secret garden tea tours
small group tours with an emphasis on afternoon tea
Ireland Daily Itinerary
Day 1 Thursday
Arrive in Dublin
Make your way to our hotel
Welcome dinner
Day 2 Friday
Castle and Garden Tour
House of Waterford Crystal Tour
Afternoon Tea
Castle Hotel
Day 3 Saturday
Blarney Castle
Blarney Woolen Mills
Afternoon Tea
Travel to Killarney
18th Century manor house (2 nights)
Day 4 Sunday
Ring of Kerry
Afternoon Tea
Day 5 Monday
Lace and Design Center
Sheepdog Demonstration
Afternoon tea
Castle Hotel
Day 6 Tuesday
Picture Perfect Irish Village
Afternoon Tea Picnic at
Cliffs of Moher
Drive through The Burren
Castle Hotel
Day 7 Wednesday
Celtic Crystal Workshop Tour
Kylemore Abbey and Gardens
Afternoon Tea or Dinner
Castle Hotel
Day 8 Thursday
Belleek China Factory Tour
Tea and Scones
Woolen Mill and Craft Shopping
Afternoon Tea
Manor House Hotel
Day 9 Friday
Travel across Northern Ireland
Giant's Causeway
Arrive Belfast
Afternoon Tea
Belfast Titanic Experience
Day 10 Saturday
Morning to explore Belfast
Return to Dublin
Afternoon Tea
Central Hotel (2 nights)
Day 11
Dublin Walking Tour
Trinity College (Book of Kells) Dublin Castle
Farewell Dinner
The route of travel, and all tour venues and hotels are subject to change as reservations cannot be made until early 2024.
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Currency
Ireland is part of the EU so uses euros as their currency. Northern Ireland (our stops in Belleek, the Giant's Causeway and Belfast) is part of the UK, so uses pound sterling. We recommend using your credit card for purchases in Northern Ireland since we will only be in that country for parts of 3 days.
Ireland Details
Meals
We will begin each day with breakfast in our hotel.
Lunch will be on your own, but most days a light snack will suffice, since our big meal each day will be afternoon tea. The tea rooms we visit will vary, although most are in castles, and comparing and contrasting the different experiences is one of the delights of the trip!
Dinners will be on your own other than the welcome meal on the first night and the farewell dinner on the final night. Most guests just have a snack or light dinner in the hotel in the evenings. You may wish to sample the nightlife in Dublin and Belfast and have a traditional pub meal.
Lodging
The hotels in Dublin and Belfast are centrally located to the tourist areas so you to make it easy for you to enjoy all the action. The castle and manor houses we will stay at as we travel through Ireland are typically on large country properties with gardens and grounds to explore if you wish.
All prices are based on double occupancy. If you do not have a roommate accompanying you on the trip, you will be matched with another un-paired traveler if there is one. Otherwise single room supplement rate will apply.
Rooms will have two twin beds unless otherwise requested. In some hotels, twin rooms may be limited. If there is not enough availability, twin rooms will be assigned to those sharing a room with another un-paired traveler first, so friends travelling together may need to share a king or double. There are a limited number of single rooms available (on a first request basis) for an additional fee.
Transportation
You are responsible for transport to the hotel in Dublin, due to the staggared and unreliable arrival times of flights. It is about a 20 minute taxi or Uber ride to the Dublin hotel.
We will have a comfortable mini-bus with an experienced, local driver/guide to escort us around Ireland. There is limited space for luggage aboard the bus, so plan to travel as light as possible. We will let you know size restrictions well in advance.
The tour ends at the hotel, so you will need transportation back to the airport. We are happy to help you coordinate ride sharing with other guests.
Shopping
This shopping element of our tours is one of the most popular parts of travelling with us. But how to get things home is always a big question.
We suggest using the double suitcase method. When leaving home, you place your carry on sized suitcase, filled with your clothing inside the next size suitcase of a nested set. This way you aren't burdened with a) an extra luggage fee or b) two bags to maneuver around the airport. And you will probably be within the luggage guidelines for the bus. When packing to return home, you then have an empty case to fill with your treasures. Use clothing to protect fragile items and divide the weight between the two cases or buy a roll of bubble wrap.
The cost of a flying with a second suitcase is less than shipping fees in most cases, but a number of the places we'll shop are happy to ship your purchases for you, and some offer free shipping for sizeable purchases.