Come and soak in the history and beauty of Ireland on the Dufcblin Sightseeing and Glendalough Excursion. Experience the mountains, lakes, and capital city of this beautiful country.
You'll meet your friendly shore excursion guide at your Dublin cruise terminal and board your comfortable coach. Relax knowing the planning and organizing have been taken care of for you. After a 2-hour scenic drive, your excursion starts with the sightseeing of the Wicklow Mountains. Your guide will tell you some Irish history and engaging legends as you travel on your way. The upland mountains are covered with gorse (a spiny yellow-flowered shrub), bracken (large coarse fern), heather-covered moors, bogs, hills, and small lakes. This area is known as the Garden of Ireland because of the vast and stunning variety of plant life. Bring your camera to capture the astounding vistas.
Your next Dublin sightseeing excursion site the Glendalough monastic site (20 minutes away from Wicklow Mountains), is one of the most important monastic sites in Ireland. It was an early Christian settlement that grew into a city. It is now one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country. Glendalough means Valley of the Two Lakes which you'll see on your journey. On your stop at Glendalough, there's time to explore the settlement, churches, and lake area. The area has been long inhabited and was founded as a monastic city by St. Kevin in the sixth century. The city thrived until it was destroyed by the English in 1938. You'll have 2.5 hours approximately to visit the collection of medieval churches, the graveyard with generations of families buried there, the Round Tower (built almost 1000 years ago by the monks of the monastery), the Kissing Gate (a hinged gate that only allows one person to pass at a time), and St. Kevin's Cross (a plain cross carved from a single granite stone). Glendalough is a must-see for your stop in Ireland.
While here be sure to take some time to walk the lakes along the hiking trail and enjoy nature in this historic location. The extraordinary scenery and wide variety of animals, like the otter, stoat, and badger, make this a worthwhile stroll.
At the end of your sightseeing shore excursion in Glendalough, you'll enjoy a scenic ride back to beautiful Dublin. Your sightseeing guide will continue with his history of the area on the drive. If time allows, you'll have free time to roam the cobbled streets of the city center. You can visit Temple Bar, a riverside neighborhood of thriving bars, live folk music, restaurants serving Asian, American, and Irish cuisine, and boutiques selling clothes and crafts by local designers. Shop High Street, one of Dublin's oldest streets, with everything from boutiques to department stores. Or maybe take a walk around Trinity College, the beautiful campus of Ireland's highest-ranked university. Meet up at the end of your shore excursion for a drive back to your Dublin cruise ship dock.
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