CIE Tour Reviews
The 224 CIE Tour reviews listed below are from past clients of Global Journeys that have traveled with CIE. Each review has been individually verified by our team.
Great Taste of Scotland and Ireland 27
Taste of Scotland & Ireland
Susan & Ted Ekstr÷m, Australia, Jul 2019
Me and my husband usually travel together once or twice per year but this is the first time we have ever done a coach tour. We picked the ten days Taste of Scotland and Ireland. Everything was more than we had expected. We loved our guides Ian and Andrew and our local guides. The bus drives were packed with information and fun. The itinerary was well read more sewn together (although we would have liked more free time in Dublin). The hotels were fabulous and the meals really nice! Would love to do more tours with CIE.
We had a very very wonderful trip this time. The very nice accommodation and the food was so impressive. Also the very nice people we met on this tour were all terrific. However, the best part was the super good tour guide Mal. He was so knowledgeable and introduced so much information to us. Even if we didn't go to some places, still he would talk read more about the part. My son was the only child on this tour and everybody including Mal and the driver Brain were so nice to him. My husband and I were so satisfied with this tour except the first day the transfer from LHR to the London hotel (I wasn't there because I had a meeting held in Glasgow and didn't join the tour until the 2nd day. I didn't know what happened). But everything other than this was so perfect. We really really enjoyed this CIE tour and would recommend to our friends. Thank you CIE Tours. We love you.
This is a very good tour to get a snapshot of Ireland. We feel that an extra day would be beneficial to explore the north of Ireland in more detail. For example a visit to the rope bridge near the Giant's Causeway, some free time in Belfast to see the city as an alternative to the Titanic Centre, then maybe visit the linen centre on the way south.
My coach tour began in Dublin, the Coach Director was Lloyd, a charming man from Cork. I became ill on July 7th and Lloyd as a person and company representative gave me the greatest care and consideration. He continually assured me that everything would be taken care of, ambulance and all medical expenses, plus taxi travel. Lloyd was a very good driver read more and commentator, he had a great sense of humour, and he took a personal interest of all 24 travellers. He continually made sure that everyone was fully aware of the schedule. I highly recommend him.
We have just returned from our first CIE tour. It was absolutely amazing from start to finish. Our tour Director, Marion, was so well informed and made our days seem to float seamlessly. We had a lovely mix of Americans, Canadians, Australians and British. We learnt more histories every day and Marion always had several funny tales to tell. We were read more constantly laughing. Everything was so well prepared from the first to last days and all the included visits were well chosen. James, our excellent driver made it through the narrowest of lanes with no fuss. The hotels and arranged meals were first class. We have travelled the world with many tour companies and we would definitely recommend CIE for a tour of Ireland and Northern Ireland and excellent value for money.
We joined this tour not knowing what to expect. However, the other 36 people on the bus (from United States, Australia, New Zealand and Belgium) and our wonderfully vibrant driver, Niall, made us feel welcome from the first moment we started gathering in the lobby of the hotel. This set the scene for a friendly and interesting week as we shared stories, read more photos and experiences. The quality of the tour guides who joined our trip at the various places kept us well informed and helped us appreciate each of the places we visited. Each one was knowledgeable and witty. The accommodation selected for us made our evenings comfortable, especially the hotels in Kilkenny and Galway! While every place we visited had a special appeal, we thoroughly enjoyed meeting 'real people' such as the Atlantic Sheepdog sheep farm and the Glyde Inn. These were ordinary people moving out of their comfort zone to engage in tourism and enable us to join in on ordinary life in rural Ireland. The coach was comfortable and glided along all types of roads - from the small-laned country roads to the freeways. Niall's skill in navigating was awesome!
Enjoyable tour through Southern Ireland 1
Best of Ireland South (Tour B)
Pat & Michael Rashotte, Australia, Jun 2019
Thanks to our tour guide / driver Matt Nolan we have had an enjoyable and memorable trip to southern Ireland. We highly recommend CIE Tours and Matt who we sincerely thank for being such a great driver and for sharing his knowledge and experiences of Ireland.
Just a huge, huge thank you, what a fabulous Ireland tour, driven by the best ever Patrick, a very sharp man, helped to get this. A fantastic driver, same to hotels, food, highly recommend this tour to everyone. Such a majestic land and people, would love to do it all over again, with the very sharp Patrick.
A fantastic itinerary, well executed; hotel accommodations and sights were first-rate. No miscalculations or over-promising; arrivals and departures were uniformly smooth. The major reason for this tour's success was our driver and director Denis O'Sullivan who, aside from being a thoroughly professional driver, managed our group of 34 with constant read more good humour and an accommodating nature. His narrative while driving was intelligent and entertaining, far beyond canned patter. I've taken several land and ship tours; he's the best I've been exposed to and added significant value to our experience.
Having been on many coach tours with various companies, my CIE tour was up there with the best. Great hotels with excellent choice of food and service. Best of all was our driver/guide Murt Oshea, this manÆs knowledge of the history of Ireland was second to none. He kept us entertained from day one with his stories of growing up and living in Ireland read more as well as his singing and overall personality, very much an asset to CIE Tours. I would certainly recommend CIE to all.
First class all the way and Mark was outstanding as Tour Director! We have waited 35 years to take this trip and to be able to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary at Bunratty Castle was tremendous!! Thank you for such a great trip and we will take our next trip with CIE!!
Excellent tour of the Scottish Isles and Glens 2
Scottish Isles & Glens
Geoff & Narelle, Australia, Jun 2019
My wife and I were passengers on the Scottish Isles and Glens tour, commencing Glasgow on 6 June. This was the first time I have ever æriskedÆ a bus tour. I am pleased to say that the CIE tour was excellent. Excellent coach. Excellent driver (Bobby). Excellent guide (Ian). Both Bobby and Ian added greatly to our enjoyment of the trip. BobbyÆs driving read more skills were as good as could be; we always felt safe with him at the wheel of the huge bus. I thoroughly recommend this guy for his driving skills and pleasant personality. IanÆs encyclopaedic knowledge of Scottish History would be second to none. He was always a calm and pleasant guide, and managed the group very well. The weather was very good (thankfully). We will be back in the UK next year, and are considering touring options.
We had an absolute ball on our Irish Adventure tour and a significant part of that was due to our tour director Dave Darby. He looked after us and kept us laughing the whole way while all the time making sure we learned plenty about the sights we were seeing. I would recommend Dave and the CIE Tours team to anyone. It was a truly memorable experience. Thank you.
Toured the Wild Atlantic Way with tour guide/driver Mike Costello. Lovely, fab time touring with Mike in Sligo, Galway, Spanish Point, and Ennis. We visited places off the beaten path. Would highly recommend. Any time we mentioned something we would like to see, Mike would research and away we would go!
Our tour of Ireland was amazing. The tour gave us a great insight into the beautiful country of Ireland and we were fortunate to have the most amazing tour guide, Brian Hanrahan. Brian's knowledge and passion for his country and his ability to impart his knowledge was incredible. Thank you everyone at CIE for a holiday we will always remember.
Our tour was delightful! We had so much fun. From the accommodation to the venues and food, it was all amazing. We met some wonderful people, made some new friends. Our tour guide Tom, made our trip memorable. He was knowledgeable, funny, just an all round nice guy. Thank you CIE Tours, I hope to come back one day. WE LOVE IRELAND!!!
Hope to travel with CIE again 57
Taste of Scotland & Ireland
Andrew & Mardie Fulop, Australia, May 2019
We did not know what to expect when we signed up for this tour. We very much wanted to see Ireland and Scotland but were nervous about driving on our own and didn't really know what we wanted to see. We joined the group at our Glasgow hotel where we met our driver/guide Aidan Carrigy. We found him to be very knowledgeable and a really nice guy. He went read more over each step of our journey every day to make sure we were all on the same page regarding the plans for the day. He really had the patience of a saint sometimes when after a careful explanation of a particular point someone would ask him a question that he had just clearly answered. He would just smile and repeat what he had just said.
In each city we visited we did have local city guides and for the first two days in Scotland we had a guide who travelled with us. Ian also had a lot of good information to share with us and told us some great stories about relations between the clans. He made the history of Scotland so interesting. Bob took us around Edinburgh Castle and we also enjoyed his talk. What I liked about the tour in general was that we had a person who took care of our transportation, coordinated our hotel rooms and luggage and tickets and just basically made sure we were all happy. But he also had lots of solid information to impart about Scotland and especially Ireland. But once we got to specific places and had a bit of a tour we had time to look around on our own. We were not herded everywhere. Some meals we shared with the other tour members and some we had on our own. I really don't know what part of the tour was my favourite. The Cliffs of Moher were pretty spectacular. But kissing the Blarney Stone was pretty cool. And of course just visiting Edinburgh Castle was amazing. And seeing the Book of Kells! Oh my!
The hotels we stayed in were solid, clean and comfortable. My only complaint was the distance away from the city centres we were in two of the hotels. As Aidan said the tour is called a taste because we covered a large area in a short amount of time while trying to cram in as much as possible. But it did give us a feel for both countries and a huge desire to come back and when we do we will find another CIE tour. I highly recommend our guide/driver Aidan Carrigy and CIE Tours. I hope we will have more chances to travel with them.
In each city we visited we did have local city guides and for the first two days in Scotland we had a guide who travelled with us. Ian also had a lot of good information to share with us and told us some great stories about relations between the clans. He made the history of Scotland so interesting. Bob took us around Edinburgh Castle and we also enjoyed his talk. What I liked about the tour in general was that we had a person who took care of our transportation, coordinated our hotel rooms and luggage and tickets and just basically made sure we were all happy. But he also had lots of solid information to impart about Scotland and especially Ireland. But once we got to specific places and had a bit of a tour we had time to look around on our own. We were not herded everywhere. Some meals we shared with the other tour members and some we had on our own. I really don't know what part of the tour was my favourite. The Cliffs of Moher were pretty spectacular. But kissing the Blarney Stone was pretty cool. And of course just visiting Edinburgh Castle was amazing. And seeing the Book of Kells! Oh my!
The hotels we stayed in were solid, clean and comfortable. My only complaint was the distance away from the city centres we were in two of the hotels. As Aidan said the tour is called a taste because we covered a large area in a short amount of time while trying to cram in as much as possible. But it did give us a feel for both countries and a huge desire to come back and when we do we will find another CIE tour. I highly recommend our guide/driver Aidan Carrigy and CIE Tours. I hope we will have more chances to travel with them.
First class in every way 1
Jon & Gail Fudge, Australia, May 2019
This was my first coach tour of any kind, and I was not sure what to expect... Let me say that this was one incredible vacation - thanks CIE for a wonderful experience. This was first class in every way, with an itinerary I could never have put together on my own. It all went flawlessly thanks to the efforts of our incredible tour director and driver, read more Mr. David Darby. I don't think you could find a better man for the job, he had many great stories, lots of local information, and saw to our every need and request... a true professional who loves his job and knows how to take care of people. (The brand new motor coach wasn't bad either!) Many thanks.
Fantastic time 1
Ross & Kathy McQuade, Australia, May 2019
We had a fantastic time. Busy days but had leisure time at night. Saw many, many things. Driver Patrick was a great driver but also great tour guide "true story". It was our first overseas trip and we would recommend CIE to family and friends.
We recently did a tour of the south of Ireland with CIE. This was our second tour with this company and again it was great. Our tour director/driver, John, was very friendly, professional with great knowledge of his country. He made sure to show us the best of south Ireland. The weather turned out great so the drive along the ocean was perfect. The read more hotels were comfortable and cleaned. Our meals were tasty and served warm. Our evening to Taylor's Three Rock Pub dinner and show were wonderful. Overall, CIE made our vacation enjoyable, relaxing and wonderful.
