are especially popular in Ireland, which is easily navigable by car. The diversity of the landscape changes pretty quickly, especially from County Clare to Galway to Mayo, where you go from the Cliffs of Moher (and its new, much disputed visitor's center) to the mountains of Connemara just north of Galway, to the Burren.
Talk with fellow Frommer's readers on our Ireland Message Boards today.
