Walk Derry/Londonderry with local storyteller Ronan, following the 17th-century city walls and their historic cannons. Continue along Shipquay Street’s Georgian townhouses and pause outside the red sandstone Guildhall.

The remarkably complete walls give this city a distinctive vantage point on its streets and history. Ronan’s storytelling connects the architecture to the people and events that have shaped one of Northern Ireland’s most compelling urban landscapes.

Walk through Ballygally with your Travel Director, following the curve of its bay on the Antrim Coast. Take in the strip of pale sand, neat cottages and views across the water from this small seaside village.

With cliffs behind it and the Irish Sea at its edge, Ballygally offers an intimate introduction to Northern Ireland’s coastal scenery. The gentle orientation helps place the village within the wider landscape of the Antrim shoreline.

Discover Inverness with your Travel Director, seeing the River Ness and Inverness Castle while exploring the compact Highland city. Riverside views and prominent landmarks provide an introduction to this northern centre.

Inverness has long been a gateway between the Highlands and the rest of Scotland. Its position on the river helps explain its historic importance, while the surrounding scenery gives the city a character distinct from Scotland’s larger urban centres.

Visit the Culloden visitor centre to examine the battle that ended the Jacobite rising of 1745. Learn how Bonnie Prince Charlie’s forces faced government troops on the moor outside Inverness.

Fought in 1746, the Battle of Culloden lasted about an hour but had far-reaching consequences for Highland society. The visitor centre places the opposing sides and the battle’s aftermath in context, making this a powerful encounter with Scottish history.

Explore Dublin with a Local Expert, following the River Liffey past the Custom House and seeing landmarks including Christ Church Cathedral, St Patrick’s Cathedral and the Guinness Storehouse. Walk Trinity College’s cobbled courtyards and enjoy priority access to the Book of Kells and Long Room.

Founded in 1592, Trinity is one of Ireland’s oldest universities. Its ninth-century illuminated manuscript reveals the intricate artistry of early Christian monks, while the city tour traces Dublin’s medieval and Georgian heritage.

Join your Travel Director for a welcome dinner in Dublin, sharing a meal with the travellers who will accompany you through Ireland and Scotland. It is a relaxed opportunity to exchange introductions and settle into the group.

Conversation over dinner offers a welcoming start in Ireland’s capital, a city known for its sociable character and storytelling tradition. Your Travel Director is on hand to help everyone feel at ease.

Visit the Irish National Stud in County Kildare for a look at the breeding traditions behind Ireland’s thoroughbred racing. Explore this working stud farm, with its stallions, foaling facilities and displays illuminating the lives of champion horses.

Wander the neighbouring Japanese Gardens, designed by Tassa and Minoru Eida as a symbolic journey through life. Carefully placed paths, water and planting create a contemplative contrast with the energy of the stud farm.

Discover Ireland’s second city on a Travel Director-led orientation of Cork. See Grand Parade, South Mall, City Hall and the Opera House while getting your bearings in the streets around the River Lee.

Cork grew from a settlement associated with St Finbarr into a Viking trading place and Norman city. Its commercial streets and civic buildings reflect later generations of merchants, offering a readable introduction to the place proudly nicknamed “Rebel Cork.”

Explore Blarney Castle and climb its medieval tower for the chance to kiss the Blarney Stone. According to a long-standing Irish tradition, the gesture grants the gift of eloquence, or the “gift of the gab.”

The stone sits high among the castle’s battlements, making the climb part of the experience. This is one of two included Insight Choice activities at Blarney; choose it instead of the guided gardens experience.

Explore the Blarney Castle estate with a senior gardener, whose insights bring its varied landscapes and planting to life. Discover rare trees in the arboretum and hear about the estate’s rock formations and garden traditions.

The grounds also include a Bog Garden with centuries-old yew trees, alongside imaginative features such as the Wishing Steps and Witch’s Kitchen. This is one of two included Insight Choice activities at Blarney; choose it instead of climbing to the Blarney Stone.

Get to know Killarney with your Travel Director before riding in a traditional horse-drawn jaunting car, guided by a local jarvey. Travel through the town and into Killarney National Park as church spires and mountain slopes frame the route.

Jaunting cars are a distinctive part of Killarney’s visitor heritage. The jarvey’s local knowledge adds character to the ride, while the park introduces the lakes and protected landscapes for which this corner of County Kerry is known.

Follow the Slea Head route around the Dingle Peninsula, where Atlantic cliffs, sheltered beaches and stone-built remains punctuate the coast. Look towards the Blasket Islands and discover the enduring Irish-language culture of this remote region.

Prehistoric ring forts, early Christian beehive huts and ogham stones speak to centuries of settlement. The Blaskets were home to an Irish-speaking community until their remaining residents moved to the mainland in 1953.

Visit the Cliffs of Moher and look out across the Atlantic from one of Ireland’s defining coastal landscapes. Explore the visitor centre and hear your Travel Director’s insights into the cliffs’ geology, history and wildlife.

Rising to approximately 214 metres above the sea, the cliffs form a striking stretch of the Wild Atlantic Way. Their layered rock faces and exposed ledges shelter seabirds, while changing light alters the colours of stone and water.

Walk Galway’s historic heart with your Travel Director, seeing the Lynch Memorial Window, St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church, the Spanish Arch and Eyre Square. Stories of the city’s people give context to its lively streets and medieval landmarks.

St Nicholas’ remains one of Ireland’s largest medieval parish churches in continuous use, while the Spanish Arch recalls Galway’s trading past. This orientation reveals why the Atlantic port is still known as the City of Tribes.

Explore Sligo on a Travel Director-led orientation, taking in its streets and landmarks while hearing about the town’s medieval past. The surrounding landscape introduces its close association with poet W. B. Yeats.

Mountains, waterways and western light helped shape the imagery of Yeats’s writing. The orientation connects that literary legacy to a working Irish town, offering a sense of place beyond its best-known poetic references.

Walk among the interlocking basalt columns of the Giant’s Causeway, Northern Ireland’s UNESCO World Heritage Site. See how thousands of angular stones step down towards the sea along the exposed Antrim coast.

Ancient volcanic activity formed the columns around 60 million years ago; local legend offers a different explanation involving the giant Finn McCool. Their geometric shapes, set against breaking Atlantic water, make this a place where geology and folklore are equally vivid.

Meet the 29th Laird of Craufurdland and his wife for a guided look inside Craufurdland Castle, a family residence near Kilmarnock. Sit down to traditional afternoon tea with sandwiches, scones, sweet treats and freshly brewed tea.

The Craufurd family’s connection with the estate spans more than 800 years. Seeing the home with its present-day custodians gives the visit a personal dimension, while afternoon tea introduces a cherished British social tradition.

Explore Glasgow with your Travel Director, taking in its Victorian streets and civic architecture. Pause at George Square to see its statues and grand buildings, and see St Mungo’s Cathedral, a reminder of the city’s medieval beginnings.

Glasgow’s imposing centre reflects the wealth generated by trade and industry, particularly during the 19th century. Its medieval cathedral provides a contrasting glimpse of the much older settlement from which the modern city grew.

Take in Highland scenery along the banks of Loch Lomond and through the steep-sided valley of Glencoe. Pause at the Commando Memorial near Spean Bridge, where bronze figures stand against views towards Ben Nevis.

Glencoe is closely associated with the 1692 massacre of members of Clan MacDonald. The memorial honours commandos who trained in the Highlands during the Second World War, adding another layer of history to the mountain panorama.

Cruise Loch Ness through the Great Glen, watching wooded shores and Highland slopes rise above its dark water. Pass landmarks including Aldourie Castle while hearing the stories that have made the loch famous worldwide.

Stretching approximately 37 kilometres, Loch Ness occupies a deep geological fault. Peat gives its water limited visibility, a characteristic that has helped sustain tales of the elusive monster known as Nessie. From the boat, the loch’s scale becomes especially clear.

Explore Uile-bheist distillery in Inverness and sample its creations during a guided introduction to its whisky and beer. Hear how Scottish folklore and stories of whisky smuggling inform the distillery’s approach.

Traditional production techniques meet a strong focus on reducing carbon emissions at this modern Highland operation. The visit offers a chance to understand the craft behind each dram while supporting a business working towards lower-impact distilling.

Spend time in St Andrews, seeing the celebrated Old Course and the coastal setting of this university town. Walk towards West Sands Beach, where the opening running scene of Chariots of Fire was filmed.

Golf has been played at St Andrews for centuries, giving its links a special place in the sport’s history. Historic university buildings, open fairways and North Sea air give the town a character that extends well beyond golf.

Experience the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo on select August departures, watching massed performers appear against the illuminated backdrop of Edinburgh Castle. Pipes, drums and choreographed displays fill the castle esplanade with sound and movement.

This seasonal spectacle draws on Scotland’s military and musical traditions while welcoming performers from around the world. Attendance is included only on departures specifically scheduled for the Tattoo; check your departure details before booking.

Explore Scotland’s capital with a Local Expert, travelling along Princes Street to see the Scott Monument, the Georgian facades of New Town and the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Follow the Royal Mile to visit Edinburgh Castle.

Inside the fortress, see Scotland’s Crown Jewels, the Honours of Scotland, and the great cannon Mons Meg. The contrast between the medieval Old Town and planned 18th-century New Town reveals Edinburgh’s layered architectural history.

Gather with your fellow travellers for a Celebration Dinner in Edinburgh, featuring modern Scottish cuisine served with wine. Share a meal in the heart of the capital and reflect together on the places explored across Ireland and Scotland.

Contemporary Scottish cooking offers a fitting close to a journey rich in regional traditions. The group setting makes the dinner more than a routine meal: it is a hosted occasion centred on conversation and shared memories.

Get an up-close introduction to falconry during an optional experience in the Dingle area. Discover the presence and precision of birds of prey while learning about the skills involved in working with them.

Falconry has a long history as a partnership between people and raptors. Seeing these birds at close range offers a different perspective on their movement and behaviour. This experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour, subject to availability.

Visit Dingle’s oldest public house for a local drink, live music and storytelling. Settle into a traditional pub atmosphere and listen as performers bring the town’s sociable character to life.

Music and spoken stories remain important ways of sharing culture in Ireland’s west. This optional evening offers a chance to experience that tradition in the coastal town of Dingle. It is at additional cost and bookable on tour, subject to availability.

Join an optional Scottish dinner with haggis and a ceilidh in Edinburgh. Taste a traditional Scottish dish and enjoy an evening built around the music and communal spirit of a social gathering.

A ceilidh is rooted in Scottish traditions of music and dancing, bringing people together rather than keeping them in their seats. This hosted evening offers a lively introduction to those customs. It is at additional cost and bookable on tour, subject to availability.

Insight Vacations

• 7 Dinner (D)
• 13 Breakfast (B)
• 1 Afternoon Tea (AT)

• Business class coach with extended leg room
• Top-rated dining, from farm-to-table to local restaurants
• Premium regional accommodation

• Dublin: A stunning combination of cobblestone walkways, emerald-green lawns and 18th-century architectural gems, Trinity College is one of Europe’s elite universities and counts poet Oscar Wilde among its alumni. See the enchanting college campus and discover insights into its impressive history. Enjoy access to view the famous Book of Kells, an exquisite manuscript of the four gospels of the Christian New Testament, renowned for the intricacy, detail and majesty of the illustrations.
• Kildare: Horse racing is key part of Irish culture; and you’ll gain a rare insight into it on your visit to the Irish National Stud. Set in Kildare at the breeding ground of champions and the birthplace of legends, explore the foaling unit, museum and the stallions that continue to make racing history. As the only stud farm in Ireland open to the public, learn the insights of horse-racing at a site whose former visitors include queens and presidents. 
• Derry/Londonderry: There’s no better way to experience sightseeing than with one of Northern Ireland’s best storytellers, Ronan, as he takes you on a tour inside the city walls. See the Gothic Guildhall and the Georgian houses of Shipquay Street.