Scotland & Ireland With Ring of Kerry Extension

The capital of Scotland, Edinburgh has steep streets and stone buildings zigzagging up hills and down into small valleys, and the brooding Edinburgh Castle looms over the whole thing. Follow your Tour Director through New Town's Charlotte Square, with its elegant Georgian townhouses. See where inventor Alexander Graham Bell was born in 1847, pass Robert Louis Stevenson's birthplace near the Royal Botanic Garden, and stroll by the monument commemorating Scottish poet Robert Burns. Hear the castle's ramparts echo with gunfire at 1 p.m. Gaze out at the steep slopes and craggy cliffs of the northwest Highlands, visible from Edinburgh's highest points. Peer down into the blue sea stretching out beyond the city.

Edinburgh Castle, the historical and emotional heart of the city, is just one of the many sights you will see on this tour, led by a licensed professional guide. Make your way along the Royal Mile, the main thoroughfare of the 16th and 17th centuries. (It's actually one mile and 107 yards long--from Edinburgh Castle to the Palace of Holyrood House). As you make your way along cobbled streets, you'll see a handful of the several thousand buildings officially protected in Edinburgh because of their architectural or historic importance. The 200-foot spire of the Sir Walter Scott monument soars above the East Princes Street Gardens. Grand figures from Scottish history adorn its heights, make sure you also look down -- the figure below the marble statue is Scott's favorite dog, Maida.

Stunning Edinburgh hides a horrific past. Witch burnings. Plague. Murder. Ghosts. Everyone in Scotland has a ghost story to tell. Hear a handful on this guided tour through some of Edinburgh's most infamous spots. Be prepared to be spooked by tales of the ghouls and apparitions that are said to haunt this old city still.

Dramatic peaks. Small lochs. Peaceful glens. Sheep. Pass through the heart of the Scottish countryside. Renowned for its natural beauty, the area was a favorite spot of poet William Wordsworth. Stirling Castle. The site of the battles in <i>Braveheart</i>, this huge gray stone castle towers over the countryside from its position up high on a cliff, enabling its inhabitants to survey the main north-south and east-west routes across Scotland. The castle has been strategically important to Scotland for centuries and has passed back and forth between Scottish and English control innumerable times. Mary, Queen of Scots was crowned in the castle, but she's not among the many ghosts said to make their homes here. The castle is architecturally and artistically beautiful, with Renaissance and medieval elements and breathtaking views.

The idea that Loch Ness is inhabited by some sort of mysterious aquatic beast has been around for more than 1,500 years. If the monster does exist, the misty Loch, which is 24 miles long and as deep as 700 feet, would be the perfect place for Nessie to hide.

Head for Glasgow. On the way, you'll pass the largest expanse of fresh water in Britain. Loch Lomond is five miles wide at its broadest point and has more than 30 islands in the middle of it, three of which are inhabited. It's a favorite recreational spot for the Scots and is full of native wildlife.

Home of Scottish Opera, Scottish Ballet, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and the Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow is the center of contemporary Scottish culture-and a hotbed of trendy restaurants, boutiques and pubs. Glasgow grew around a church built in the mid-6th century, but many of its most impressive buildings are from the 19th century, when an industrial boom led to a building frenzy. Your Tour Director will lead you to some of the city's most famous sites, passing Glasgow's blend of modern and traditional architecture. See the Venetian-style colonnaded façade of the city chambers, take in the statuary at George Square, and peek into the academic world of Strathclyde University. Glasgow has more than just buildings. It's often referred to as "The dear green place," because of its many parks.

Get a friendly introduction to Ireland’s capital city, compliments of your Tour Director. Discover an international urban scape of Georgian buildings, castles and cathedrals. Literary legends and budding musicians. All while one million people welcome you with smiling eyes. Stroll bustling O’Connell Street, once (at 150 ft wide) the widest street in Europe, and still the busiest thoroughfare in Dublin. Pass shop after shop of local and global wares and flairs, and a lush street-meridian lined with tall trees and ebony statues of Irish leaders. Make your way to the end of the strip to Parnell Square, an antique scape of red brick townhouses and classic Irish theaters. As you wander the streets, take in the international glamour of Ireland’s most cosmopolitan city.

Join a professional licensed tour guide on an adventure to Dublin’s finest attractions. Pass the residence of Ireland’s president, Mary MacAleese, along your journey through Phoenix Park. Within Europe’s grandest enclosed park, encounter 1,760 undeveloped acres scattered with cricket pitches, grazing cows, and red deer. Stop to eye a stone phoenix rising from flames atop the Corinthian-style Phoenix Column. Tour the roads along the River Liffey to 12th-century St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the largest of its kind in all Ireland. Get a glimpse of the neighboring park where St. Patrick (who brought Christianity to Ireland in the 5th century) baptized converts. Continue on to Trinity College, the stone-clad sprawling campus where Oscar Wilde and Samuel Beckett studied. Stop by the Long Room in the Old Library for a zoom-view of the illuminated edition of four Gospels, the Book of Kells. The original manuscript was penned in Latin around AD 800 by four Irish Monks who used multicolored ink from plants and bugs. Take some time to study the brilliant latticework of curvy Celtic symbols woven with animal figures that enlivens the script.

Watch as dancers hop, skip, and slide their way through Irish jigs. Listen as musicians use fiddles, flutes, and pipes to evoke the most traditional Gaelic music. Experience the best of traditional culture at this Irish Folklore Evening.

Meet and greet the bayside city likened to San Francisco on a friendly foot tour led by your Tour Director. Discover a traditional Gaelic culture turned trendy with college students, artists and writers in the midst of a buzzing Bohemian culture of 50,000 people. The journey begins at the Spanish Arch (actually a pair of stone arches speckled with greenery) constructed to guard the quays where Spanish merchants docked their boats. Stroll along residential Quay Street into bustling High Street, a micro shopping mecca lined with all kinds of shops, coffeehouses and outside eateries. Venture outside the buzz and discover a one-of-a-kind pyramid-shaped spire atop Ireland’s second largest medieval parish house, St. Nicholas Church. Meander through Eyre Square’s Kennedy Memorial Park, a green oasis where locals gather to lounge, socialize and attend musical performances. Bordering the lush grounds, find the 17th-century Brown Doorway, a real entryway transported in 1900 from its original location at the Brown Mansion. Another highlight is the original set of cannons from the Crimean War, and the bubbling fountain adorned with a steel sculpture of a traditional broad-masted ship (hooker).

Venture outside city limits in search of Ireland’s mystical nature. Visit the surreal town of Connemara where ancient Irish is softly spoken. Sense her haunting nature as you survey the jagged coastline of rocky beaches, twisting roads, rippled bogs and windswept heather. Next stop, Kylemore Abbey. Tucked inside a hidden valley along the lush banks of Lough Corrib Lake, it’s like a vision from a fairytale dream. Outside you’ll discover the look, feel and scent of a real Victorian garden. Inside, you’ll find a larger-than-life residence run by an order of Benedictine nuns, and one of the most prestigious international schools in Europe. The infamous prose Yeats wrote while gazing at the river says it all, “peace comes dropping slow”.

Get a true feeling for Ireland’s emerald beauty on an excursion around the Iveragh Peninsula on the panoramic coastal route, Ring of Kerry. Along the 112 miles of breathtaking views, you’ll spy 360 degrees of the vast Atlantic Ocean, the Lakes of Killarney, the Macgillycuddy’s Reeks (Ireland’s tallest mountains), and every shade of green known to the Emerald Isle.

Mountain sheep have dotted the hills around Killarney for ages. Come face-to-face with these fluffy landmarks at a traditional Irish sheep farm.

On your journey to Dublin, stop for a visit to Blarney Castle, the medieval stone structure built on solid limestone around 1466. (The slivers of windows served as a defense, enabling Lord Blarney and his men to shoot arrows at invaders while staying protected from within.) Climb the spiral staircases to the top of the castle to kiss the Blarney stone. Legend promises that if you lean backwards and kiss the stone upside-down, you’ll be granted the “gift of the gab” (the privilege of babbling questionable commentary for seven years). Before you leave, wander the path to Rock Close to ponder the druidic circle of mystical stones. Enter Lord Blarney’s dungeon if you dare...

Stop for a visit to Blarney Castle, the medieval stone structure built on solid limestone around 1466. (The slivers of windows served as a defense, enabling Lord Blarney and his men to shoot arrows at invaders while staying protected from within.) Climb the spiral staircases to the top of the castle to kiss the Blarney stone. Legend promises that if you lean backwards and kiss the stone upside-down, you’ll be granted the “gift of the gab” (the privilege of babbling questionable commentary for seven years). Before you leave, wander the path to Rock Close to ponder the druidic circle of mystical stones. Enter Lord Blarney’s dungeon if you dare...