The specific promotions described in this article have now passed, but it remains online so that the resources named will be of future use to travelers.
Travelers flock to the European cities whenever they hear the word spring, sometimes ignoring the lush green changing colors of the countryside. Ireland comes back to life in the spring as natives and tourists alike take to the fields enjoying long walks, stops in small town pubs, and the some of the world's oldest golf courses. From Killarney to Dublin to the northern territory around Connemara, trips focusing on drives, hikes, bikes or horsebacks give tourists access to the greenest pastures of the United Kingdom.
Lynott Tours (tel. 800/221-2474; www.lynotttours.com), specializing in tours to all over the United Kingdom, has last minute travel specials as well as almost twenty air, land, or drive trips that include all sorts of activities from hiking to horseback riding. Some last minute specials to Ireland include a self-drive 6 night trip that includes airfare, a rental car, and six nights accommodations at your choice of over 2,000 different bed and breakfast properties dispersed all over the Irish countryside. Lynott provides travelers with vouchers for lodging and you can stay in any property for as long as you like or move on to your next destination. A full "hearty" Irish breakfast is included with each day of your stay in each of the bed and breakfasts included in the trip. May 2006 prices start at $934 for departures from New York's John F. Kennedy Airport, Newark International Airport or Logan Airport in Boston, $1,096 from Philadelphia, $1,097 from Chicago, and $1,166 from Los Angeles. For this spring special, advanced purchase is waved for travel until June 30, 2006. You can add-on castle stays for additional money, and you can add another six nights of travel with 12-night trips starting at $1,028. Also, with all Lynott tours, you can purchase these as land-only excursions.
Isle Inn Tours (tel. 800/237-9376; www.isleinntours.com) offers several types of trips from escorted tours to luxury travel excursions. A weeklong fly and drive tour with Bed and Breakfast overnights with airfare to Ireland from JFK or Boston starts at $765 for travel during May and $815 for travel during June. The trip includes airfare, all accommodations, full daily breakfast, a touring map, a savings booklet with up to $450 worth of savings, and a rental car. During high season, from June to October, booking your hotel in advance is recommended.
A special trip available through Isle Inn Tours includes a ten day/eight night luxury escorted tour starting at $1,873 with a May departure. Other departure dates are available for this tour that leaves throughout the summer and fall. This "Highlights of Ireland" tour includes airfare from the United States, eight nights in luxury hotels, full daily Irish breakfast, six dinners, one Irish dinner feast with entertainment in Dublin, the services of a professional guide, and admissions to all tourist sites. The tour is limited to 30 travelers and travel within Ireland is in a luxury motor coach. Itinerary highlights include the Cliffs of Moher, Dublin, the Rock of Cashel and other important historical, mythical and musical Irish sites. If these tours seem a little "Normal" for you, Isle Inn Tours also has golfing, walking and bike trips to Ireland.
If you have the time to travel and want to enjoy Ireland for more than two weeks, Go Ahead Tours (tel. 800/590-1170; www.goaheadtours.com) has an educational-minded lengthy 15-day tour called "Legendary Ireland" starting at approximately $2,249. This tour includes round-trip airfare and airport transfers in Ireland, licensed tour guides at major Irish sites, a full-time Go Ahead tour director, 13 nights' hotel accommodations, daily buffet breakfasts, five dinners, and all in-Ireland travel on a deluxe motorcoach. This comprehensive trip visits Dublin, Killarney, Cork, Kildare, Kilkenny, Galway, the Ring of Kerry and Connemara. Optional excursions are also available such as Irish Cabaret night ($99) and a castle dinner ($129). Hotels are three-star and above all centrally located in areas where walking is encouraged with great views of the city and countryside.
For a shorter, fairly comprehensive tour of Ireland, Gate 1 Travel (tel. 800/682-3333; www.gate1travel.com) has a special offer on a seven day air/land tour of Ireland starting at just $999. This trip spends stretched five nights out onto stays in Dublin (one night), Waterford (one night), Killarney (two nights) and Limerick (one night). This specially priced trip includes airfare from New York to Dublin and then from Shannon to NYC, airline fuel charges of up to $180, five nights' hotel, all airport transfers in Ireland, five Irish breakfasts, and full sightseeing itinerary with entrance fees, a guide, and travel in air-conditioned motorcoach. If you book by May 31, 2006, you'll get almost a ten percent discount on the price of the trip which lists three departures in November, 2006. As with all the air/land packages listed here, air security fees and departure taxes are additional.
