Home > Compare Tour & Adventure Operators > CIE Tours vs Insight Vacations
CIE Tours vs Insight Vacations
Compare the travel styles, pricing, destinations and popularity of CIE Tours and Insight Vacations.The Low Down
CIE Tours are specialists in guided coach tours through Britain and Ireland. With over 80 years of history the team at CIE certainly have the local ties and experience to deliver you a top notch touring experience through Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England. They have recently dipped their toes into new regions within Europe, including Iceland, Italy and Spain.CIE are relatively unknown in the Australasian market but are very popular in the rest of the world, so you're fellow travellers are likely to be from all around the world, but perhaps with more American's onboard than Antipodeans. With itineraries designed to be fully inclusive, putting your hand in your pocket for optional day trips and activities is not something you need to worry about.
Accommodation on each trips sits at the 3 to 3 1/2 star level, with breakfasts (along with many lunches and dinners) also included. There's a maximum group size of 44, but look out for selected departures on selected trips that are designed for small groups. Also keep a lookout for CIE's Last Minute Deals which run year round and offers savings of up to 15% off the normal retail price.
Upmarket coach touring, with 4.5+ star accommodation, maximum group sizes of 40 on a full size coach and more leisurely paced touring itineraries. The pricing of Insight's trips tends to attract travellers in their 60's and 70's. If you're tall, then you should seriously consider Insight, as their coaches been reconfigured to allow up to twice as much legroom as on a standard coach. Insight have recently launched trips through South America, and expanded their range of Gold Luxury Vacations, where you can expect the ultimate in luxury and refinement.We find that the feedback we get back from past clients is sometimes a little critical, and we feel this is because of the very high standard some of our clients are expecting due to Insight's positioning in the market. On every multi-day journey, there will always be little annoyances, but as a whole package the team here definitely recommend Insight worthy of your consideration. If you've travelled with any of its sister brands like AAT Kings, Trafalgar or Uniworld further savings are available.
Stats
No. of Trips
78
No. of Departures
3,787
Avg. Trip Length
9 Days
Avg. Price Per Day
$332
Accommodation
3.5 - 4 Star
Budget
Premium
Trip Styles Coach Tours
No. of Trips
378
No. of Departures
3,973
Avg. Trip Length
12 Days
Avg. Price Per Day
$423
Accommodation
4 - 4.5 Star
Budget
Premium
In Their Own Words We asked the travel companies themselves why you should travel with them
When you travel with CIE Tours, you will get the warmest of welcomes and all the benefits of our 87 years of experience. The itineraries are locally crafted - we set our own high standards for delivering excellent holidays with state-of-the-art luxury coaches; the best hotels; carefully chosen authentic experiences and entertainment.
Our outstanding local tour directors are ready to share their knowledge, stories, passion for their home places - they are our greatest assets. Many of our tours spend 2 nights in each location, and our flexible itineraries include a great balance of escorted and free time. We include full breakfasts, most dinners and some evening entertainment. No one has to worry about paying for optional extras on the trip. It’s all included, no hidden extras.
We know how much these trips mean to you and we want to ensure that this is a trip you will treasure forever.
At Insight Vacations we have been creating magical travel experiences for over 40 years, showcasing the most outstanding destinations and curated experiences in Europe and North America.
Why are we different to any other operator? It’s our unique Insight experiences. It’s our authentic and varied dining options, it’s travelling in smaller groups on customised coaches with twice the legroom, it’s staying in the right hotels in the right location, all brought together seamlessly by our exceptional travel directors. In essence: All the sights, and the insights….up close and personal…in comfort and style.
Travel is such a joy and a personal passion for myself and every member of our team. We’re so proud of the quality, service and value we provide and invite you to try it for yourself. Talk to Global Journeys to find out more about travelling in style and booking your next holiday with Insight Vacations.
Recent Reviews
4.6
If you’re looking for a great experience look no further than Global Journeys. Could not fault our experience. From the time of booking till we landed on Australian shores again,fabulous! Rachael McSorley our Travel Advisor looked after us so well. We were kept up to date evert step of the way. And CIE Classic Irish tour was all we hoped and more! ...read more
CIE are a great tourist organisation. All costs were in the price quoted , no added extras like some tourist organisations. The tour covered big and small venues, cities and towns whilst the places used for accommodation were of great value. I would recommend CIE.
Loved every minute of the trip. Sam our driver was amazing. Jaquie our guide was fabulous. Couldn't recommend them any more. Would do it again in a heartbeat. A must do trip to add to your bucket list.
Stunning scenery in the wilds of Scotland, with some logistical challenges. 3 Norm, VIC, Australia, Aug 2023
This was an excellent itinerary to see the stunning landscapes that Scotland offers. Isle of Skye, Glencoe and Orkney were standout locations, The trip also had a liberal dose of castles and stately homes, both functioning and derelict. The tour guide provided an immense amount of history and perspective, to bring locations alive with their significance. ...read more Overall a very worthwhile experience.
On the downside, the tour company, CIE, chose to deliver our 'welcome pack' to the first hotel, rather than to our home. This appears to be their practice for Australians. This was in the least inconvenient as it meant we would not have the benefit of the provided backpacks for our outward journey. All other participants, who were from the USA, had their packs delivered to their homes. The impact was exacerbated by the packs not being there when we arrived, so we were without backpacks, name-tags, maps etc for the whole trip. It was only after pestering our guide that we finally received our packs on the very last day of the trip.
Our other concern was that the the quality of some of the hotels was below our expectations, with cramped rooms and bathrooms lacking power outlets etc, This is understandable in small remote towns, but the worst examples were actually in Glasgow and Inverness. We shared those hotels with other tour companies, such as Trafalgar, so we were not alone in the experience. The multiple tour groups also made meals, especially breakfast, a bit of a bunfight and far exceeded lift capabilities. We chose to walk up 5 flights at one stage, Would we do it again? Probably not with CIE. Their offices are in Ireland and USA and they appear to be not well geared for Australian participation.
On the downside, the tour company, CIE, chose to deliver our 'welcome pack' to the first hotel, rather than to our home. This appears to be their practice for Australians. This was in the least inconvenient as it meant we would not have the benefit of the provided backpacks for our outward journey. All other participants, who were from the USA, had their packs delivered to their homes. The impact was exacerbated by the packs not being there when we arrived, so we were without backpacks, name-tags, maps etc for the whole trip. It was only after pestering our guide that we finally received our packs on the very last day of the trip.
Our other concern was that the the quality of some of the hotels was below our expectations, with cramped rooms and bathrooms lacking power outlets etc, This is understandable in small remote towns, but the worst examples were actually in Glasgow and Inverness. We shared those hotels with other tour companies, such as Trafalgar, so we were not alone in the experience. The multiple tour groups also made meals, especially breakfast, a bit of a bunfight and far exceeded lift capabilities. We chose to walk up 5 flights at one stage, Would we do it again? Probably not with CIE. Their offices are in Ireland and USA and they appear to be not well geared for Australian participation.
Very organised. tour. Excellent hotels. Would book with Global Journeys again. My travel advisor Jemma Rosen was excellent answering concerns I had.
Amazing journey through Scottish Highlands and Isles, getting to see parts of Scotland that I would normally not have considered going to. Went in May and weather was fantastic. The accommodations (with the exception for the Balmacara Hotel) were very ordinary and well below expectations. Whilst I would recommend this trip, I would hope that the tour ...read more operators review the accommodation options and provide better options in the future.
4.5
Our thanks to Rachael from Global Journeys who did a fabulous job and paved the way, to help us effortlessly join Insight Vacations Grand Scandinavia Tour. We had a great mix of mostly Australian and New Zealanders with a few people from the US. June was a great time to go because everything was a vibrant green and with spring blooms but also there ...read more was snow on the mountains tops and the weather wasn’t too cold. At every turn there was stunningly beautiful scenery. Also, our Tour Director, Joey, was the best we have ever had. He made the whole tour and the places we visited come to life with timely insights, information, music, video, and treats :) and all with a smile. I would thoroughly recommend this tour.
Just back from our 17 day Insight Vacation trip around Italy and it was fantastic! We visited the most beautiful places in Italy, guided by our very knowledgeable guide and expert driver. We felt very safe in our brand new bus traveling around the beautiful Italian countryside. We were joined by 22 other passengers from different countries and we ...read more all got along famously. This is our second time booking a holiday with Hannah at Global Journeys, and she made it a very easy experience organising our Insight Vacation tour and flights etc. I would absolutely go on another Insight Vacations tour. All the hotels we stayed at were wonderful. We had a worry free, busy but relaxing holiday.
I can’t say anything bad about any part of this absolutely amazing holiday full of natural beauty , right from the initial booking with Global journeys, everything perfect about the bus tour from the amazing tour director to the courteous, caring bus driver with many impressive driving skills. The incredible hotels and I can’t begin to speak of the ...read more super impressive scenery…. Time of year, from May 9 to 28th… PERFECT!!! It even SNOWED ( first time for us) Yay!!! Thanks to all!!!
This has to be the most amazing trip that we’ve ever done. Thank you to Georgie for organising our trip and thank you to Alex tour director and Arpi our coach driver. The highlight for me was above the Arctic circle and visiting North Cape the most northern part of mainland Europe. It snowed for us which was fantastic. Geiranger was amazing and the ...read more fjords well just stunning. Photos don’t do it justice. It’s something you have to go and see for yourself.
We enjoyed this tour along the country roads of Southern Italy and Sicily, with a cohesive group of people from the U.S, Canada and Australia. Our tour guide, Mark, was highly rated, as well as the individual local guides. We transferred to Insight this time over Trafalgar in order to upgrade the position of our hotels to more central locations. We ...read more were most disappointed with hotels placed a distance far away from central locations. We were expecting a higher standard from Insight.
April/May was a great time to travel through Croatia. The weather was lovely and it was not too busy. We were lucky to have Greg as our guide as he was very knowledgeable and made sure everything ran smoothly. There were many highlights but we especially enjoyed visiting families in their local settings. It gave us a better feel of the real Croatia ...read more.
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