Northern Ireland, Belfast, Derry & the Titanic Experience: five day excursion

30 May – 3 June 2024

We are delighted to be able to offer a five day Tailored Travel excursion to Northern Ireland, from 30 May – 3 June 2024.

What we will see:

  • Mount Stewart House & Gardens
  • Belfast – guided tour
  • Ulster Museum
  • Giant’s Causeway
  • The Walled Garden at Glenarm Castle
  • Derry – guided tour
  • Tower Museum
  • Belfast
  • Titanic Experience

Accommodation:

We will stay four nights on a half-board basis at the 4* Dunadry Hotel and Country Club at Templepatrick. Facilities at the hotel include a restaurant, bar, indoor swimming pool, gym, solarium and steam room.

Itinerary:

Day 1  We meet at Liverpool airport for our direct scheduled Easyjet flight to Belfast.
On arrival at Belfast we are met by our guide and private coach, and transfer
to the National Trust’s Mount Stewart House and Gardens. Offering
magnificent views over Strangford Lough, the famous gardens at Mount
Stewart were planted in the 1920s by Edith, Lady Londonderry. We continue
to the 4* Dunadry Hotel and Country Club at Templepatrick for a four night
stay on a half board basis.

Day 2  With our guide this morning we enjoy a guided tour of Belfast, taking in sights
such as St Anne’s Cathedral and Stormont Castle. This afternoon we visit the
Ulster Museum, located in the Botanical Gardens and home to a wonderful
collection of fine and applied art. Renowned as Belfast’s best known
museum, the Ulster Museum is home to a fine collection of paintings by
modern Irish, and particularly Northern Irish artists.

Day 3  Our guide meets us at our hotel this morning and accompanies us
throughout the day. We travel to the North Antrim coastline today and visit
the National Trust’s Giant’s Causeway, a World Heritage Site internationally
acclaimed for its outstanding natural beauty, formed from lava eruptions over
60 million years ago and with many rich traditions in explanation of its
strange rock formations. This afternoon we visit The Walled Garden at
Glenarm Castle, the ancestral home of the Earls of Antrim. Since opening to
the public in 2005, the restoration of The Walled Garden has continued under
the stewardship of Nigel Marshall, formerly Head Gardener at Mount Stewart.
There are herbaceous borders, a rose border, mound and water features.

Day 4  This morning our guided tour of Derry, UK City of Culture in 2013, takes in the
Bogside and the City Walls, completed in 1618 and amongst the best
preserved city fortifications in the Western world. We then visit the Tower
Museum, depicting the story of Derry’s history, from its geological formation
millions of years ago, right up to the present day. Covering everything from
the Plantation through to the Siege of Derry and the city’s troubled political
past, the museum also houses the Armada Shipwreck exhibition that
explores the recovery of La Trinidad Valencera, shipwrecked off the coast of
Donegal in 1588. The rest of the day is at leisure in Derry.

Day 5  We spend some time at leisure in Belfast this morning. With our guide we
then visit the Titanic Experience, housed in a new £90m, six floor building as
high as the world-famous ship’s hull and located beside the historic site of its
construction. This state-of-the-art visitor experience tells the story of the
Titanic, from its conception in Belfast in the early 1900s, through its
construction and launch, to its famous maiden voyage and tragic end. We
continue to Belfast Airport for our direct scheduled flight back to Liverpool.

Costs:

From £989 per person. Extras include: Single room supplement £99; Insurance (including Covid cover) £31; Entrance fees to National Trust properties (free to NT members); Gratuities; Lunches.

Booking:

A brochure and booking form is available to download/print here.

Bookings must be made by mid-October please.

Alternatively, you may also pick up a booking form  in the reception room at any of the lectures – please see Elaine Wolstencroft.

For further information on this tour contact our group organiser Elaine Wolstencroft. Tel: 07951 193569. Email: elaine.wolstencroft@gmail.com

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