Dublin to Belfast Cultural Tour: Ireland’s Art, Poetry & Music

Dublin to Belfast Cultural Tour: Ireland’s Art, Poetry & Music

10 days

|

From $7,795 pp

This journey through Ireland celebrates the country’s creative spirit – from Dublin’s literary heart to the poetic landscapes of Sligo and the musical energy of Belfast. Over ten days, you’ll follow in the footsteps of writers, poets, and musicians whose words helped shape Ireland’s story.

At a glance...

Begin in Dublin, a UNESCO City of Literature where the lives and legacies of Joyce, Wilde, and Yeats still echo through the streets. Explore the city’s historic architecture, revolutionary landmarks, and vibrant music scene before venturing into the Wicklow Mountains, a landscape long celebrated in Irish verse.

Continue north and west to Sligo, where Yeats found his greatest inspiration among mountains and sea, then to Derry and Belfast, where stories of resilience are kept alive in murals, poetry, and song. 

Why Dublin to Belfast Cultural Tour: Ireland’s Art, Poetry & Music

In detail

  • Days 1-3: Dublin

    Days 1-3: Dublin

    Arrive in Dublin, where your private driver will escort you to your city centre hotel. With your expert guide, explore a city built on words and stories. Visit Trinity College to see the Book of Kells, stroll Merrion Square to stand beside Oscar Wilde’s statue, and tour the Museum of Literature Ireland for rare manuscripts and interactive exhibits.

    You’ll also trace the steps of James Joyce’s Ulysses, walk through the sites of Ireland’s revolutionary history, and end your evenings in the lively Temple Bar district. Here, you’ll find  traditional music spilling from historic pubs and the warmth of the Irish welcome to be unmistakable.

  • Day 4: Wicklow

    Day 4: Wicklow

    Leave the city for the Wicklow Mountains, known as the “Garden of Ireland.” Explore Glendalough, a serene monastic site nestled between lakes and forested hills, before continuing to the Vale of Avoca, a landscape beloved by poet Thomas Moore. Enjoy a private picnic overlooking the valley, soaking in the stillness that has inspired generations of artists. Return to Dublin in the evening for a final taste of the city’s culture and cuisine.

  • Days 5-6: Sligo

    Days 5-6: Sligo

    Head west to Sligo, the landscape that shaped W.B. Yeats’ poetry. Visit Drumcliffe Church, his final resting place, before following the Wild Atlantic Way past windswept beaches and dramatic cliffs. Explore Lissadell House, once home to Yeats’ muse Constance Markievicz, and enjoy a private poetry reading by the sea or in the house’s gardens. Between its quiet beauty and deep literary heritage, Sligo captures the heart of Ireland’s creative soul.

  • Day 7: Derry

    Day 7: Derry

    Cross into Northern Ireland and arrive in Derry, a city where art and activism have merged over decades. Walk the historic walls with your local guide and visit the Museum of Free Derry to gain insight into the city’s civil rights history. Derry’s creative culture shines through music, storytelling, and mural. End your day with live traditional music or a performance that captures the city’s spirit of defiance and creativity.

  • Days 8-9: Belfast

    Days 8-9: Belfast

    Continue to Belfast, where literature, art, and history intertwine. Tour the Cathedral Quarter, home to murals and street poetry, then visit the Seamus Heaney HomePlace for an intimate look at the life and work of Ireland’s Nobel Prize-winning poet. A guided tour of Van Morrison’s East Belfast offers another layer of musical history.

    Spend your final evening at a private storytelling dinner or an acoustic performance – a fitting farewell to a your cultural exploration of Ireland.

  • Day 10: Departure

    Day 10: Departure

    After breakfast, your private driver will transfer you to Belfast or Dublin Airport for your onward flight. As you leave, you’ll carry with you not just the sound of music and poetry, but a deeper connection to Ireland’s creative heart.

Add your Do Not Disturb moment

  • Enjoy the quick ziplines and swing across suspended bridges, every twist, turn, and drop is part of an expert-guided adventure designed for small groups seeking both excitement and safety.

  • Private sunset picnic with Atlantic views and locally sourced cuisine, far from the crowds.

  • Small-group guided walking and meditation across Ireland’s Burren with secluded views and immersive wellness.

  • Follow a local guide across sweeping dunes and soft sand, pausing to watch Atlantic waves roll in and seabirds skim the shoreline.

  • Step into the cheese production area and watch curds being pressed, sample creamy cheeses at various stages of maturation, and hear stories from the family who have crafted Cashel Blue for generations.

  • Inside St James's Gate, a private bar on the fourth floor of the Guinness Storehouse offers a different way into one of the world's most recognised drinks: four variants, one trained connoisseur and the story behind every pour.

  • Titanic Belfast stands on the slipways of the Harland and Wolff shipyard where the Titanic was built between 1909 and 1911. Across nine interactive galleries, the story moves from the streets of early 20th-century Belfast through the construction, the maiden voyage and the night of April 14, 1912, to the ocean floor and the legacy that followed

  • Kilmainham Gaol opened in 1796 and closed in 1924. In the 128 years between, it held petty criminals, Famine survivors, political prisoners and the leaders of every major Irish rebellion. A private guided visit reaches the parts of that history that a crowded standard tour cannot.

  • Aniar in Galway and Chestnut in west Cork hold Michelin stars and serve tasting menus built entirely around what the land, the shore and the season provide. No fixed menus, no outside sourcing.

  • EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum sits in the stone vaults of the CHQ building on Custom House Quay in Dublin's Docklands. Twenty interactive galleries tell the story of Irish emigration across centuries, from the reasons people left to the countries they shaped. A guided visit adds a layer of depth the self-guided experience cannot replicate.

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