7th – 10th April 2024
Uncover the charms of Mayo with the popular town of Westport as the ideal base.
We’ve selected the best of Mayo on our new Actively Retired Holiday which includes a tour en route of the award-winning Strokestown House & Famine Museum, a cruise of the beautiful Clew Bay, and tours of historic Westport House and The Museum of Country Life. No trip to Mayo would be complete without a trip to the majestic Achill Island, and of course, you are guaranteed to be well looked after with the professional guiding services of a Fáilte Ireland-approved Tourist Guide.
It’s time to sit back, relax and look forward to your all-inclusive Mayo break with Golden Ireland.
For further information or to book this tour, please telephone Geraldine: 00 353 (0)64 6630267, or Email: tours@goldenireland.ie
Sunday, 7th April
Luxury Coach transfer from Dublin City Centre to Westport, Co. Mayo.
Stop in Strokestown Park House, Gardens and National Famine Museum in Co Roscommon for a guided tour and lunch. Discover the intimate and intriguing links between dramatically different Irish lives.
You will be taken on a guided tour of Strokestown Park’s Palladian mansion – a kind of time capsule that reflects the authentic details of life in the Irish country house in centuries past, for gentry and servants alike!
Explore the parallel lives of Strokestown Park’s aristocratic landlords and their tenants during the Great Irish Famine at their award-winning National Famine Museum. In this compelling, highly interactive museum, local and national stories from this tragic period in Ireland’s past are brought dramatically to life.
After you visit historic Strokestown Park, your coach awaits for your onward journey to Westport
Hotel Accommodation
Castlecourt Hotel, Castlebar Street, Westport, Co Mayo, F28NX84
Enjoy 4-star comfort at the conveniently located Castlecourt Hotel in the heart of the town. The stunning classical decor blended with contemporary indulgences creates a place where you can simply relax knowing someone else will take care of things. Celebrating 50 years in business, this family-owned hotel is a home away from home offering you great food, warm hospitality, comfort and relaxation throughout your stay.
Hotel facilities include Spa Sula and The C Club Leisure Centre where you can enjoy a 20-meter indoor swimming pool, sauna, steam room and jacuzzi.
Included in your stay: 3 Nights Bed and Breakfast and Three Evening Meals in the newly refurbished Portos Restaurant.
Entertainment each evening.
Monday, 8th April
Your first excursion of the day is to Westport House, one of County Mayo’s best-loved attractions and known as one of Ireland’s most beautiful homes. Considered a national treasure and one of the few privately owned historic houses remaining in Ireland. Tour Westport House and experience a 300 year old historic house set within 400 acres of unspoilt beauty.
Built in the 18th century on ancestral castle foundations belonging to pirate queen Grace O’Malley, join their passionate and knowledgeable tour guides to learn of the many hidden secrets and stories of Westport House. Enjoy a world of legends from the incredible history of the house itself with tales of kings, queens, pirates and slave emancipators, as well as beautiful art and a 3,000 year old Greek sarcophagi.
Enjoy some free time in Westport before your second activity of the day which is a pleasant cruise of Clew Bay with Westport Cruises.
A trip on the Westport Cruise is truly something you must do while in Westport. It lasts just over 90 minutes and meanders through the Islands of Clew Bay (365 – one for every day of the year). Enjoy live on-board commentary and hot drinks and snacks in this all-weather enclosed vessel that has an indoor lounge and toilets on board. You will see: the Inisgort Lighthouse, Dornish Island – which was once owned by John Lennon, secluded beaches and wildlife such as seals, otters, dolphins and a wide variety of sea birds.
Tuesday, 9th April
Achill Island Day Tour
No trip to Westport and to Mayo would be complete without a visit to Achill Island. Your Guide will accompany you on a magical day of sightseeing to Achill Island which is just one hour from your hotel. Achill is the largest of Ireland’s Islands and has been connected to the mainland by bridge since 1887, making it possible to drive straight onto the Island via The Michael Davitt Bridge.
Discover Achill’s natural beauty including five Blue Flag beaches, the highest sea cliffs in Ireland, iconic Keem Bay, soaring mountains, corrie lakes, secluded (and secret) beaches, inland lakes and colourful flora, all set under huge and ever-changing Atlantic skies.
Visit Grace O’Malley Castle, a 15th-century tower house associated with the famous seafaring O’Malley clan. Travel along the stunning Atlantic Drive where the Oscar nominated “Banshees of Inisherin” Starring Colin Farrel, Brendan Gleeson and of course Jenny the Donkey was partly filmed. My Sailor, My Love was also filmed on Achill Island and the Currane Peninsula in the summer of 2021, coincidentally at the same time that Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin was filming on Achill.
Achill Island is renowned for its majestic mountains, breathtaking landscapes and miles of unspoilt Blue Flag beaches, including Keem Bay and Keel Beach. Enjoy its natural beauty before enjoying lunch at your leisure in The Beehive restaurant in Keel, a delightful place on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. This family-friendly restaurant takes pride in the best of Achill produce especially local seafood.
The imprint of past generations is everywhere on Achill Island, from megalithic tombs to ancient forts, and historic churches to deserted villages. Inland on Achill Island, you will find the famous sight of the Deserted Village. These crumbling stones are all that remains of more than 80 houses that were abandoned in 1845, a haunting reminder of times past.
After a busy day of sightseeing return to Westport.
Wednesday, 10th April
It’s time to leave Westport and head back to Dublin but not before visiting the National Museum of Country Life. This award-winning Museum is home to the National Folklife Collection which represents traditional life in Ireland throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Fascinating artefacts deal with domestic life, agriculture, fishing and hunting, clothing and textiles, furniture and fittings, trades and crafts, transport, sports and leisure and religion. Set in the spectacular grounds of Turlough Park, Castlebar, Co. Mayo the Museum treats visitors to a taste of how our ancestors lived their daily lives, in both difficult and joyful times.
Tour Costs
€499 pps
€590 Single Occupancy
(Limited Availability)
Includes:
– Private Luxury Coach Transfer To and From Dublin.
– 3 Nights B&B and Three Dinners (three courses) in the four-star Castlecourt Hotel.
– Entertainment each evening.
– Guided Tour of Strokestown Park House and National Famine Museum
– Guided Tour Of Westport House
– Cruise of Clew Bay with Westport Cruises
– Day Tour of Achill Island
- – Tour of The National Museum of Country Life.
– Services of an experienced Fáilte Ireland Approved Tourist Guide.
For further information and to book this tour, please email Geraldine: tours@goldenireland.ie
Tel: 00 353 (0)64 6630267
Subject to Change and Availability.
