The Atlantic Isles
Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales and Iceland. Ancient stone, wild coastlines, living languages and long summer light, guided by people who call these shores home.
Plan a JourneyWhy the Atlantic Isles
On Europe's western edge, the North Atlantic wraps around a family of islands: Ireland, Great Britain and, further north, Iceland. The same ocean shapes their weather, their coastlines and their character. For more than a thousand years, the same sailors, saints and settlers carried stories between them.
We call them the Atlantic Isles because the name holds all five nations as equals. Each keeps its own language, its own music and its own way of welcoming a guest. The joy of traveling here lies in noticing both the kinship and the differences.
Namara Tours was dreamed up on a journey through Ireland, and our office in Cork keeps us close to these shores. We know the back roads, the island ferries and the pubs where the music starts late, and we bring that knowledge to every journey we design.
IrelandScotlandEnglandWalesIceland
Where We Take You
From Atlantic cliffs to volcanic valleys, here is a first look at the five nations we travel.
Ireland
The Irish greeting is céad míle fáilte, a hundred thousand welcomes, and you will feel every one of them. Drive the Wild Atlantic Way, about 1,550 miles of headlands and harbor towns along the west coast. Step inside Newgrange, a passage tomb older than Stonehenge and the pyramids of Giza, then end the day with a fiddle tune in a Dingle pub.
DublinKerry & DingleCliffs of MoherConnemaraGiant's Causeway
Discover Ireland
Scotland
Scotland chose the unicorn as its national animal, and that tells you plenty about the place. Follow single-track roads through Glencoe to the Isle of Skye, walk Edinburgh's medieval Royal Mile, and sail out to some of its 790-plus islands, from the Hebrides to Orkney. Golfers can tee off at St Andrews, where the game has been played for some 600 years.
EdinburghHighlands & GlencoeIsle of SkyeLoch NessOrkneySt Andrews
Plan a Scotland Journey
England
England lays its history out like chapters in a book. Stand among the stones of Stonehenge, walk the Roman baths of Bath, and wander the colleges of Oxford, where scholars have studied since the eleventh century. Then slow down in the Cotswolds, with honey-colored villages along quiet rivers, or among the lakes and fells that inspired Wordsworth.
LondonThe CotswoldsBathStonehengeOxfordYorkThe Lake District
Plan an England Journey
Wales
Wales has more castles per square mile than anywhere in Europe, and Conwy, Caernarfon, Harlech and Beaumaris share a single UNESCO World Heritage listing. Welsh, one of Europe's oldest living languages, is heard in homes and schools and written on every road sign. Walk a stretch of the 870-mile Wales Coast Path, the first in the world to follow a country's entire coastline, and catch a male voice choir in the evening.
Snowdonia (Eryri)ConwyPembrokeshire CoastSt DavidsCardiffHay-on-Wye
Plan a Wales Journey
Iceland
Iceland sits right on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. At Þingvellir you can walk the rift valley where the North American and Eurasian plates drift apart, on the same ground where the Althing, one of the world's oldest parliaments, first met in 930. Chase waterfalls along the south coast, soak in geothermal lagoons, and watch the Northern Lights in winter or the midnight sun in June.
ReykjavíkThe Golden CircleSouth Coast & VíkJökulsárlón Glacier LagoonSnæfellsnes Peninsula
Plan an Iceland Journey
The Story That Connects Them
The ocean that separates these islands has always connected them. Knowing these shared threads turns a beautiful view into a story you can read.
Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Welsh are living Celtic languages. Irish and Scottish Gaelic are close cousins, while Welsh belongs to a sister branch shared with Cornish and Breton. You will hear them in place names, songs and everyday greetings.
Vikings founded Dublin around 841, ruled York as Jórvík, and left Orkney and Shetland under Norse rule until the islands passed to Scotland in 1468 and 1469. Their great sagas were written down in Iceland, and Icelanders can still read them in a language close to the original.
Iceland's oldest history book records Irish monks, the papar, living on the island before the Norse arrived. Skellig Michael, a monastery on a rock about seven miles off the Kerry coast, shows the kind of faith that sent them sailing north.
DNA studies suggest that roughly half of Iceland's founding mothers had Gaelic roots in Ireland and Scotland. A journey from Ireland to Iceland follows a route some of those first settlers sailed more than a thousand years ago.
Every isle has its storytellers: Ireland's seanchaí, the Welsh tales of the Mabinogion with some of the earliest Arthurian legends, Scotland's border ballads and Iceland's sagas. Our guides carry that tradition onto the coach.
The Fine Print, Made Simple
Great Britain is the island shared by England, Scotland and Wales. The United Kingdom adds Northern Ireland. The island of Ireland holds both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, and the border between them is open and easy to cross.
The euro in the Republic of Ireland, the pound sterling across the UK, and the Icelandic króna. Scotland's banks even print their own colorful pound notes.
Ireland and the UK drive on the left; Iceland drives on the right. Sit back and leave the driving to us.
Around the June solstice, Iceland enjoys near round-the-clock daylight, and Shetland calls its glowing summer nights the simmer dim.
Ireland and the UK share a clock. Iceland keeps Greenwich Mean Time all year, so in summer it runs one hour behind Dublin and London.
The ocean keeps winters mild and summers fresh, and sunshine is often just a passing cloud away. Bring layers and a good rain jacket, and you are ready for anything.
Did You Know?
Ireland
It grew from Samhain, the Celtic festival that marked the start of winter.
Scotland
Loch Ness holds more fresh water than all the lakes of England and Wales combined.
England
Every corner of England sits within about 70 miles of the sea.
Wales
A village on the island of Anglesey goes by Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, 58 letters in all.
Iceland
Most Icelandic surnames come from a parent's first name, so the phone directory is sorted by first name.
Iceland
Icelanders give books on Christmas Eve and spend the night reading, a tradition called Jólabókaflóð. Thirteen mischievous Yule Lads visit too.
When to Go
March to May
Lambs in the fields, gardens in bloom and quiet country roads. Puffins return to the sea cliffs from Skellig Michael to Iceland.
June to August
Long golden evenings, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Wales's National Eisteddfod, and Icelandic nights that barely get dark.
September to October
Copper-colored hills, crisp walking weather and the first Northern Lights over Iceland.
November to February
Christmas markets in Edinburgh and Bath, Hogmanay fireworks to welcome the New Year, ice caves in Iceland, and the long, dark nights that make the best aurora skies.
Journeys to Inspire You
Two of our favorite ways through the Atlantic Isles. Travel them as they are, or let us shape them around your group.
9 Days · The Burren · Dingle · Killarney · Kinsale · Dublin
Ireland as the storybooks tell it: the silver limestone of the Burren, the sea roads of Dingle, the lakes and mountains of Killarney, the harbor lanes of Kinsale and the literary streets of Dublin. Castles, legends and music fill the days, with evenings spent where the locals gather.
Discover Ireland
10 Days · London · The English Countryside · Snowdonia
A grand sweep across Great Britain, from London's landmarks and the famous Abbey Road crossing to storybook villages and historic cities. A highlight for many: a vintage steam train on the Ffestiniog Railway, climbing through the mountains of Snowdonia.
Ask About This JourneyYour Journey, Your Way
A private journey shaped around you. Trace your family roots to a parish in Cork or a clan in the Highlands, sleep in a castle, or charter a boat to a Hebridean island.
Start a ConversationTravel with a handful of like-minded companions and a Tour Director who knows every back road and village story, with room for the unplanned moments that make a trip.
See Sample JourneysMade for choirs, church groups, alumni associations and clubs of 20 to 40 travelers. We handle the coaches, hotels and venues, from a cathedral concert in England to a private evening in an Irish castle.
Plan a Group JourneyReward your people with moments they will talk about for years: a round on the links at St Andrews, a castle hall reserved just for your team, or the Northern Lights from a remote Icelandic lodge.
Request an Incentive Proposal
Begin Your Journey
Tell us what draws you here: a name on the family tree, a castle you have dreamed of, a tune you once heard, or a sky full of northern light. We will shape the journey around it.
Plan a JourneyOr write to us at gabriel@namaratours.com
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