This trip was a little different for me in a few ways. First, I was with a group of people including my girlfriend’s family. Second, it was a tour. I dont usually do the regular tour thing when I travel. I enjoy meeting locals and having them tell me where to go, but I have to say I was presently surprised by this trip. We went with a company called Driftwood. They do tours with groups of 15 or less people and go to places that are off the beaten path. The drivers are all locals who have been well trained in the history of Ireland and can give you a good feel for what Ireland really is like. We had two drivers on the trip and the first one was a police officer from Dublin. He explained everything from the education system to why there are so many castles in Ireland (btw, there are more than 30,000 of them). If this is starting to sound like an infomercial for Driftwood, then I’m sorry. But it is rare for me to find a tour company that I actually have good things to say about.

Our first stop on the tour was the Blarney Castle and the Blarney stone. This was one of the most “touristy” things that we did the entire week and we had to wait in a 45 minute long line to kiss the Blarney stone. Legend has it that if you kiss the stone you’ll receive the gift of gab, and possibly antibiotic resistant staph. No one on the trip got either. In my opinion, it was a cool castle and it is one of those touristy things that if you make your way all the way to Ireland, you should probably do. The castle grounds are beautiful, but make sure you budget for at least two hours to see everything if you decide to go.

Eastern Ireland is green and Northern Ireland is British, but Southern Ireland and Western Ireland are REALLY green. The mountains (which would probably be hills in the US) are covered in green vegetation. Roads cut through green fields and towns dot the landscape. We spent the night in County Cork (counties are their version of US states) at Gougane Barra. Gougane Barra is a small “town” that has one of the most beautiful secluded lakes I’ve ever seen. There’s an old church built on a small peninsula and the water is so still on the lake it looks like a mirror.

One thing to keep in mind about Ireland is how small it is. The entire island is the size of Indiana. There are a few highways that run through the country, but many of the roads we took were small two lane streets cut into the landscape. You’d frequently have trees and other vegetation hitting the side of the van as we drove. Locals and the government have to cut the plants back every so often to make sure the roads are passable. It makes for beautiful driving.

Ireland is a lot warmer than what you would think it should be. Geographically speaking Ireland is as far north as parts of Alaska. It benefits from the warming air of the jet stream over the country which keeps Ireland so warm you can plant flowers native to Australia and see them grow. Ireland has crazy different types of plans, and this is on display at Garinish Island. You’ll pass a bunch of seals on your way to the island which features big, beautiful gardens. The seals just relax on rocks exposed during low tide.

This is the point where we started heading north by going through Kenmare and staying on the Ring of Kerry – a road that cuts through the mountains. The views were breathtaking in Killarney National Park. The Park features lots of hiking around lakes, waterfalls, and gardens (such as the Muckross Garden). As we ventured further north we stopped at a number of places along the way, but I’ll save that for the next post.