Tours

It is all about you!

At your leisure...

Each day tour will generally include at least one of the highly visited sights in the country. We know that all our customers have specific individual wants and needs and so we will then build the days other activities around them. Richard has been touring Ireland for years and knows the best places to bring his guests. He loves taking back roads and visiting places that are off the beaten track! Just tell us what you want!

Avoid the crowds

Whenever possible...

When it comes to the busy sights like Cliffs of Moher or Giants Causeway, we will always try where possible to find the parts that are less busy or if that is not possible ensure that we time our arrival to these destinations to avoid the crowds. Some of our most beautiful sights here in Ireland have 24 hour access, however a visitor centre may not be open after hours and quite often this is when these sights are at their most magical, there for your own personal enjoyment!

What do you want to see?

Let us take care of that.

Complimentary local food basket

Delicious fresh produce.

While you are staying in Marianne Cottage or Bartholomew's Loft we will provide you with a complimentary food basket. This will have Johnsfort House homemade brown bread, farm fresh eggs from our own hens, local jams/honey, granola, fresh fruit, snacks and other fresh produce. Richard will discuss restaurant and food options with you depending on the location of your tours and a visit to a highly recommended restaurant will be worked into your day tour.

tours of Ireland

We are a small family run business and we have tailored our packages to suit all ages and personalities. If you book a 5 day tour you will stay at Johnsfort for 4 nights. If you book a 4 day tour you will stay for 3 nights. There is also the option of incorporating alternative accommodation into the package i.e. a hotel stay, castle stay or other self catering accommodation in a different part of Ireland. Richard will take you there and collect you the next day for your tour.

While Bartholomew's Loft and Marianne Cottage can comfortably sleep nine guests, (there is the option of an extra campbed) the vehicle can only carry up to seven passengers. As each tour is highly personalised, these itineraries are open to your suggestions and input. We would love to talk to you by phone or email you. Together we can complete our 'Ireland - At Your Leisure Interests and Intricacies Form'.

You can tell us what you hope to experience and where you would most like to go. We will do our best to design a tour that most reflects all of your personalities and interests. If a three or four day tour sounds too short let us know...the possibilities are limitless! Everything below is a sample, a suggestion, however we can adapt to everybody's needs! If our accommodation is available and you want to stay longer, using Johnsfort as your base to further explore Ireland on your own, that can also be arranged.

Collection and connection

Your tour begins once we collect you. We can collect you at the airport, port, train station or hotel. We will return you to wherever suits you best.

3 day tour - 2 night stay

Day 1: Collect you early in the day.
Bring you on a tour of Glendalough and the Wicklow Mountains OR Newgrange and The Boyne Valley. Overnight at Johnsfort boutique farm accommodation.
Day 2: Depart at 7am for 12 hour tour of either Belfast, Giant's Causeway and Game of Thrones sights including The Dark Hedges. OR Cliffs of Moher (See sample tour below). Overnight at Johnsfort House.
Day 3: Depart at 8am for an 8 hour tour of Glendalough and the Wicklow Mountains OR Newgrange and The Boyne Valley. Drop off to the airport, hotel or ferry.

4 Day tour - 3 night stay

Day 1: Collect you early in the day.
Bring you on an 8 hour tour of Glendalough and the Wicklow Mountains OR Newgrange and The Boyne Valley. Stay at Johnsfort House boutique farm accommodation.
Day 2: Depart at 7am for 12 hour tour of Belfast, Giant's Causeway and Game of Thrones sights including The Dark Hedges. Overnight at Johnsfort.
Day 3: Depart at 7am for 12 hour tour of Cliffs of Moher (See sample tour below). Overnight at Johnsfort .
Day 4: Depart at 8am for an 8 hour tour of Glendalough and the Wicklow Mountains OR Newgrange and The Boyne Valley. Drop off to the airport, hotel or ferry.

Sample itinerary

The Cliffs of Moher run for almost 14km (8 miles) and are one of Ireland's best known and most visited attractions. They were created over a 300 million year period from the ferocity of the Atlantic Ocean. The highest point is over 200metre (700ft) and the drop is sheer. There are paths right at the edge as well as a calmer path inside a stone fence. As for the weather?…. Well as we say here, bring your raincoat and the sunscreen as you never know what you will get (often wind)!

Times are all approximate and open to guests input. There will be coffee breaks along the way also.

7 am: Leave Johnsfort
9 am: Kilmacduagh Abbey. A collection of mostly 9th century including Ireland's very own leaning tower. This site is right on the edge of The Burren.

10 am: Drive through the incredible Burren landscape to Poulnabrone, a 6000 year old Dolmen.
12 pm: Cliffs Of Moher. Guerins Path which keeps us away from the crowds and brings us directly to the tallest point of the cliffs. Drive along the Wild Atlantic way overlooking the ocean passing through the colourful little villages along the way.

3pm: Stop for dinner on the Flaggy Shore (made famous by the poetry of the great Seamus Heaney) at the wonderful Leenanes Seafood and travel on to have dessert in what must be the cutest chocolate factory in the world, 'Hazel Mountain Chocolate'. (The chocolate is incredible).

6pm: Clonmacnoise. Although the visitor centre will be long closed for the day when we get there I love to stop here on the way home from the cliffs. The majestic river Shannon slowly flows past this beautiful ancient monastery which has been in use since the 6^th century. In the evening twilight, with just the sound of a few wooper swans gliding by, this must be one of the most peaceful places on earth.

7/8pm: Return to Johnsfort for your stay at either Bartholomew's Loft or Marianne Cottage. Sit out in the evening sun with a glass of wine or light the stove in the cottage for a toasty end to a leisurely day.