RS Tour vs On our own

...wondering if the advantages of having it all planned out by experts and everything booked and taken care of for me instead of by me... outweighs saving money doing it all ourselves.

In my opinion, yes. Leaving all the logistical planning to someone else is well worth it. In addition, the roads in Ireland are not what they are in the U.S. There is also the matter of driving on the left side of the road. With regard to the best way to see the country, the tour will free up the driver so he can enjoy the magnificent scenery rather than concentrating on driving. Although we've traveled independently in Europe, we've taken that tour (and a bunch of other RS tours) and don't think we missed a thing by not doing it ourselves.

We're still into taking self guided tours after 48 years of European travel. To go on an organized tour would take the enjoyment out of the planning and execution of my trip. I can go on two self guided trips for the price of one guided tour.
But there will be a time in my life when guided tours are going to be required. Hopefully by then, we've seen most all of Europe. We're not missing much right now.

I have never been on a RS tour, and I can't really comment on your specific question, but I do want to point out that there is a third option: you can work with a travel agent or independent travel consultant. There are many companies out there that will help you settle on an itinerary, give you some options on lodging, and based on your preferences will put together an independent tour. They will book your transportation (car rental or trains or buses) and lodging and local tours you might want to take, and in some cases they'll either include airfare or assist you with that, and they will charge you a flat charge which you pay in advance, so you never have to worry about the details. If you want the freedom of an independent trip without the hassle of planning and booking, this might work for you.

I've done this with tours in other parts of Europe and had a great experience. I don't have any recommendations for Ireland specialists, but if that's something you're interested at least in considering, you might try a Google search and see what you come up with. I just Googled "ireland independent tours" and came up with a number of options. Some other folks on this site might have done this kind of tour in Ireland.

We do both. Organized trips have some great advantages. They are more efficient than doing you own planning. And sometimes not having to worry about anything is very pleasant. But there is a price for the convenience. While some may get great joy out of their planning, it is not high on my pleasure cycles. When we do independent travel we do not plan at the same level that many on this site boasts about. For us free form planning is our joy when on the ground in Europe. We just go. The only advance reservations will be the first night or two and the last night prior to departure. Haven't sleep in a train station, yet. Been close a couple of times.

Hello,
Have seen Ireland on our own and also on tours, to include a Rick Steves' Tour. I definitely prefer planning and traveling by car on our own. While the RS tours are amazing you are part of a group and for the most part the tour stops have been prearranged. If you see something along the way that interests you-- you really can't expect the tour group to stop.

My husband is no longer able to travel so that is why I am taking tours now, however I always allow time at the end of the tour for sightseeing on my own with a Dublin base. Several people on our tour remained in Ireland after the tour, rented a car and went to places not included on the tour.

I loved the planning and arranging the stops when traveling by car. If you do not enjoy doing that you can follow the itinerary found in RS book which we loosely followed on our first trip. Or as someone suggested you can hire a travel consultant to plan your trip. If you PM me I can give you the name of someone I know who can assist you.

One of the things that makes an RS tour a big plus in my book is the information on history/culture/geography/etc you get from the guide. They are usually wonderfully knowledgeable about their tour country and able to make me feel a different connection than when I travel on my own. I've done 10 RS tours (+ 10 Road Scholar tours - 5 in Europe) and while I do travel independently before and after my tours I particularly enjoy my tour time. Of course I could get this from books but it's just that I learn so much more from the guide, local guides and even the bus drivers!

Another bonus is the tour group- usually pretty well-educated, interesting and interested in what's going on around them.

RS tours also make it less stressful for me for logistics. I enjoy figuring out my before and after but I also like that they organize things for the tour. That also does NOT mean I don't do research on our locations, especially where we would have free time. I like to know what's available for me to see!

My Best of Ireland driver was so wonderful on those small roads - especially the Slea Head Drive! Then one time we got caught in a bicycle race and he was cool as a cucumber. I realize they are professionals but he was awesome!

To me, the money is worth it. Now I'm addicted to them and can't stop but that's another issue, hahaha!!

Yes, you can see Ireland on your own. Will you save money? Yes but it’s because you’re looking at two different vacations. We traveled to Europe for many years, planning when planning was a lot harder (pre-Internet) and thought we saw and did a lot. I have a daughter with mild cerebral palsy. When she graduated from JC we bought a mother-daughter RS BOE in 14 days tour. When I picked them up at the airport the first thing my wife said was “Alan, we have got to do this” meaning another RS tour. And so we did. Here is what we have found, having taken 7 RS tours: even if you enjoy planning, it’s great having an experienced company do that for you. And a company which is iterative: they change as they need to based on feedback. There are free times on every tour, meals you need to do on your own, and you can use your planning skills there. But knowing all your lodging and European transportation, many meals are taken care of has value. But, the major value of the tours are the Rick Steve’s guides. These are consummate professionals. They educate, entertain, troubleshoot when things go sideways and so much more. Then there are the local guides you meet at every site. These are great folks with a wealth of knowledge and they are all yours. No waiting in line, booking tickets, in you go. I think when people say they can do this themselves cheaper they neglect to factor in the cost you’d need to incur to get this same level of guidance. Anyway, we continue to travel independently, often in conjunction with a RS tour and we enjoy that. But, we wanted to put the independent vs. RS tour to the test so last year we booked the Best of London tour, having been to London three times prior. We saw so much, did so many things, met great people and had the best guide yet (a tough position!). Yes, we visited places we had been but this time with spectacularly knowledgeable guides and very efficient use of our time. We are off to Rome and Sicily in 2019, both RS tours. There are many on this board who are passionate about independent travel. Only a few have taken a RS tour, keep that in mind. When you take a RS tour and meet your fellow travelers the number of repeat customers is astounding. My suggestion: take the tour. You’ll enjoy Ireland and know if that is the way you want to go for future vacations.

I have done both and love both. How much of the work do you want to have to do? Cause going on your own is a lot of work.

I've never taken a RS tour but we toured Ireland on our own and those roads might cure your husband of his love of driving. Public transportation is not as useful in Ireland as it is in Scotland, England, and Wales.

I've never taken a RS tour but we toured Ireland on our own and those roads might cure your husband of his love of driving. When not on the motorway between major cities, the roads are often little wider than one lane with brick walls at road's edge on both sides of the road. Public transportation is not as useful in Ireland as it is in Scotland, England, and Wales.

We have done Ireland independently, but not with a RS tour. Not against an RS tour, but have just not done it yet. I love trip planning and IMHO, Ireland is so easy to do on your own. I drove myself and 2 kids all over, no problem. There are pros and cons to both ways.
If you go the independent route, my favorite town so far is Dingle and my favorite B&B ever, is Pax house.

I did Ireland on my own and quite enjoyed being able to spend more time in an area I liked, or going to a place that is not on most tour itineraries. I have also done a Rick Steves tour, but to Italy, not Ireland. I did the Venice/Florence/Rome tour because I wanted to go into all of the big museums and galleries, and making all of those arrangements in advance on my own was a little daunting. Some things really are better done with a tour so you don’t miss anything or waste a lot of time standing in lines to get in. Some of the popular museums and galleries can book up if you don’t have tickets in advance. For Ireland, though, I think a lot of what you will be doing will be outdoors like driving the Dingle Peninsula, or Ring of Kerry. Things you don’t need tickets for. Some places like Kilmainham Jail or Newgrange you will need to book in advance, but I think for the most part you will be fine on your own. Make a list of what you want to see, and then cross check it with the tour itinerary, and then decide if it would be better to do the tour. If you think you will need to purchase a lot of tickets in advance then spending more on a tour might make sense.

The good news is you can’t go wrong. Both choices are excellent. Pick what seems to match your particular needs for this particular trip.

Never taken an organized tour, so we can't compare. However, we visited Ireland in May 2018 for 3 weeks, driving (after seeing Dublin). We did rely heavily on the RS book and Forum for tips on sites, lodging, "must-sees/don't bothers", etc. With that info, we looked at the maps and planned an itinerary and booked lodging that suited us. The flexibility of having our own car and not being tethered to a guided tour allowed us to fine tune our daily travels based on weather, moods and unexpected opportunities to explore places/things that we stumbled on through dumb luck. We are retired and, like one of the posters above, we can see guided tours in the future, but we felt Ireland especially lent itself to a less structured holiday. Driving wasn't a problem notwithstanding some of what you might hear or read. Common Forum advice on that subject is to rent the smallest vehicle you can tolerate, automatic transmission, all the insurance (including wheel and windshield), and just take it easy.

Thank you all so much for your thoughtful and really helpful responses. We have a lot of research to do before making a decision and we will keep all of your suggestions in mind.

We have done a tour (not RS) and planned our own. At this point in my life, I prefer planning my own. I like being able to come and go as I please. Stay longer or less and stop when I want. I like to eat in restaurants that I want to when I want to and take the time that I want to take.

I found that we get a lot more of the local culture when travelling on our own.

it is definitely more work though for sure...

The majority of my world travels have been solo. My preference. Have driven around Ireland and N Ireland twice and done 2 RS tours, Florence and Istanbul. Each 7 day tour exceptional.

As noted, the knowledgeable guides are invaluable. I also appreciated being allowed into museums, iconic sites before the hordes. Simply put having the statue of David in Florence to ourselves for nearly 30 minutes is a travel memory I’ll never forget.

Then again on an off season solo travel sojourn I stood alone ( except for a guard ) mezmorized by Da Vinci’s Last Supper in Milan. It was a late November trip.

While in Ireland and N Ireland I drove. Again as in off season traveler I did find some things that were closed like Kate’s cabin at the Gap of Dunloe but I didn’t mind. Hiking a portion of the wee winding road and then driving over it while seeing less than 10 people and vehicles remains my most favorite day of travel. It was the threatening dark grey rain clouds in the distance with the sun shining highlighting the hues of gold, red and green from the plant vegetation that still resonate. Stunningly beautiful and nary another soul save the sheep. It was the solitude.

I think it will come down to how much you enjoy the company of others or the preference of planning daily itineraries on your own. On that gorgeous island neither option is incorrect.

I have taken 6 RS tours. This past summer I joined the 14 day Ireland tour and it was the best one yet. Our guide and driver were just fabulous. I agree with the other comments, but to me the advantage of a RS tour is you get to do things you wouldn't even think of if you were on your own. I like the free time and being able to opt out of some things and I always add days at both ends because I enjoy trip planning. I figure I get the best of both worlds. This trip I did a 2nd tour in England with another company just after and had it confirmed that RS tours really have spoiled me. On the long slog back to CA I realized my two weeks with Rick's group had been so much more value than the other tour which cost twice as much and wasn't as well run.

I travel independently and with tour companies. So far, I have found that among tour companies, RS works best for me. I won't restate what others have said about the benefits but add a few other things that are more behind the scenes.

What makes the RS tours so great for me is the complete lack of stress that I often find frustrating me in my independent tours. If traffic is bad, I know the guide will be on the phone with the destination (hotel, restaurant, tourist site, whatever) working with them to adjust so that we can still all get in for the planned event if we run late. Group of 25 has a lot more pull in these situations than a single traveller.

On one RS tour, the hotel for the night called the guide halfway on our drive there saying they were closed due to an emergency and had no place for us. The guide was able, with the help of the main office, to find acceptable last minute lodging for the entire group. We were split over 3 B&B locations, but I think these places were actually better than the originally selected hotel. How much time and effort would be taken out of your planned day if that happened to you traveling alone?

Guides always have suggestions for free time. Many have gathered those wanting to do the suggested activity and bought group tickets when needed saving a ton of money off the individual prices (we still have to pay the guide for the tickets since they are not part of the actual tour). You are still free to enjoy your free time however you want separate from the group if that is what you want.

And finally, the driving. I have no issues with driving anywhere I have ever been. But being in a strange country, where they might drive on the wrong side of the road, takes way too much concentration. I can't enjoy the sights around if I am focused on the road. Also, if I have a beer or some wine at lunch, am I still sober enough according to local law to drive? It is simply easier to let someone else drive. Besides, I'm on vacation, why would I want to drive when I do more than enough of that every day as it is.