A very different kind of Irish holiday is offered by Ruari and Olivia Gibbons on their luxury barge, the Shannon Princess. They're Blue Book members and what they offer is like a mini version of a cruise ship holiday - ideal for groups, but also a nice way for individuals to travel, as the the group is never more than 10, so the atmostphere is relaxed and intimate.
This handsome boat will be familiar to fans of Neven Maguire's Irish Food Trails, as it made a very comfortable base for his expeditions in a recent series - illustrating perfectly how the watery heartlands of Ireland are easily accessible to just about everywhere else.
Essentially a small hotel, the Shannon Princess has five beautiful cabins that can be set up as doubles or twins and, with proper plumbing (toilets, sinks and showers just like home) and regular 220 volt electricity - and no restrictions on usage of either - there are none of the discomforts that can sometimes be associated with life afloat. In fact the level of comfort would put many hotels to shame. The cabins, which are named after different areas of the cruise route – Inner Lakes, The Callows, Meelick Waters, Benjamins Beacon, and Scarriff Bay - have big (opening) picture windows, carpeted floors and bespoke furniture including loads of storage space, and the beds are made up with duvets and Irish linen...
Understandably enough, it's a very popular holiday with international visitors, especially American, Australian and British, but it would be perfect for a family get together and they do take individual bookings too - in fact about half of their bookings are individuals or couples.
The base is outside Athlone, near Glasson (the poet Galsworthy's pretty 'village of the roses'), and they operate an itinerary between Glasson and Killaloe on alternate weeks.
Every afternoon they moor up and overnight at a different harbour and, along the way, there are shore excursions in their own mini bus - to Craganowen bronze age settlement, for example, and Kilbeggan Distillery - as well as some private visits. Except for three lunches taken ashore, all of the (very good) meals are served on board - and the rate includes all meals (on board and ashore), drinks, transfers, admissions and shore excursions.
The six-night cruise starts with collection from a Dublin city centre hotel on a Sunday, finishing up the following Saturday when guests are transferrd back to Dublin.
Well worth thinking about next time you want to do something special and bit different for a short break.
