CIE Tour Reviews

Absolutely amazing! We have been saving for 10 years to visit Ireland and we were not disappointed. Our tour director and driver John Dalton was the greatest! He was funny, friendly and incredibly knowledgeable. His food and pub recommendations were always great and gave us a great feel for real Ireland and not just touristy places. We are so glad ...read more we went with a tour and so lucky to have John; so many stories and memories we will treasure forever!

Great tour CIE, so well organised, great hotels and food well organised. Lovely people on tour all on time and very friendly. To make the tour was our driver John Green what a great bloke, great driver, wonderful knowledge and very witty made the tour even better, would certainly recommend CIE.

We are all agreed that the tour was enjoyable, with reservations. Our tour driver, Noel, was excellent and kept us amused with anecdotes and information throughout the tour. Although we are of the opinion, and this is meant in the nicest possible way, that his stories would be tailored to suit the nationalities of his passengers. The hotels varied from ...read more the perfect to the not so good. Two tour buses arriving at the same hotel at the same time in the evening after a long day is not a good idea. Most of the hotels had two lifts. Two of the hotels had one lift out of order leaving a lot of people struggling to get to their rooms to get washed and changed for dinner. Check in at all the hotels was excellent, obviously someone had done their homework. The City Hotel in Derry was, we all agreed, not very good at all in all respects.
The tour got off to a great start in the Dublin area although we thought Kilmainham Gaol was a bit disappointing, not enough information and pushed through too quickly. Taylor's Three Rock Pub was great entertainment, but the service was terrible. The farmhouse visit was nice and the scones delicious but I do not think it can be classed as a traditional farmhouse as it is a thriving B&B type modern bungalow. A waste of valuable time in our opinion and should be missed out. The other farm visit we all agreed was a waste of time was a visit to a farm whose name I cannot recall which included a Power point presentation of the history of clan chiefs followed by a demonstration of peat cutting. All in all the only farm visit we collectively thought was worthwhile was the working of the sheepdogs and sheep shearing.
The Cliffs of Moher we encountered on a very wet day, a lot of people struggling to stay dry in very limited space, so it was two wasted hours. I appreciate that no one can control the weather but surely a contingency plan should be available to the driver. Another complete waste of time was the visit to Cong for the guided tour of the places featured in the Quiet Man film. This film is now 65 years old and only a couple of places in the village featured in the film anyway. If it is any consolation the guide was excellent though he must be hanging on to his job by his fingernails.
The visits to Russborough House, Waterford Crystal, Blarney Castle, Dingle peninsular, Kylemore Abbey, Belleek China, and Titanic Belfast were superb although time at Kylemore Abbey was insufficient to take in all there was to see. The pub visit in Listowel, associated with the writer J.B.Keane was great. The lunch at John Benny's Pub was universally described as awful and the pub visit in Drogheda was a further waste of time.
The itinerary states in a couple of places æfree timeÆ, this did not exist. There was not a lot of time on arrival back at hotels to change for dinner or for individual sightseeing opportunities. We all would have liked to take in local sights in the towns and cities we visited, this was not possible. In our group of four we had pre-booked a spa for our wives whilst at the Radisson in Galway because the itinerary stated æEnjoy a casual lunch before returning to Galway, where the rest of day is free for independent sightseeing and diningÆ. We actually arrived back at the hotel at 1700 and it was only because the staff at the spa were so accommodating that they were able to take advantage of the booking we had made.
This review is in no way intended to be of a critical nature but is meant to be more in the way of constructive criticism. We all enjoyed the tour, our fellow passengers were mainly American with a few Canadians and Australians and were a good bunch of people. We also very much liked the idea of rotating the seating on the coach on a daily basis which enabled everyone to mix more easily.

Great Taste of Ireland Tour. Everything was perfect, and our guide was really good, funny and told us great stories all along the way. I was a little bit scared to go alone, but I've met a really nice and friendly group from Canada who adopted me for the week :) we were also very lucky with the weather.

What a beautiful country Ireland is, we had a super tour. Our driver, tour guide, comic, and all-round raconteur Brian H. did a fabulous job. Cannot praise him highly enough. Great stories and jokes kept us all amused and well informed. His organisation was first rate.

We took the Irish Explorer tour from Dublin, starting on 07 July. Duration 9 Nights/10 Days. On arrival at Dublin we were greeted by the CIE rep who arranged the transfer to our hotel - Clontorf Castle. It was a well appointed hotel with very courteous staff and well appointed rooms. Food both dinner and breakfast the next morning had an awesome spread.
Next ...read more morning, we set off on our tour to the North - Donegal. Our Tour Director was Liam. He was amazing. He knew the history of Ireland like the back of his hand. He was well informed, had a great sense of humour. His anecdotes were really great. He made a world of a difference on the tour. We were 27 of us on the coach. Most meeting each other for the first time. We all got along famously. CIE did a great job. Would recommend to my friends to take CIE tours. Professionally managed. Well done.

I enjoyed the tour very much. The accommodations were good and the sites we visited were for the most part very interesting. We covered a lot of territory in the 11 days we had. The tour also had an appropriate combination of one-night and two-night stays at the various hotels. The tour guide was informative and cordial. I had a good time on this trip.
I ...read more would criticise a few things, however. Two of the places visited, the House of Waterford Crystal and Belleek Pottery, were obvious attempts to get us to buy the products produced there. There is nothing per se Irish about either glass blowing or pottery making. It is done all over the world. We could have spent that precious time seeing things truly Irish. As it is 11-12 days is very little time to see all the sights that have real historical and cultural value. To use part of that precious time to push products was a disservice to the tour participants.
All the city hotels except one provided safes in the rooms. The Cabra Castle did not either, but that is so far out in the country that it is not so important. All city hotels should have safes in the rooms and CIE should not choose hotels that do not. Overall I would recommend this tour with the caveat that people should go see something else during the Waterford and Belleek visits.

The tour was far better than the other coach tours I have experienced. Our tour guides, Phil in Britain and Eamonn in Ireland, were exceptional. We learned much about history and even more about the people and local culture. Both guides gave personal stories about their lives and experiences. The other walking tour guides also did a great job. The hotels ...read more were all 4 stars and were a mix of the modern and the historical. It was a good blend that we enjoyed. The provided breakfasts and dinners were more than we expected. The food was excellent and you never left a meal feeling hungry. It was a busy two weeks. I am sure our fellow travellers will remember our guides and the 7-7-8. The itinerary was followed just as written with a few extra bonus stops. The tour had a number of boat and ferry rides along with a very enjoyable jaunting car ride through the Killarney National Park to Ross Castle. There were so many sights to see and I carried a small notebook to help me keep track of all the information. Eamonn told us that we had travelled about 2300 miles! We highly recommend CIE Tours.

Fifteen days packed with sights from Edinburgh to Dublin. Mal and Dick were knowledgeable, helpful and entertaining-making what could be boring history funny. My only criticism was I wish there was more time in places like Galway and Dingle. It was refreshing to have everything included in the price without surprises.

We had 43 people on our tour. Pat Prendergast did an outstanding job as our guide!!! He went above and beyond to make us all feel welcomed. He was so knowledgeable and witty!! By the time our tour ended, everyone felt like family. I travelled with Globus but CIE seemed much better! We will definitely do it again! Thank you Pat!!

We did this trip with our daughter and it was amazing. Great hotels, meals, sightseeing etc. We met some wonderful people and our tour guide Andrew was great, funny and very informative. We will certainly do another trip with CIE.

The Jewels of Ireland trip is truly amazing. I learned so much and felt a connection to the land of Ireland and its people and culture. Our tour guide, Lloyd Creagh, was excellent. He is knowledgeable about so many facets of Irish life and history, both past and present, and really made the trip come alive for our group. I highly recommend CIE to anyone ...read more who wants to see the hidden gems that Ireland has to offer.

We have just returned to Australia from Ireland where we took CIEÆs 'Jewels of Ireland' tour commencing 7th June. This was our first holiday outside Australia, and we are seniors, and we are very glad that we chose Ireland. The tour was excellent and we were looked after throughout by our driver Gerry McCarthy and our tour guide Liam Murray. Liam attended ...read more to our every need and he made us feel very much at home in Ireland. We learned so much from local tour guides and from Liam in his lovely Cork accent. We are extremely happy with the tour and the way that Liam and Gerry made our holiday such a memorable experience in lovely Ireland. We have travelled in Australia by long distance trains but have never before travelled for more than one day by road coach. We found aspects of extended tour coach travel interesting. We made many friends on tour and we will gladly recommend CIE tours, and particularly Liam and Gerry to our friends here in Australia.

Highly recommend this tour. We had a great time. Full credit goes to Sabina our tour director and Brian our driver.

Fabulous tour with Matt Lawson. Highly recommended. Great driver with exceptional skills. Wonderful knowledge of Ireland. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

What a wonderful taste of Ireland this was! We say ôtasteö because even though we spent eight days on the tour, we would love to do it all again or, better still, do another tour and visit different places. Our tour guide/driver Murt was just the best - his commentary was very informative but humorous enough to keep us interested and engaged. We appreciated ...read more his hard work to keep a large group like ours running smoothly. The hotels we stayed at and meals provided were first class, whilst the attractions we visited met and exceeded our expectations - like everything on this trip. We'd highly recommend CIE Tours International to anyone wanting to tour Ireland and we hope to be back sometime in the future.

Our tour was amazing in every way possible. There was not one thing to fault. It was fun and we did not want the holiday to end. Our Tour Director Ian was fantastic. He had a world of knowledge and was fun and enjoyable to be around. Our bus driver Neil was fantastic as well. Our group got on so well and loved it so much we all want to do a reunion ...read more tour. We will definitely do another CIE tour in the future and recommend to others to do.

This was a fantastic vacation. The drivers and tour guides were very informative, charming and fun, especially Pat and Eamon. We were in London during the attack and CIE checked with our guide to make sure everyone was safe. Edinburgh had a record making rainfall while we were visiting, but it was still fun. I took the opportunity to post a little everyday ...read more into my Facebook page-and it was only a little of all the activities. Thank you CIE.

I joined a tour leaving and returning from Dublin, heading south. What a great experience to see such wonderful locations, supported by a driver and guide with excellent knowledge of the history of Ireland. The stories and education were the best and our driver did not overload us with microphone conversation whilst on the bus. The accommodation was ...read more just as expected and not disappointing on the whole. I have only one location visited, which I might consider worth dropping, but otherwise every detail was both interesting and beautiful in its own way. A highlight was definitely the Medieval banquet dinner at Bunratty Castle I thought. What a lovely experience. This tour group really know what they are doing. The coach was comfortable and considering our big group (which the driver admitted) we all got on superbly well and no problems with him handling such a large group. No better way to really see Ireland and much better than any sort of self drive. The timetable is necessary to travel this way but the education and places found are beyond any self drive vacation.

I am currently on a 23 day tour (my first time) travelling great Britain and Ireland. Our tour guide is Ian Short and driver Kevin Clancy. I wish to convey what a fabulous trip due to these individuals who are very thoughtful, professional and informative. They bring together warmth, humour and respect towards each other and to the guest on the tour. ...read more I feel very fortunate to have these individuals as part of my life's journey, as a person who is involved with the public these men are top notch. A credit to CIE. These men really made the tour and are an awesome team together.