Ireland Tours

Rick Steves (Europe Through the Back Door) hosts this website and runs a terrific series of tours over many parts of Europe, including Ireland. I've taken some of his tours and enjoyed them. Look in the upper left of the Rick Steves home page and find Tours.

Diana,
Check out Rick Steves' Ireland tours on this website - click on Our Tours tab and find Ireland. I have taken 2 tours with Rick Steves and can attest to their high quality, even though I have not been on one of his Ireland itineraries.

Hope you find the trip that fits your criteria, for me, RS is perfect fit. They appeal to people who are not seeking American hotels with luxurious amenities, etc. RS goes by a "back door" philosophy, staying in local family-owned hotels and generally diy, for example, carrying your own luggage and packing light. Read the trip descriptions for Ireland, that will help you make a decision.

Hope you find the perfect trip for you!
Judy B

Greetings from Ireland and a Rick Steves tour!
Theres no doubt that you should browse Ricks tours first as they are hands down the best, I say that as a patriotic Irish person and not as a Rick Steves Guide.
After that, the companies you mentioned are definitely good also (there really isn't such a thing as a bad tour of Ireland) and theres loads more, all different in group size, price, itinerary etc the list is endless.
Group tours are an excellent way to see the country with no hassles and with the right guide you'll still meet all the great local characters that are the true highlights of this proud land.
le meas/with respect
Stephen McPhilemy
Dingle & Derry

I have taken 13 Rick Steve tours and will be taking another one at the end of the summer. They are wonderful and I took the Ireland 14 day tour in June 2011 which was a lot of fun. They now have an 8 day tour which eliminates Northern Ireland. If you have the time and funds, I would go on the 14 day tour. Northern Ireland has some beautiful country. The tour is a really great way to see the country and go places you would normally miss on your own. Only 28 people on the tour and your own tour guide and no tipping to the guide or bus driver. And all small hotels or bed and breakfasts except for Dublin where you will stay in a nice hotel. You should take a look at the Ireland scrapbooks on this website by people who have taken the Ireland tour. That is how I decided to go on the tour, by looking at all the scrapbooks. That is how I decided to do the GAS tour ( Germany, Austria and Switzerland) this year, seeing the photos and reading about all that you see and do really made me want to go. Everyone knows about Paris, London, Rome and Venice but seeing the photos of Ireland made me think about going to Ireland when it was never even a consideration. I just wanted to do something different and see something different and Ireland and the tour had what I wanted. You really can't go wrong with a RS tour. But that is from someone who loves travel and can't get enough of it. Have safe and fun travels whatever you decide. Look at RS Ireland videos on YouTube, they are great.

I concur with what everyone has said about the Rick Steves Ireland tours. I have taken 8 Rick Steves tours including the 14 day Ireland tour in 2014, it was my favorite tour of my 8 tours - and I was fortunate to have Stephen as the tour guide.

Well, I'll just get in line with the others. I've done both Rick Steves' and Road Scholar tours and I will always choose Rick's tours over any others if there is a comparable itinerary. I have not done CIE or Trafalgar.

The pluses - unbelievable guides (Yea for Stephen, the guide, and Seamus the Irish wolfhound), great itineraries, a nice amount of free time sprinkled here and there, fun and interesting tour companions, all tips included (very important to compare this with other tour companies), smaller group size (do check to see how many are on the other tours) among many other attributes.

The minuses - well, none for me but Rick's business model weeds out grumps and mostly high need individuals, those that are less active as you will need to manage your own bags and will sometimes have to walk from the closest the bus can get to your lodging, you'll have to do some research on your own to figure out what opportunities are available for your free time (altho the guides always have suggestions as well) and come with an inquiring mindset.

Here is some information from the tour page:

https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/why-travel-with-us/the-most-value-for-your-money

Definitely do some comparison on prices and what each company includes in their costs. Having to budget for tips for guides and bus drivers can really run up the price. Many tour companies will tell you how much you should tip per person per day. Be careful of language in the description. See usually means a drive by, visit usually means go into. Rick is very up front with covering entry fees whereas other companies sometimes collect extra for entry fees.

I was just having a conversation with a friend today regarding tour companies. Make sure you look to see what day they actually start. Some tour companies list DAY 1 as the day you leave the US, so you are arriving in Europe on Day 2. All (including Rick) count the last day as a tour day when all you do is have the free breakfast provided by the hotel with no activities scheduled for then.

And just to make it easy for you:
https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/ireland

We took a small group tour of Ireland in July 2015 using Vagabond tours of Ireland. http://vagabondtoursofireland.ie. They have two types of tours. Vagabond and Driftwood. You may want to choose the Driftwood as it is less active than the other. Travel is in a mini bus, and tours sizes are small. They select excellent hotels and have friendly, knowledgable staff. I have not been on a Rick steves tour but have done several bus tours in Europe (many years ago) and now try to avoid the large bus tours. (Most of the time, I do a self tour if I am heading to Europe). But for Ireland, we were a group of four ladies (age 48-62) We took an 8 day tour with this company and it was wonderful. The tour operator tries to avoid the times when the large bus tours are in the area and they really do take you off the beaten path to experience the real Ireland. They book up quick. 2017 tour dates will come out about September time. Prices were very reasonable. Breakfast was included.

Thank you for all the responses. I would love to do a Rick Steves tour, however they are so pricey. Almost twice as much as the CIE Tour I'm looking at. Plus you have to add in airfare. The Vagabond & Trafalgar Tours are a bit more than CIE but not a lot. Still looking & trying to decide. Thanks again for your input. It is much appreciated.

I've taken both Trafalgar tours and Rick Steves tours. Don't be totally taken in by the lower prices of the other tour companies. Trafalgar adds "excursions" which are extra money. You want to do an extra group dinner - extra money, you want to do extra sightseeing - extra money. It adds up. Be careful of the description of Trafalgar - it'll say "see xyz town" - you see it by driving through and not stopping. You are on a bus of normally 50 people, normally stay at hotels outside of town. You are expected to tip your guide and driver. One Trafalgar tour I took - I actually booked my excursions with a private separate company and my tour guide seemed surprised and shocked I didn't want to "buy" any extras from him. I actually got more for my money using the private companies for extra tours. You are taken to stores for some authentic shopping - but the tour company gets a percentage of the sales. Just be sure you ask how much excursions cost and really read the description of what you get and see.

I enjoyed the Trafalgar tours, just discovered Rick Steves tours were better.

We do our own driving, sightseeing, etc. but we met a group of 10/12 people staying at our hotel that were on the Vagabond Tour. They loved it and the guide was willing to suit it to their liking. The vehicle was an oversized Range Rover with the luggage on trailer. It looked like so much fun and I might consider it. The guide was very good at selecting their hotels and inns and restaurants.

Diana,

A few things to consider about the cost:

Rick Steves (RS) tours include all tips for drivers, restaurants, tour guides, hotel housekeeping and so on. As long as whatever you are doing is part of the tour itinerary and the guide is with you, no money has to come out of your pocket unless you want to buy something not included. Many other tours expect you to tip for everything in addition to what you have already paid.

RS uses a full size bus that can seat around 50 passengers but never puts more than 28 or so on it. This means lots of room to stretch out. Many other tours fill the buses to capacity leaving no extra seats at all.

There is tour cancelation included at no additional cost. Not insurance (which you should buy before any trip like this), but if it turns out you can't go all you are out is the tour deposit. Also, if you have not made your final payment for your selected trip you can transfer to any other tour with availability without losing anything you have already paid. That is, no fees to transfer.

No wasted time shopping. You are not dropped at a shopping mall as part of your visit to a town. This might be seen as a drawback if you are a shopper, but I want my tour time to be spent looking at the sights, not looking at a pile of scarves I could probably buy at home for half the price. :-)

All of this adds up and I find that the RS tours are a good value even if they cost more than some of the others.

And I went on the RS Ireland tour a couple years ago and had a blast! Great tour guides, excellent weather, fantastic tour members, and some very wonderful food (lots of potatoes!).

Hi Diana,

I've been on 1 RS tour and 1 Globus tour. My husband and I usually just travel on our own.

I looked in RS Ireland and tour by Essential Ireland. But dates didn't work with these tours.
So, I am going on a tour this July with Vagabond Irish Tours.

Excited about this upcoming adventure.

-Olga

I took the CIE Irish Odyssey tour in September, 2015. I was completely, 100% satisfied.
The positives: a lot of choices of itineraries so you can find the perfect one for you, outstanding guide/driver, brand new tour coach, (only 24 on our tour), most meals included, very nice accommodations, good mix of scheduled and free time, great customer service.
The negatives (which may be similar for any group tour): sometimes wanted more time at a location, can't think of anything else.

Since then I have been researching RS tours for my next trip to Europe. I really like the philosophy. I am only guessing at the differences: CIE is less expensive and uses 4 star hotels, RS accommodations perhaps less snazzy but more personal and smaller which is nice. Generally RS has smaller groups (I was lucky). CIE will lug your bags around but I always took my own so I didn't have to wait for it.

I would use the choice of itineraries and budget to choose between. I don't think you could make a bad choice. In about a year (after my first RS tour) I won't have to guess anymore.
Have a great trip. Let us know what you have decided.

Guess I'll be the contrarian here: An alternative to organized tours stretching over two or more weeks is to base yourselves in a few of the major cities, accessible by public transport, and just book individualized day tours from there. Belfast for example is a 2 hour train ride from Dublin, and from there you can book comfortable day tours up to the Causeway Coast and beyond while having your free time truly free in the evenings rather than being restricted by the timetable of an organized tour. There are a myriad of day trips from Dublin out to Powerscourt, Glendalough and the Boyne Valley as well. Galway & Cork are easily accessed via local train and bus, and could be good jumping off points for exploring the countryside.
That said, if there's one country that really calls out for individual exploration and pleasant meanders via a car it's Ireland. While the prospect of driving on the left the first time can be daunting (been there) I can attest to the fact that the terrors of driving on some of the rural roads are greatly overstated. A little advance preparation goes a long way, and the Irish drivers are probably the most considerate you'll find anywhere.
I wouldn't recommend driving in the cities but picking up a car in, say, Cork or Galway and exploring Kerry and Connemara at your leisure would be unforgettable for you both.
Just my 2 Euro cents...
Save travels - however you decide to do it.

I am returning to Ireland in August and the first trip several years ago, we took the bus from Dublin everywhere and it was quite fun to see the back roads. This time I plan to fly into Dublin and then take the express bus I believe to Belfast and then the train to Galway as another home base. I hope to use the bus to go back to Dingle and other adventures. I use the RS guidebooks and you tubes to plan where I want to stay and book those directly which I have just started that adventure. I am doing this simply solo and Ireland is so easy with no barriers with language and the quaint towns. But there are always surprises!

Take a look at the train and the bus schedules as an option.

But if you want a tour, then I would only do A RS tour but I bet you would enjoy planning this adventure it sounds like. It is easy to get local tours in Galway and other cities for example. But whatever you select, enjoy the beautiful country and pubs!!

I met Ann (from above) from Staten Island on that Best of Ireland trip back in 2011. I ventured back to Ireland the next summer and met a couple in their mid twenties that said driving was too hard for them. On the highways the exits are announced RIGHT BEFORE the exit. I also love being higher up in the buses so I am able to see further.
Pam from Bath

Diana - I took my first RS tour in 2014 August, 14 day Best of Ireland. It was the best tour that I had ever been on. We have done Europe on own, one with ACIS and one tour with EF tours (these two were student base tours for teachers and students). I went with son and a friend of mine who is a geo. teacher. RS tour are top-notch. Well worth any extra money. They arrange for everything, tour guides with RS and local ones are extremely knowledgeable. Their passion is highly contagious! Food was great. We stayed at Buswells in Dublin (awesome Place), Friar's lodge in Kinsale, Heath?/Castlewood B&B in Dingle (fav, food awesome), 3 b&b in galway(spent ,y 56th bday on the aran islands, Westport (can't remember, 1 night), portrush (ramada) then back to Dublin. You can't go wrong with this tour.
Took my 2nd one a few weeks ago on the Belgium/Holland tour and it was just as wonderful.

Kim