going to ireland in sept has anyone heard of authentic ireland tours

Paul,

It sounds like you're debating between using a tour and driving yourself. This has been discussed many times on this board and you might want to search for previous threads to read what has been written.

My two cents are that A) if you can do it, driving is a much better way to explore Ireland, but B) driving there is more difficult and stressful and you have to decide if you want to do it.

If you can afford it, I definitely recommend renting an automatic over a manual car. Shifting with your left hand will be one less thing you need to worry about. For me, driving on the left wasn't that hard, but multi lane roundabouts were a major pain. Fortunately, we were able to avoid them for most of our trip as they are primarily located near major highways and we avoided using them (there aren't too many of them so this wasn't difficult).

thanks I am going to rent a car; i have a tour operator that has set up an independent tour - authentic ireland; have you heard of them

Never heard of them, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. Tell us more about the tour -- what is included, where it goes, etc.

thanks so much; this is the itinerary;
Never been to ireland before; but looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.. know where it is.. well if not.. this is where i am going..

I SO MUCH APPRECIATE YOUR INPUT; I HAVE NOT BOOKED AS YET; PRICE WAS 6,000 FOR THE GROUP.

it is 12 nights;
Room Type: 2 double rooms;
3 nights Pembroke Townhouse, Dublin
1 night Butler Court Guesthouse, Kilkenny
2 nights Blue Haven Hotel, Kinsale
3 nights The Lake Hotel, Killarney
2 nights Ballyvara House, Doolin
1 night Bunratty Castle Hotel, Bunratty
includes a rent a fullsize automatic car from budget for out of dublin

Day 1,2,3: Dublin
4: KilkennyDay
Day 5&6: Kinsale
Day 7,8,9: Killarney
10&11: DoolinDay
Day 12: Bunratty
leave shannon on the next day

I'm confused. What is this tour company actually doing for you, setting an itinerary that you follow on your own in your own rental car? How many people are in your group? On our first trip to Ireland we had a package from Sceptre Tours. It included airfare, rental car, and six nights of vouchers for B&Bs. We set our own itinerary and booked our own B&Bs. That way we got to see the places we were interested in at our own pace. I'm not sure I would choose to spend 2 and 3 days in some of the places they are booking you, but that's a personal choice. With the way prices have been lately, though, that price seems high to me.

thanks nancy; they have booked the hotels; there are 4 of us; we are driving ourselves.. I have not booked with them as yet;

where do you think we are spending too many days.. and what would you do.. of course it is always a personal decision.. but we are interested in your opinion.

I can also book myself since i have not sent any money to the agent..

I think we want to spend a few days in a bb and the rest in one or two cool hotels..

paul,

Driving in Ireland can be "challenging", especially if you haven't driven on the "correct side of the road" before. Many of the country roads are very narrow and in some cases not well marked. A GPS unit as well as a good Map would be highly advisable! Be sure to review the protocol for roundabouts.

Cheers!

I'm not sure I'd want to spend three nights in Kinsale unless you plan to do day trips to places around there, especially since you are only driving from Kilkenny. With that much time I'd be tempted to fit Dingle into the itinerary instead of Kinsale, or cut Kinsale to one night and spend two in Dingle. Are you planning time to see the Cliffs of Moher?

Authentic Ireland is a good company so is CIE.We have taken tours and driven in Ireland. I like to tour, my husband likes to drive so we usually do a little of both.

If this is your first trip I would take a tour so you can see and not have to concentrate on driving. If you've decided to drive definitely get an automatic.

Do not waste time driving in or around Dublin. Plan plenty of time to drive wherever you want to go. The average speed that you can travel is much slower than in the states and the roads are narrower.

The last time we went they were adding exits to many of the rounabouts so the exits were confusing and our computer maps were not totally updated for the current road construction. The nice thing about roundabouts is that you can keep going around until you figure out where you want to go. You can also go to the next roundabout down the road and turn around when you figure out that you took the wrong exit. It's all part of the experience.
JG