CIE Tour Reviews

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.

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.

My experience with Global Journeys was excellent along with my travel consultant Jemma Rosen. Very helpful in answering all my questions and I would definitely book with Global Journeys again in the future. Enjoyed my trip with CIE which I thought was good value.

From beginning to end we had great service from Global Journeys and then from CIE tours. Our consultant was easy to deal with and highly professional and personable responding quickly to our questions, CIE were also excellent. Our guide Brian was simply wonderful throughout. Thank you so much.

We booked our tour through Global Journeys. Tracey could not be more helpful, friendly and obliging especially as the booking was done around the Christmas period. All paperwork was handled professionally and efficiently. At all times Tracey was available for advice about the trip. The tour itself was wonderful. Brian was our tour director, guide ...read more and coach driver. He was highly knowledgeable, fun and kept us all on track and in the right place at the right time. We were delighted with both Brian and Tracey and the overall tour. Thank you so much.

The tour around the southern part of England was amazing. Highlights were Windsor Castle, Bath, Salisbury, Portsmouth and Canterbury Cathedral. Our guide Garth was very knowledgeable. I would definitely recommend CIE Tours.

Great trip, wonderful way of being introduced to Ireland. Special mention goes to Liam the driver/guide for very informative and friendly service and going above and beyond for retrieving a lost wallet of a fellow tour member, 5 stars!!!!

Pat our bus driver and tour director is amazing!!!! Our trip is not even complete and he has been very attentive and always concerned all are having a great time. He is so full of history informing all about the history of everything we are doing. Great singer to boot!!!

I thought the tour was exceptionally good. Michael (Mike) the driver was a very good guide and amusing.

The six days touring Ireland was fantastic. Mike Walsh was our tour director and driver. Made all on tour very welcome and was very informative. Meals were good and most accommodation was of a high standard. Plenty to see in such a short time. Recommend this tour if you want a quick snapshot of Ireland. Well done CIE Tours.

Great trip which covered so many parts of Ireland. Never having been there before and it was amazing. Tour Director Gerry was fantastic, he had such a vast knowledge of the history and was an amazing guy. Would definitely go on another CIE Tour. I was the only Australian in a group of Americans and Canadians. Was a bit concerned at first, but it was ...read more fantastic and I had a great time. Thankyou CIE and Gerry.

I would like to thank Murt our Driver and Tour Guide for a great time in Ireland, everything was organised, we didn't have to worry about anything he was there for us and our needs. I would recommend this tour.

Fun fun fun. Our tour bus driver, Andrew and partner Joe, were absolutely amazing. They both were very knowledgeable, professional, and considerate of all the passenger needs and wants. This was my second trip with CIE Tours. If I could request Andrew on future trips I would. I just can't say enough about him. He's the best AND an excellent driver. ...read more He sure can manoeuvre a bus.

Our driver Tony McCarthy was the best. Skilful behind the wheel, professional in every way. Really went out of his way to explain things, tell stories and have fun with our tour. The bus was always immaculate. Tours started promptly, and no hiccups on times, dates, etc. The tour was wonderful, the Irish people so friendly and the accommodations first ...read more class. Loved not being in boring ônew hotelsö and Tony made the trip enjoyable for all.

Perfect holiday! Not least thanks to the tour director and driver - who will always be an essential part of the tour. Maggie and Trevor on the Scottish part of the tour were a ôDream Teamö!

We had a fantastic time. Our tour director, Mark Mulvey, made all the difference. He is funny and so knowledgeable and very helpful. You cannot help but appreciate his attention to detail. I don't know many who work as hard at their jobs as he does for the travellers. The itinerary was very full and there is no way to see and learn what we did without ...read more a company like CIE. I am very grateful to my travel agent for booking with CIE. These are two amazing countries.

Wonderful trip. We had the best time with CIE Tours. Thanks especially go to the two Sean's. Tour director Sean was the most patient, pleasant, informative, nothing too much trouble person. He gave us detailed information every day on what we were going to see and the history of the places. He even sang some Irish songs for us. He even got us tickets ...read more to a special music event in Galway, Trad on the Prom. Thank you Sean for being our tour director we struck gold with you. Now to the other very important Sean our coach driver. How he manoeuvred that huge coach around some of those roads so safely I don't know. We never once felt scared on this trip. Always happy and patient with all of us. I also want to acknowledge the great bunch of fellow travellers we were lucky enough to travel with. We had the best time with them. Thanks CIE for putting together this wonderful trip. Thoroughly recommend it to anyone thinking of seeing Ireland.

CIE can pack more information/destinations/memories in a few short days than what should be possible. They pick the cream of the crop for their tour guides and drivers. Annika (guide) and Eammon (driver) made the entire trip fun and interesting. Without them the trip wouldn't have been half as magical. I was so sad not to continue to Ireland with the ...read more rest of the group that I booked a CIE Ireland trip for next year. No matter what your age, or if youÆre travelling alone or with a group of family and friends, you'll have a once in a lifetime experience travelling to any destination with CIE.

This is the first review we have written about a tour guide in several years, and we are a well-travelled couple fast approaching our 80s who have paid lots of excellent visits to numerous places on most continents. Our affordable eight day and first-ever bus tour in Ireland was especially pleasurable because our hotels were excellent, but, most important, ...read more because the tour guide Marlene Sullivan was so phenomenal and unforgettable inspiring words such as articulate, in love with her home country and what she was showing us (even if she was conscious of some of its inevitable flaws), imaginative, funny, candid, historically well-prepared, friendly - the entire tour package. Marlene deserves the highest marks possible, and, if we go back to Ireland, we will try to sign her up for a few days, except that we have probably reached a point, sadly, where rising every morning around 6am may be more than we want to handle.