Ireland with Viking Splash Tours

Viking Splash Tours (64-65 Patrick St., Dublin 8, Ireland; phone 353 1 707 6000 or visit www.vikingsplashtours.com) won the 2000-2001 Dublin Tourism Millennium Award, and it’s easy to see why. Our day trip aboard an amphibious DUKW (“duck boat,” a restored WWII landing craft) in May ’05 was educational, wacky and lots of fun.

We bought our tour tickets from a cheerful man in a bright yellow jacket by St. Stephen’s Green, then walked up the gangplank of the duck boat for our tour of historic Dublin plus a few modern sights.

We drove past the Houses of Parliament through the “cultural part of Dublin, with 25 pubs and clubs,” according to our tour captain, Paul. Other sites of interest were a Viking church; Dublin Castle, built in 1229; the statue of Molly Malone; St. Patrick’s church, site of the first performance of Handel’s “Messiah” in 1742; the Royal College of Physicians, and the National Museum.

After about 55 minutes on land, we hit the water, entering the Grand Canal Basin with a mighty splash. Sights during the 20-minute water portion of the tour included the harbor, built in 1796 to link the River Liffey with the Shannon; an island the Vikings used for their slave trade; U-2’s former rehearsal studio; the studio where “Riverdance” was first performed, and the Irish Waterways Museum. Back on the streets, we passed a statue of Oscar Wilde lounging colorfully on a rock along Westland Row, his birthplace.

In 2006, Viking Splash Tours operates through Nov. 30. They’re open daily except Monday, and the 75-minute tour costs €16 (near $19) for adults, except on weekends in June and all of July and August when the price is €18.50 ($22). Children over three pay €8.95-€9.50 ($10-$11). No children under three may take the tour. There’s a 20% discount for adults for the 10 a.m. tour.

Tours also depart from St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Most seats are inside the duck boat and no one gets wet.

— JAN PASCHKE, Melrose, MN