Railtours Ireland

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Early to the train station to begin our 3 day 2 night tour to SW Ireland. Railtours Ireland is a very nifty travel company. With many tours to book online, all from Dublin, you can do a 1 to 5 day tour using rail for the long hauls, buses meet you at the station and provide sightseeing. Today we headed straight to Cork by train, were accompanied by a guide. We toured Blarney Castle, time to kiss the Blarney stone, shop, have lunch, then on to Cobh. This is the port of Cork with a long shipping history. The Queenstown ' Story told of the famine ships, the Titanic, which left here after boarding passengers for its ill fated voyage. The Lusitania was sunk off the coast here and local fishermen headed out to bring back survivors and recover bodies. There is a beautiful old cathedral, as well as colorful row houses known as the "deck of cards." Back on the train we headed to Killarney with a quick and easy connection in Mallow. We arrived at Killarney where were met by Demos Tours, our local host. We are staying two nights at the International Hotel. Its a big, old place with modern furnishings. There are lots of stairs, even after taking the lift, so tell them ahead if you have difficulty walking. We even have 3 steps up to the bathroom. Its has a great bathtub and shower, good.water.pressure and heated towel racks which come in handy for washing out a few things. We had a lovely dinner in the hotel restaurant "Hannigans." Afterward, we went around the corner to Courtney's Pub for a Trad Session. Then back to our hotel, their live music was fine, but not as musical as the last bar, so didn't stay.

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