• When Hope and History Rhymes: The Story of Northern Ireland

Unlock the ancient and recent history of Ulster’s troubled six counties as we travel from Dublin to the Causeway Coast via the Boyne Valley and Belfast.

Highlights include:

• Dublin Castle: Seat of power for Ireland’s occupiers for almost 800 years.

• The General Post Office (GPO) and Kilmainham Jail, Dublin sites of 1916 Rising

• The Boyne Valley Drive, including the site of the Battle of the Boyne (1690), the event that would divide Ireland for three bloody centuries.

• Belfast: A guided Black Taxi tour of Belfast’s infamous political mural art, and a visit to both sides of the city’s Peace Wall.

• Titanic Belfast: A visit to one of Europe’s finest museums, documenting the tragic loss of the “unsinkable ship” that was built in the Belfast docklands.

• The Ulster Museum: A trip through the history of one of the Earth’s most contentious regions. A lecture by a local expert sets the six counties and their history in context.

• St. Patrick’s Country, Downpatrick, County Down. A visit to the spiritual homeland of Ireland’s patron saint.

• Causeway Coast Drive from Downpatrick to Giants Causeway: Enjoy the stunning coastal scenery of this northern coastline, and visit settings for the Game of Thrones TV series.

• Bushmills Distillery tour: A wee taste of one of Ireland’s finest whiskeys awaits in the village of Bushmills.

• Causeway Coast Drive to Derry: The scenery gets wilder the further west you venture.

• The Celtic Peace Garden. Founded by the late Father Brendan Carlin, this restful repose is a monument in miniature to the lives of the Irish saints, and to the cause of unity in a long-troubled land.

• Ulster-American Folk Park, Co. Tyrone: Retrace the voyages of Ulster’s Scot-Irish to the New World, and learn about the outsized influence they would exert in their new homeland.

• Tour of the Walls of Derry: Discovery the fabled histories of the Siege of Derry and the Battle of the Bogside.

• Derry City: The tour ends in Derry, a city that delights visitors with its citizens’ wit and warmth, and which now looks forward to a brighter future.

Outstanding Experience:

What’s Next for Northern Ireland?

Lectures from several experts explaining the origins and resolution of The Troubles