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Travel Celtic Ireland & Scotland in Style and Comfort.
News Flash: Our presence as representatives of the Scottish Tourist Board at the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games was a smashing success! So many people were interested in visiting Scotland next year we could hardly keep the brochures and travel information on the table. Shortly we'll be adding a full webpage with full details about the games, travel to Scotland in 2009, and a photo gallery. Meanwhile if you are interested in a 2009 tour of Scotland, you can get some excellent travel information from the Scottish Tourist Board.
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Rising Road Tours specializes in custom, escorted small-group tours to Ireland and the islands and highlands of western Scotland. We offer you flexibility, an unforgettable personalized experience, TLC, and the knowledge and experience of travel in Ireland and Scotland you should expect from a custom guided tour of the highest quality. For the remainder of 2008, all suggested tours and custom tours may be scheduled between June 15 through mid-October with dates at your discretion, plus our Christmas in Ireland Tour December 1-10 2008. |
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For 2009 Tours of Ireland and Scotland, please contact us! We are ready to assist you with your dream tour next year. Our guide, Dr. Samuel Couch, has been leading students, friends, and small group tours to Ireland since 1984. His background as a professor of Irish Studies programs will lend unparalleled insights into the geography, history, and personality of Ireland that you simply won't find anywhere else. 2009 is the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robbie Burns, the Bard and Favorite Son of Scotland. There will be events all year long throughout Scotland to celebrate! |
We are a Custom and Specialty Tours of Ireland and Western Scotland
Family Tours ~ Weddings and Honeymoons ~ Golf ~ Adventure Tours ~ Special Interest & Educational Tours
We specialize in creating escorted tours that meet your particular desires for group size, travel dates, accommodation types (golf, honeymoon, adventure, castles, great houses, hotels, B&Bs), and visits to sites of your choosing. Let us know what would be the perfect tour of Ireland or western Scotland, just for you - and we make it come true! Contact us for an all-inclusive quotation and itinerary to match your specific requests. Please read more about our custom escorted tour services, call us toll-free at 1-888-648-8893 or send an e-mail to sam@risingroadtours.com.
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Following are descriptions of several small-group escorted tour itineraries we have developed over the years. These tours have been enjoyed by many happy travelers.These suggested tours of Ireland and Scotland described below have been crafted with the same care, attention to detail, and personalized experience as if you had designed a custom tour of your own - plus you don't need to spend time poring over maps and dealing with the myriad details of planning a custom trip. We've done it all for you! Yet our small-group tours are flexible enough to allow for changes and detours. All tours are booked on a first come, first served basis. Tour sizes are limited, and our custom accomodations and venues need advance notice - so please book early!
Our Suggested Tours:
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Scotland's Western and Northern Isles
Join us for a once-in-a-lifetime tour of Shetland, Orkney and the Outer Hebrides. This tour begins in Glasglow and ends in Edinburgh. Our adventure to the great island wilds of Scotland starts by visiting sites of ancient historical significance, including settlements of the very earliest of Scottish inhabitants. Our excursions take us to Norse farmsteads, Stone Age settlements, prehistoric stone rings and much more. We will venture through seven thousand years of continuous history and examine both the Irish and the Norse heritages of the Western Isles, Orkney, and Shetland. For the nature lovers on the tour, we will see multitudes of seabirds, otters, and other wildlife distinctive to island habitats. |
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Christmas
in Ireland 2008
This tour begins in County Galway, taking us through the Connemara region for visits to Kylemore Abbey, Aughnanure Castle, and the charming seaside village of Clifden. From there we travel through County Mayo on our way to County Sligo and a night of Irish poetry and song, with a stop at the sea kelp baths at Kilcullens along the way. From Sligo we go to County Donegal, a land of over 7,000 years of continuous habitation with many historical sites to visit. We round off our trip to Christmas in Ireland with a first-hand experience of Joyce's "dear, dirty Dublin". We'll make a day trip out from the city to visit the ancient passage tombs at Bru na Boinne, the most famous of which is Newgrange. Our visit coincides with a very famous event which occurs each month of December at the tomb. |
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Birthplaces of Golf
Golfers will appreciate the opportunity to try links and inland golf courses in both Ireland and Scotland, the TWO countries who claim to have invented the game. This tour starts in Ireland where we will have the opportunity to play courses in both the Republic and Northern Ireland. Golf courses may include Oughterard, Bundoran, Murvagh, and Powerscourt in the Republic; and Bushmills, Royal Portrush and Portstewart in Northern Ireland. In Scotland, we base in East Neuk and play courses in and around St. Andrews. |
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Ireland's Rings
On the southwestern tip of the island, The Rings of Ireland will capture our minds and hearts. This tour, offered during Spring and Fall 2009, opens up some of the most well-traveled areas of the island. Dingle Peninsula, the Ring of Kerry, and the Ring of Beara provide the centerpiece for this tour. |
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In The Steps of St. Columba
For those interested in ecclesiastical history, this tour visits sites in both Ireland and Scotland associated with St. Columba, founder of Irish missions in the fifth and sixth centuries. Columban priests are credited with producing world-famous illuminated manuscripts such as the Book of Kells. This adventure starts in Gleann Cholm Cille, Co. Donegal, Valley of the Dove of the Church (Columba). Here we will participate in Turas Columcille, the pilgrimage round of St. Columba, which has taken place continuously since 594 in this valley on the saint's feast day, June 9. If time permits, the group also may make a one-day pilgrimage to St. Patrick's Purgatory, an island in Lough Derg, where St. Patrick wrestled with demons. From Ireland, the group travels to Iona off the west coast of Scotland, where Columba was exiled and died. This holy island is a place of contemplation and prayer for people of all faiths. |
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A Taste of Ireland
Travel back in time for two weeks in rural Ireland. Explore the Ireland less traveled - the Land of Saints and Scholars. This tour is designed to provide the traveler with a bird's-eye view of rural Ireland not usually experienced by traditional tour packages. Our goal is to learn first hand about the culture, tradition, history (and prehistory), music, art, and lifestyle of those people still living in the Irish countryside. Although we will visit a few cities to learn more about Irish history, our main focus will be on the non-urban Irish citizens and how they maintain ancient traditions in a very modern world. |
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Highland Hill Walking
Intrepid hill walkers will enjoy this excursion across the Highlands of northwest Ireland and Scotland. Our trip begins in Ireland for hill walking in Donegal. One highlight of the Irish adventure is trekking overland to One Man's Pass on Sliabh Laeg, the highest sea cliffs in Europe. After five days in Ireland, we head to Glasgow where we meet with our partners at Wilderness Scotland, who specialize in treks across the Scottish Highlands. Tour size is limited to ten participants. |
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Donegal Southwest by Northeast For 2009, Rising Road Tours is pleased to offer a new tour exploring the opposite sides of the island. In the northwest, our adventures will take us to both ends of the largest and furthest north of the counties – Donegal. On this tour, we will visit traditional venues on the Sliabh Laeg and the Inishowen Peninsulas. Based in the seaside village of Gleanncholmcille, the cultural, historic, and artistic treasures of southwest Donegal will be within our grasp.
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Historic Ireland
We'll take you to Counties Sligo and Donegal on a trip through the past. We also visit venues where the crafts and working heritage of over 7,000 years of continuous human experience are kept alive and vibrant in the Ireland of today. We visit sites ranging from prehistoric megalithic tombs and monuments to modern fishing, farming, and woolens producers. |
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Saints and Giants
Come to the landscapes familiar to St. Patrick, one of Ireland's patron saints, and to Fionn macCumhail, the mythical giant credited with creating the Giant's Causeway. These two historical and legendary figures provide the backdrop for our travels through Counties Antrim and Armagh and nearby areas of Northern Ireland. We will visit both ancient sites of mystery as well as historical landmarks of faith among the green hills of Ireland. |
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Into The West
Come along with us, and be transported into a real-life experience of the vivid artistic and literary history of Ireland. Based in Connemara, we'll visit many sites across Counties Galway and Clare, including Galway City, Kilfenora, Kilmacduagh, the Aran Islands (if weather permits), and Thoor Ballylee - the home of Nobel laureate poet William Butler Yeats. |
Our escorted tours are based on unrivaled experience and knowledge of travel in Ireland.
With
Rising Road Tours, your time will not be spent waiting in airports or sitting
is buses. Our escorted tours of Ireland and Scotland will take you to see the hidden
gems - the history, rich literary and artistic heritage, age-old crafts
and ways of life, and glimpses into an ancient past that predates the pyramids.
Enjoy your trip in a small group at a relaxed pace. You have the freedom to participate in the many sight-seeing opportunities we can guide you through, or simply bask by the fireplace - with Rising Road Tours, the choice is yours.
Choosing an escorted tour is not more expensive than other travel options - in fact, our knowledge of the venues and accomodations can help save you both time and money.
If our suggested tours don't suit you, please contact us for information on arranging a custom tour to fit your calendar and special interests - for example: Celtic music, golf, castles and manor houses, a wedding or honeymoon, Irish farms, distilleries and breweries, gardens, and more. We have the background, experience and knowledge to create any tour you desire!
Visit the Ireland and Scotland Most People Miss!
Contact us for your custom escorted tour for 2008 or 2009.
Rising Road Tours
828-648-8893 (Tel) ~ 888-648-8893 (Toll-free) ~ 828-648-8895 (Fax)
sam@risingroadtours.com
28 Newfound Street, Canton, North Carolina 28716 USA
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TOUR DETAILS: A Taste of Ireland | Historic Ireland | Into the West | Saints & Giants | Christmas
in Ireland
Highland Hill Walking | In The Steps of St. Columba | Birthplaces of Golf | North and South
NEW! Donegal Southwest by Northeast | Ireland's Rings
