Check in for 07:00 departure from Dublin Heuston Station, opened in 1844 as the headquarters of the Great Southern & Western Railway.
As your train departs, you travel in a south westerly direction, through Dublin’s western suburbs and then through the lush, fertile countryside of Co. Kildare.
Your journey takes you through the Curragh which is famous for its racecourse, home of the Irish Derby, and there are many stud farms in the vicinity.
One of the train stops is Thurles, where the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) was founded in 1884.
The GAA is the sporting body responsible for promoting Ireland’s National sports – Gaelic football and hurling.
You change trains at Limerick Junction for the Limerick bound train. You don’t need to worry about this change as you will be fully escorted from Dublin to Limerick Station by our Railtours Ireland host.
Upon arrival to Limerick, you will join your Railtours Ireland tour coach.
As you cross the river Shannon – Ireland’s longest river – you will see views of King John’s Castle to the right.
We will pass the GAA grounds of Páirc na nGael –the home ground of County Limerick’s Hurling and Gaelic Football teams.
After a brief city tour we travel onto Bunratty Castle and Folk Park.
After the visit to Bunratty Castle and Folk park we make our way to Co. Clare.
From here, you take the coast road for much of the way to Galway, with time for photos along the Burren.
You continue along the coast road to Black Head, passing the quaint coastal villages of Ballyvaughan and Kinvara before joining the main road to Galway.
You depart from Galway by train and return to Dublin by a different route, via Athenry, Tullamore and Athlone, where we cross the mighty river Shannon once more.