2005 Scotland Ireland

Our tour begins in Edinburgh, a cosmopolitan and picturesque city and the capital of Scotland. In Scotland we visit the Highlands and the Isle of Skye, beautiful mountain areas with lochs, waterfalls, moors, and fantastic hiking trails. Along the way we explore clan castles, picturesque and charming small villages, and historical sites.

Our tour to Ireland begins in the sophisticated, prosperous and charming city of Dublin. We proceed south to the Wicklow Mountains, a national park with rich farmland, rugged mountains, lakes, and small historical villages for two days of hiking. In route to Killarney National Park and the Dingle Peninsula on the west coast, we visit a woollen factory, the Waterford Crystal factory, castles, historical sites, archaeological areas, and small tourist towns. We hike for three days in the beautiful mountains of Killarney National Park and along the sea in the Dingle Peninsula. Our tour ends with a medieval banquet in the Burnratty Castle.

From Edinburgh we head north to Stirling, passing Linlithgow Palace, former home of Mary Queen of Scots, and have great views of Stirling Castle, the (William) Wallace Monument and the region where various battles (Bannockburn, Battle of Stirling Bridge) occurred. Heading north from Stirling we pass Doune Castle, where Monty Python’s Holy Grail was filmed, and stop briefly in Callander, the last small town before we cross over the Highland Boundary Fault into true Highland scenery, a region of spectacular mountains, rivers and lochs. As we drive along the shores of Loch Lubnaig (Crooked Lake) beneath the slopes of Ben Ledi, the scenery becomes wilder and more mountainous. We stop briefly at the Falls of Dochart in the picturesque village of Killin. Our journey then takes us up and over Rannock Moor, a high, empty moorland area which once had forests with bear and wolves, but is now the haunt of red deer, small mammals, and the predatory golden eagle. Buachaille Etive Mor (Great Herdsman of Etive), the most photographed mountain in Scotland, marks the entrance to Glen Coe.

In the afternoon we hike on Buachaille Etive Mor, a mountain with a steep, craggy and forbidding face amid the vast expanse of Rannoch Moor. During our hike we will have spectacular views over Rannoch Moor and Ben Nevis, Scotland’s highest mountain. We lodge at the Sorrybreac Guest House located on the historic grounds of Lord Strathcona’s estate. It is surrounded by forest and mountains and has great views over Loch Levan. (BLD)

Along the way we stop at Eilan Donan Castle. The castle is located on a small island in Loch Duich, and has been the site of some form of fortification for more than two millennia, the original building being a vitrified fort. Various strongholds followed, but the current castle dates back only to 1932 when the Macraes, who have been custodians of the site for centuries, rebuilt the castle to the original 13th century plan. The castle is still occupied by the chief of the clan, but the bulk of the castle is used as a visitor attraction and events venue.

Portree is the largest town and the capital of Skye. It is a busy little tourist resort, lively and attractive, built around a natural harbour with houses rising steeply from the water’s edge, neat and brightly painted. In MacNab’s Inn on the site of what is now the Royal Hotel, Bonnie Prince Charlie bade farewell to Flora MacDonald before departing by sea for the Isle of Raasay. The Prince spent 6 days on Skye during his lengthy flight to evade capture, when the 1745 Uprising was eventually and brutally brought to an end at Culloden in 1746. We lodge at the comfortable Rose Bank Guest House in Portree. (BLD)

Edinburgh is a romantic, historic, cosmopolitan, and cultured city perched on a series of extinct volcanoes and rocky crags on the estuary of the River Forth on the North Sea coast of Scotland. The city won World Heritage Site status in 1995 for the pleasing juxtaposition of the chaotic medieval fortress area of the Old Town and the grandiose neo-classical New Town. The New Town has attractive broad streets, lush gardens, and 19th century Grecian-style temples, in contrast with the Old Town, centered around the Castle and leading from there down the Royal Mile to the Palace of Holyrood and the new Scottish Parliament Building. The afternoon is free to explore the city. The gay scene is mostly located in the Georgian New Town, on Broughton Street and at the top of Leith Walk near the Playhouse Theatre. In the evening we will have the opportunity to visit gay venues. (BLD)

Our day begins with a visit to the 6th century Glendalough Monastery ruins, an ancient monastic settlement tucked beside two dark lakes and overshadowed by the sheer walls of a deep valley. It is one of the most picturesque settings in Ireland and one of the most significant ancient monastic settlements in the country.

Next we travel by van to Glenmalure, Ireland’s largest glacier valley for a nine mile hike on an ancient trail back to Glendalough. For a long time Glenmalure was a stronghold of clan resistance to the English. Fiach MacHugh O’Byrne, in 1580, defeated an army of 1,000 English soldiers. Lodging at the Glendalough Guest House. (BLD)

We hike down to the Vale of Clara, where we have lunch on the banks of the Avanmore River. After lunch we follow the river through an oak forest to the Town of Rathdrum where we catch our van for a ride to the Village of Avoca for a tour of Ireland’s oldest working woollen mills which date back to 1727. Following the tour we return to the Glendalough Guest House. (BLD)

Our final stop of the day is at the Rock of Cashel, one of the most spectacular archaeological sites in Ireland. The rock is a prominent green hill banded with limestone outcrops which rises form a grassy plain. Sturdy walls enclose a round stone tower, a roofless abbey and the finest 12th century Romanesque chapel in Ireland. For more than 1,000 years the Rock of Cashel (Fortress) was a symbol of power, the base of kings and churchmen. We lodge in Cahir, a pleasant country town. Nearby is Cahir Castle built by Conor O’Brien in 1162 and one of the largest in Ireland. We overnight at the Kilcoran Lodge Hotel, a former hunting lodge, built by the Earl of Glengall in the 19th century. Our hotel has the charm of bygone days, including antique furniture and open fires. (BLD)

We travel north to Bunratty and lodge in the Bunratty Castle Hotel, near the Bunratty Castle, which was built in the early 1400′s by the McNamara Family. In the evening we will attend a medieval banquet at the castle replete with comely maidens playing the harp, court jesters, and food and drink a la Middle Ages. (BLD)

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