Trad Tours
Marianne MacDonald
(856)256-9118
Rinceseit@msn.com
Fintan Malone
(215) 379-0424
Fintan1@juno.com
www.tradtours.com
Think of these trips designed by Fintan Malone and Marianne MacDonald as your ceili away from home. He’s a banjo and mandolin player; she’s a set dancer. So you’re sure to come back humming and tapping.

Undiscovered Britain
ann@undiscoveredbritain.com
www.undiscoveredbritain.com
Looking to stay off the beaten track? Finding “undiscovered” places in the British Isles is the specialty of Ann Litt, who will help you plan your itinerary and book your trip, right down to private guides and theater tickets. Big bonus: Ann scopes out wheelchair accessibility for her tours. You can also find more than 75 disability-friendly holiday cottages through this agency, some of them in Ireland.

Westminster Travel
1001 Baltimore Pike, STE 305
Springfield, PA 19064
(610) 328-5300
www.wtvacations.com
You can choose from more than a dozen ways to see Ireland with packages from this agency, ranging in price from a little more than $500 to a little more than $2,000, depending on how much time you have.

Web-Based

www.enchantingireland.com
Whether you want to visit haunted castles or catch salmon in a crystalline stream, there’s a tour on this Philly-based Web site for you. You can also reach owner/operator Christopher A. Woolson at (800) 659-3800.

www.12travel.com
Founded in 1998 by three Irish-born Hawks (St. Joseph’s University grads), 1 2 Travel is one of the largest online companies specializing in travel to Ireland, offering flights, accommodation, escorted tours, activity holidays and general information about Ireland. Though it’s based in Ireland, you can book everything online or via their toll-free number: (800) 255-9302.

Wilmington, DE

Swanton British Travel Service LLC
An Affiliate Member of Andavo Travel/Virtuoso
P.O. Box 7398
Wilmington, DE 19803-0398
(302) 529-0100 Voice
(302) 475-8669 Fax
(800) 637-5713
tourinfo@swantonbritishtravel.com
www.swantonbritishtravel.com
This agency specializes in self-directed tours of the British Isles. Don’t want to be chained to a group, but worried about patching together your own itinerary? Owner Katharine Lancy will help you plan your own tour of Ireland. “You can create absolutely anything,” she says. “There’s nothing you can ask for that we can’t figure out how to do.” And you don’t have to worry about booking your trip—Swanton takes care of that too.

Useful Links

www.aerlingus.com
Ireland’s premier airline frequently has serious sales going on. Sign up for the free newsletter.

www.shamrock.org
This is the official site of Tourism Ireland. It contains vacation package offers, suggested itineraries, and information that will let you plan your own trip. You can also book accommodations on the site. There’s also an events calendar in case you want to plan your trip around something special, like the Galway International Oyster Festival  or the Dublin City Marathon.

www.ireland.ie
This is the official site of the Irish Tourist Board and a good place to get acquainted with the Emerald Isle: It offers a county-by-county guide to things to do, events calendar, route planner, transportation, accommodations (and a booking service) and loads of bargains.

www.explore.ie
Looking for some inside information on places to go and things to see in Ireland? This online magazine features Irish-penned articles on both Ireland and elsewhere (you can read an Irishman’s view of Philly’s Mummer’s Parade) and some wonderful photographs. They also offer practical information on traveling to Ireland and their Editors’ Choices are worth a gander (they courageously risk the inevitable donnybrook by listing their opinion on where to get the best pint in Dublin City).

www.elderhostel.org
We found a number of learning and active Irish vacations sponsored by this organization which specializes in educational travel for older adults, including tours that focus on Ireland’s medieval past, folklore, theater, art, and environment.