Paddywagon or Viator Day Tours to Wicklow from Dublin

I personally have never taken a Paddywagon tour, but I did meet a group that came through and stayed in the hostel I was staying at in Northern Ireland. It was a small group but the ages seemed to vary from about 20 to mid 50s, most seemed to be in their early to mid-30s. Everyone in that particular group seemed to get along very well and had a lot of good things to say about what they had seen and done while on the road.

I was on the 10 day tour last sept 2010.
I do not reccomend paddywagon,

because all the paddywagon hostels were from filty to moldy with no windows that open and
rotting carpet . the common bathrooms did not have soap!!!
It was such a releif to stay in a non paddy hostel. Even though they were not great.
Be aware all the rooms have single bunkbeds from 4-16 per room.
The Breakfast is always instant coffee , sugar juice, milk, cereal.

The two busses i was on had blown out speakers blasting mostly poor sounding
music all the time It was impossible to drown out the loudness, the driver would not
turn the volume down. The seats are a bit cramped and did not recline, windows were not cleaned.

At times we were delayed , hanging out waiting for the latest departue time, what a wast, it seemed a
bit disorginized.

I asked paddy for a partial refund because of the above , they did not reply.
before you book see if you get any kind of email response, ( is any one out there??)

The good points, the driver/ guides were friendly and seemed informed,
all the hostels were in good locations.

I would say the north hostels were the poorest.

As far as price I guess paddy is the cheapest and you get what you pay for,
I would next time rent a car and stay at non paddy hostels.

the people on the tour were a fun bunch and most seemed not bothered by the above,
one member did book a different hotel just to have abreak from another night in a
paddy prison.

Read more: http://www.frommers.com/community/forum.cfm/europe/ireland/paddywagon-tours/.0#ixzz0jsjSPKHj

I see the Paddywagon buses a lot (often in strange, non-tourist places) and I always wondered about them.

Have you considered a tour sponsored by Ireland's national bus company? I haven't taken a Bus Eireann tour myself, but go here for the details.

I love the Wicklow Mountains! I have used Wild Wicklow both times, and was extremely happy both times with the guide and experience. Just type it into google.

There are reviews of Paddywagon on tripadvisor.com -and there were a few forum posts on Viator (just use the search box on the front page).

I used Coach Tours of Ireland, and did their day trip to Wicklow, which includes Avoca/Ballykissangel.

I really enjoyed the day, and the driver was fantastic. Great route, stunning scenery, good stops for pictures, and just a lovely day. Ages were mixed, I would say from mid-twenties on up to sixties.