Because of age & other issues, we cannot plan our usual RS independent trip. Can anyone recommend bus tours of Ireland that we could supplement with city stays on each end.
Posted by
Ann Arbor, Mi
3696 posts
How about an RS tour of Ireland? Might also look into GoAhead tours...they are a bit cheaper and they also have some last minute deals that are quite reasonable.
Posted by
TN, USA
2114 posts
George,
If a Rick Steves' guided bus tour might be a bit more fast-paced than you need (and he does have the disclaimer about carrying luggage up several sets of stairs), you may want to look into Tauck tours.
Tauck tours tend to attract folks that are a bit older than Rick's group travelers, and they also handle all your luggage and are attuned to special needs. For instance, when we traveled with Tauck in the Amalfi, there were two ladies who could not climb steep hills, so the guide arranged a golf cart transport for them to the ferry.
I've been on both Rick Steves' group tours and Tauck tours....both are well organized, both attract a nice group of fellow travelers, and both have wonderful guides. Tauck tends to stay in higher-end hotels and tends to make the travel a bit more effortless. Rick's tour style tends to be very active, and encouraging folks to learn to travel on their own.
We went on our first Tauck tour, because after enjoying the Heart of Italy trip with Rick Steves' company, we wanted to do a one-week tour of the Amalfi area. Rick's company did not offer a one-week tour. I had even talked a couple of times to his product manager, begging for more one-week itineraries. She informed me that Rick always wants to lengthen tours vs. shorten them. So, we found Tauck, and while we generally fit more in line with the Rick Steves' demographic, we also enjoy being spoiled by the Tauck extras and we have become HUGE fans of Tauck tours.
If you decide a group bus tour is not what you want to do afterall, I can also recommend a private driver. We used him in Ireland, and staying in very nice hotels (Dromoland Castle, Ashford Castle, Old Presbytery Inn, along with two more modest B&Bs), we were able to completely enjoy Ireland for a little over a week at much less than the price of a packaged tour for the two of us..........and it gave us the flexibility to spend as much time as we wanted in each place, leave when we wanted in the morning (instead of having to worry about catching a bus) and make changes to the itinerary on a whim. Our excellent driver acted as our tour guide, too. You might want to consider something like that. Just send me a message if you would like his contact info.