Seven days, a private luxury vehicle, and the full run of Ireland’s south and south-west. This tour covers a lot of ground - well-known landmarks and a few spots that tend to get skipped on shorter trips - but because it’s just your group and your driver, the pace is entirely yours.
You’ll head through the Irish midlands to Tullamore for the Tullamore DEW Whiskey experience, then on to Athlone and a stop at Seán’s Bar, which has been trading since AD 900 and holds the record as the oldest pub in Europe. Moving west, the tour takes in Clonmacnoise - the most important early Christian monastic site in Ireland - before reaching Galway city, Ireland’s festival capital.
From Galway you’ll head into Connemara. The Sky Drive out to Clifden is one of those coastal routes that’s hard to put into words, and Kylemore Abbey set against the Twelve Bens mountains looks almost too dramatic to be real. The Wild Atlantic Way then carries you south along the coastline toward the Cliffs of Moher.
The second half of the tour moves into Munster. Killarney has its lakes, shops, and pubs; the Ring of Kerry is one of Ireland’s most celebrated scenic drives; and the Dingle Peninsula - which many people quietly consider the most beautiful stretch of the entire country - deserves as much time as you can give it. Further south into West Cork, you can take a boat trip to Garnish Island to see its Italian Casita and Grecian Temple, and your driver can point out where Maureen O’Hara lived nearby. You’ll also stop to kiss the Blarney Stone and visit the Rock of Cashel, where St. Patrick is said to have converted the King of Munster in the 5th century.
Your driver will work around your interests and adapt the route as you go.
The Irish midlands get underestimated, and they shouldn’t. The stretch through Tullamore and Athlone sets the tone for the whole week. Seán’s Bar in Athlone is genuinely ancient - it was built into the riverbank wall and the archaeological evidence for its age dates back to around AD 900. It’s a real pub, not a museum piece, and pint in hand it feels like it.
Connemara rewards slow travel. The Sky Drive around Clifden is about 46 kilometres of coastal road and the light changes constantly - overcast days can actually produce the most dramatic scenery. If your driver offers to stop somewhere that isn’t on any list, take him up on it. That’s usually where the best moments happen.
On the Ring of Kerry, go anti-clockwise if you can. Tour coaches are directed to travel clockwise, so going the other way means you’re meeting them head-on at passing places rather than following a convoy. Your private driver knows this and will plan accordingly.
Garnish Island in Glengarriff is often quietly magical. The formal Italian gardens and the Grecian temple feel completely at odds with the rugged West Cork coastline around them, which is part of what makes the place so striking. The boat crossing from Glengarriff Pier takes about ten minutes and seals often bask on the rocks along the way.
The Rock of Cashel is best in the late afternoon when the crowds from the morning coach tours have moved on. The site sits on a limestone outcrop that dominates the Tipperary plain, and the round tower, cathedral, and Cormac’s Chapel are all within the same walled enclosure. Your driver can time the visit to give you the place at its quietest.