Help with tour co for ireland

[morrismhs]

I would love to do ABD but that is not in the budget. A friend and I want to put together an adult trip for a group of 30 to Ireland and Scotland. Can anyone recommend tour companies that they have used? Have checked out Trafalgar, CIE and Collette. Tauck is beautiful but out of the budget. Any suggestions would be appreciated. TIA

 

[calypso726]

We have not gone on our Ireland trip yet but did get an itinerary put together with a tour company. We wanted to do an ABD Ireland trip right before our ABD river cruise trip this summer but the dates didn't work out. So, I copied ABD's itinerary and added a couple of other things I wanted to do that were not on the ABD itinerary, like stay at Ashford castle and do a hawk walk both there and Dromoland Castle. I sent my itinerary and a request for a quote out to a number of tour companies. The most responsive ones were Go Irish Tours and Shamrock Vacations. I hope this helps.

 

[QueenIsabella]

My DH and DS18 are doing a tour of Scotland and Ireland this August, through CIE Tours. They booked through AAA. Their focus is more on Scotland because DD18 plays bagpipes. I wish I was going!

 

[morrismhs]

THank you for the replies - I will check them out!

 

[jedijill]

Have you checked Rick Steves tours? I've not used them but use his books and websites.

Jill in CO

 

[BCV2003]

I, myself, and other family members have used CIE for different trips to Ireland and they have all been awesome! Their customer service is fantastic and they definitely stay at quality hotels (at least on our tours). They were definitely worth what we paid and made the trip very easy for us. Their tour guides and even their bus drivers are very knowledgeable and because CIE has been in business so long, I think they have great relationships with their hotel partners and other vendors they use.

 

[Moomduck1]

My sister just did Morocco with Gate1 and is still raving about it. We are trying Gate1 to Scandinavia in May. Their prices are pretty reasonable.

 

[badiggio]

Used CIE in 2012 for our Ireland tour.They were awesome and we definitely feel we got our money's worth with them,without being nickel and dimed like some others.Will use them again when we do England/Scotland.