Belmond is at it again! This time, it’s the Belmond Grand Hibernian, which departed Dublin’s Heuston Station on Tuesday with 40 passengers onboard, to make history as the first luxury sleeper train to travel throughout the Emerald Isle.
Carriages are named after Irish counties, with interior designs and colours inspired by local scenery and details of each county’s tartan. Irish creative flair is also reflected in the staff uniforms, designed in Ireland, using materials such as Donegal tweed.
Belmond Grand Hibernian will cover 2,217kms on the six-night Grand Tour of Ireland, journeying from Dublin to Cork, where guests will visit the Jameson’s Distillery, followed by a private visit of Blarney Castle, then west to Killarney National Park for a ride on a jaunting cart and a cruise on the spectacular Lough Leane.
In Galway, a hearty local lunch and a walking tour of the old city is in order. Then there’s the rolling hills of Connemara and a day at Ashford Castle, now a luxury hotel with an award-winning golf course and Ireland’s oldest School of Falconry, but once home to the Guinness family. In the Viking port of Waterford passengers will visit the House of Waterford and Curraghmore House, home to the Waterford family before returning to Dublin.
Head chef Alan Woods has created dishes that showcase the best of Irish produce, with a contemporary twist to ensure guests experience the best of Irish cuisine. Using locally sourced ingredients, dishes include Irish seafood chowder, Roast Killarney Venison, Donegal Turf Smoked Salmon and Crab Cannon, Skeaghanore Duck Leg Confit and Warm Kildare Wild Elderberry and Plum Compote served in the elegant and light dining cars Wexford and Sligo.
Kildare, the Observation Car and social hub of the train has the charm of a local Irish tavern, with live entertainment each evening and a varied choice of Irish gin and whiskeys.
Image: JPA Design London
The sleeper cars, including Waterford, Leitrim and Kerry, feature 20 luxury en-suite cabins including four double cabins with spacious storage and elegant details such as Galway crystal jewellery stands and Irish goose feather and down pillows and duvets, made in Westport.
Belmond Grand Hibernian offers two, four and six-night itineraries for up to 40 guests running from now until the end of October. In 2017, the season will run from 25 April to 14 October.
Prices start from €3,160 per person for a two-night journey with two guests sharing a twin or double cabin.
For more information for 2016 or 2017 contact: 0845 077 2222 or reservations.uk@belmond.com
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