Time Travel Tours

   DOWN THE GARDEN PATH - IRELAND TOUR

Time Travel (Tours) is a tour company specializing in Ireland, North and South. We focus on gardens and genealogy tours that are intimate, learning adventures that take you on the road less traveled, to a more hidden Ireland, where we share our secrets with you, but only the really good ones!

This year we will tour Ireland’s sunny Southeast and South Coast, taking in Dublin, Wicklow, Waterford and Cork!

Highlights of this trip are a private visit to Helen Dillon’s Dublin city garden with evening reception with Helen and her husband, Val at Dublin’s premier private club, Residence Club. This will be a special night of dining at one of Ireland’s best kept secrets (but not for long!), Restaurant Forty One.  This is an intimate setting for one of the best meals you’ll ever have in Ireland.  Attention to detail makes this place shine.  We, at Time Travel have dubbed Residence Club & Forty One staff, The Dream Team. Simply amazing! 

We’ll visit Wicklow, The Garden of Ireland, and a fabulous place to explore in the shadows of the Sugar Loaf Mountain.  We’ll see public gardens such as Kilruddery House and Powerscourt, where films such as Becoming Jane and Camelot were filmed as well as private gardens such as Knockmore and June Blake’s Garden, both hidden gems in this beautiful area. We will have a walking history lesson with historian, Joan Kavanagh at Glendalough and have time to hike this scenic park as well as drive the Sally Gap, a gap that travels through the mountains and affords spectacular views of the valley.

We’ll take in Paul Flynn’s Cookery school with celebrity chef; Paul Flynn of The Tannery, voted best cookery school in Ireland two years running (2010-2011). The school and restaurant are nestled in the heart of Waterford County in Dungarvan, a beautiful seaside town, where Paul and his family reside.  We’ll have a cooking demonstration that will teach us to prepare a traditional Irish fare, with a twist! Paul is a brilliant teacher and everyone is sure to learn a great deal. Seated beside the cookery school is the garden plot that the city of Dungarvan gave Paul to grow his own vegetables for the school and restaurant. GIY (garden it yourself) classes are held there to teach gardening to new and old gardeners alike!

In Lismore, we’ll have a hand’s on GIY demo with the head gardener at Lismore Castle as well as take in the Lismore Opera Festival. This area is steeped in history, dating back to 636 AD when St. Cathage founded a monastery in the area. The River Blackwater flows through the town, giving it a feeling of a bygone era. We’ll take in the wonderful Waterford Garden Trail, to see gardens big and small, such as Mount Congreve and Tourin House.

Visiting The English Market in Cork city, open since 1788, will be a special tour of the food market and is a site not to be missed! We’ll have time to talk with the local farmers and food producers as well as lunch at the infamous Farmgate Café with time on our own to shop. This was on the Queen of England’s tour itinerary this past year and is truly a walk back in history.  

And no tour in Ireland’s south would be complete without a private tour of Waterford Crystal and a Waterford city walking tour. The new Waterford Crystal is now located in the heart of the city, fashionable and striking, this is a treat and a time to converse with and see the master craftsmen at work that handle most of Waterford Crystal’s trophy making and special orders such as the 2012 Olympic Urns. And yes, of course, there is time for shopping!

We hope you can join us on this special tour. We’re looking forward to meeting you, making long lasting friends and creating memories that last forever.

Tour is limited to 12. Tour price includes all hotels, 4 /5 Star, Breakfast inclusive; some lunches and 5 evening meals; all transportation excluding airfare, with wholesale airfare or help with frequent flyer miles available; all gratuities with the exclusion of driver tip. Pre/ Post arrangements are available; please inquire! $3820.00 per person/ss