We are very happy to share that Parallel is just about ready to add a third itinerary – this one in in stunningly beautiful southwest Ireland! We will be experimenting with a couple of trip elements and folks joining this spring’s trip will help to develop it further for future Parallelians. To that end, we are not offering this trip to the general public in 2024 – in our first season, the Ireland trip will be available only to Parallel alumni. Read on for more about the trip!
My wife, Susan the Parallel Muse, our two daughters, and I traveled over last April to scout out the hiking (and do our due diligence comparing the pubs in each village) and absolutely loved what we found. Parallel’s Ireland trip is going to be a bit more rugged than our Spain and Portugal trips. The hiking – most of it through Killarney National Park on the Kerry peninsula, with one day of hiking on the Dingle peninsula – is, by and large, through remote countryside and facilities are few and far between. Accommodations in the Park (two nights) are more simple than they will be in the towns and villages we’ll visit (Killarney, Annascaul, and Dingle). The hills are gorgeous, the people are friendly, and the pubs are warm. And this is is still a Parallel trip – so we’ll have warm Irish hospitality, comfortable beds, and draughts of your favorite Irish tipple available every night. A hot Irish breakfast will be provided every morning, and we’ll enjoy dinner together on four of our five nights. And, of course, you won’t have to worry about lugging your bags – we’ve got you covered.
Here is an outline of our planned May 2024 itinerary:
Sunday, May 5: Meet in Killarney (easily accessible by train from Dublin), enjoy a welcome dinner in the lively town.
Monday, May 6: Hike from Killarney through the National Park to the very quiet Black Valley. Dinner together.
Tuesday, May 7: Hike from Black Valley to the similarly quiet Glencar and the banks of the River Caragh. Dinner together.
Wednesday, May 8: Hike from Glencar to the Atlantic coast at Glenbeigh. Transit this afternoon around to the Dingle peninsula and the village of Annascaul.
Thursday, May 9: Hike from Annascaul to Dingle. Celebrate with a great night out in the village. Will there be good food? Check. How about live music? Oh, yes. And Irish whiskey….? Almost certainly.
Friday, May 10: Our trip will end after breakfast with transit back to Killarney or the Kerry airport (frequent, inexpensive flights to Dublin and beyond).
2024 “Beta” Trip Cost: $1800 per person. This will cover five nights accommodation with breakfast, four evening meals, five evening receptions and morning briefings, daily luggage transit, maps, transit back to Killarney or the Kerry airport at the end of the trip.
Interested Parallel alums should email Chad anytime at chad@parallel-adventures.com to learn more or to register for our Sunday, 5 May, to Friday, 10 May trip.
