CIE Tour Reviews

I thoroughly enjoyed my adventure. It was a whirlwind tour with early mornings and late nights. Phil, tour commentator in the UK kept us on schedule... hurried but on schedule. Garry, our tour guide in Ireland was less strict recognising we were on vacation and made an exhausting tour very enjoyable. His kindness, thoughtfulness and generosity was appreciated ...read more by all. As with daily life, stuff happens yet Garry ensured our time was enjoyable and well spent. As a first time lone traveller I would highly recommend.

We have had a lot of tour guides in our time, but none better than Denis OÆ Sullivan. Unlike the staccato listing of information that some folks provide or the often entertaining comedic style of some guides, Denis did an excellent job of mixing information with humour. He provided perspective on the grim history of the potato famine, various failed ...read more rebellions and the more recent Troubles of Northern Ireland, citing the view of these situations from both the British and Irish perspectives. He had a style of raising his own questions, pausing to allow people to offer guesses (but never criticising our ignorance) and then filling in the response. He mixed in DJ duties (introducing and then playing various musical artists) with a video presentation of the Irish favourite sport of hurling (not curling). IÆm a little more antsy/energetic than most and Denis always made an effort of provide alternate programs for people who ôwanted to get the knots out of their legs a bit moreö. What I will remember most about Denis is his use of inflection in describing the past stories or present day conflicts and features of this land. The contrast of ôsome would say...ö with ôbut I have found too that...ö with a touch of irony in his various phrasings kept the audience engaged throughout the tour. CIE has got a winner in Denis OÆSullivan.

One of the best trips we have ever taken. The hotels, food, destinations visited and the "extras" were phenomenal. Best of all was our wonderful, wonderful tour guide, Aiden Carrigy. He went "above and beyond" the entire trip. Kudos to CIE and Aiden. We look forward to taking another tour in the near future.

Our sincere thanks go to CIE Tours for the superb choice of locations, attractions, accommodations and guides. The hotels on the tour, with only one exception, were simply magnificent, of great charm and high standards. The breakfast buffets and dinners were delicious, the staff from porters to receptionists and waiters outstanding. The special evenings, ...read more be it Scottish, Irish or Welsh will be staying with us forever, as framed gems in a crown. The scenic highlights, vistas, exhibitions and shows we've been brought to couldn't have been of more variety and beauty. The chosen local guides for the city tours were so much fun, so full of knowledge and charm and just such amazing human beings that one wants to pocket and keep them all forever. But the entire wonderful tour would be nothing without the absolutely magnificent driver Jim and our tour guide/manager Mary. Jim is able to perform miracles with such a big vehicle on a daily basis and Mary - wonderful Mary - full of funny anecdotes, wisdom, great, never-ending knowledge of history, all tumbling into the bus and over us all like spring-water rain onto a parched plot of land. Every mother-hen can look up to Mary when it comes to care for a flock of chicks - because before every arrival - Mary was already there with a phone call to announce us. We knew that we will never be left behind anywhere, which didn't stop us from being the most punctual group of chicks, lovely Mary has ever dealt with. The entire trip was a magnificent treat with a lovely group of fellow travellers, thanks to your wise and wonderful choices (and great weather, whenever needed most). So thank you again - all of you - for a journey of superlatives.

Our tour guide, Kevin, was great!! This was a great tour. We were sceptical about it, especially since we'd never booked a tour like this, but it was fantastic! We agree that a huge reason this tour was so fun was because of Kevin's charm and natural ability to teach (and I don't necessarily like to learn). I feel like I know more about Irish history ...read more than American history, but not because it was forced; it naturally happened as Kevin drove us across the amazing Irish countryside. By the way - we thought we'd be the only folks under 60 ... Nope ... Lots of great people from all walks of life!!

I want to praise our driver/tour director Sean Flood. He was absolutely fantastic!!! This is the first tour of this kind that I have taken and will definitely take another if all of CIEÆs drivers are of his calibre. His humour, depth of knowledge, warmth and caring attitude were fantastic. He made sure we knew all the areas we travelled through and ...read more gave us more than enough information, fun anecdotes and interesting tidbits about Ireland and its people. I feel so blessed to have met him and would gladly take another tour with him. His humour was so much fun and I enjoyed all of his stories. I will forever have fond memories of this trip. I was stationed in England and went to Scotland and Wales and always wanted to visit Ireland. This was the perfect way to do it, mostly because of Sean.

We just completed our first trip to Ireland with CIE on the nine-day Pub Tour. What an amazing experience! Our tour guide, Noel Hart, was absolutely fantastic. He made the trip so interesting and at the same time - fun. He seemed to know everything there is about Ireland, not to mention his warm demeanour. A real professional for sure! The tour was ...read more fun, fast paced and the accommodations were superb. We can easily say that this was our best holiday ever - bar none. We are seriously contemplating a nine-day Scotland tour next March. Again, we wish to say 'thanks' for an absolutely super holiday and a fantastic tour guide - Noel Hart.

We finish our tour in the morning with a trip to the airport in Dublin. Our 12 days have been both informative and fun for all 41 of us on the tour. DonÆt know how we were able to squeeze in all we did in 12 days. Eamon, our tour director, was amazing with his knowledge of all of the sites we visited as well as many points of interest on the way. All ...read more this plus keeping us on schedule and coordinating our visits to the many sites. I hope CIE recognises his representation of the company. All in all a great way to have seen both Ireland and Northern Ireland.

This was my first international holiday and at aged 70, I didn't know what to expect. My tour guide/driver was a wonderful gentleman, Tim Cotton. Tim took our bus load on a tour through the history of this wonderful country. The stopovers accommodation was first class, as were the meals. I loved every minute of every day and ensured the rest of my tour ...read more to England and France had a lot to live up to. Again, my thanks to CIE for the itinerary.

We have travelled and done tours all over the world for the last 15 years but the CIE tour of Ireland is the best we have been on. Joe Lavery has a wealth of knowledge and John Greene was a wonderful driver and a true gentleman helping passengers out of the bus. We will be using CIE again and recommending the company to our friends.

What a wonderful experience we had. Everything so well organised. The hotels, meals and service were all first class. Last but not least, our wonderful tour guide/driver Murt. We were very impressed with Murt's extensive knowledge - a walking encyclopedia. His friendly manner made us feel very comfortable. Thank you Murt and thank you CIE for some great ...read more memories.

I had the best time on this tour, our tour guide Joe Lavery was a wealth of knowledge and very professional. Our bus driver Tony was great, some of the places he manoeuvred the coach was truly amazing. The accommodation and meals were lovely. One of my highlights was staying at Carbra Castle, what a beautiful place. The pubs and the music of a night ...read more time is a must see. Wherever we went there was something amazing to see and Joe would have a story or a piece of history about the place. I can't recommend CIE Tours highly enough. I had a tear in my eye when left.

What a wonderful trip. Our first coach tour, so we weren't sure what to expect, but it was fabulous. Our driver and tour director Pat was incredibly knowledgable about everything Irish. He was friendly and approachable and he even sang for us. The accommodation was excellent, and we enjoyed the itinerary. Just wish we had more time to do a longer tour. ...read more Would reccommend CIE to anyone.

Just returned from the CIE Irish Gold Coach Tour. It was superb, beyond all our expectations. We enjoyed all the places we visited, and the hotels as well as the meals were very nice. It was a truly memorable trip and all the more so thanks to the amazingly kind, witty, efficient and learned tour director, Sabina Murphy. The driver, Collin, was also ...read more amazing. He looks like James Bond (Daniel Craig) but drives like an angel--very very smooth indeed. My daughter and I get motion sickness easily so we feared the worst (going through those narrow, winding roads), but it was not long before we realised that we were in safe hands. So we had a fantastic time. We were able to enjoy the scenery while being briefed about many fascinating aspects of Irish history, politics and culture. Highly recommended to anyone who wishes to discover and enjoy Ireland in a relatively short period of time.

This was our first bus tour and we didn't know what to expect. From the reviews we read of CIE and other tour companies, our research led us to choose CIE Tours. Our tour completed, we can say with enthusiasm, it was an amazing experience. Everything they say about themselves we found to be true. We were very well taken care of. Their planning, punctuality, ...read more follow through, were 1st class. Our tour guide, Patrick, was informative, entertaining, knowledgeable: simply a great travel guide and companion in one. The coach was very comfortable despite traveling on the ôother sideö of the road the whole time. The accommodations were first rate in every way, the food delicious, and the service unsurpassed. If it isn't obvious at this point, we are exceptionally well pleased with CIE. We will tour with CIE again, and again. Thank you CIE!

I have just returned from the Irish Spirit tour. It was terrific. I liked everything about it. Could not have asked for anything better. Was everything and more than I expected. Our guide, Dominic was fantastic. Knows an amazing amount of information about Ireland. Should be commended at the highest level. Did a terrific job. I am hoping to return to ...read more Ireland as soon as possible. Thanks for a great tour.

Just finished 5 day taste of Ireland tour. 9-13th Feb. Excellent tour. Excellent hotels. Excellent company. Cannot praise Aiden (driver/tour director) enough. Ensured all passengers were catered for. All passengers joined in together. His commentary was concise and varied. Answered questions asked by clients. Smooth running of tour was entirely his ...read more doing. (Oh and all passengers arrived at the coach on time).

This was our first time to the UK. It was my family and my mum. Our guide (Dierdre) and our driver (Sarah) were amazing. Our kids (12 and 9) were the youngest and our driver/guide did little things for them throughout the trip to make them feel special. We had an amazing time! One of my favourite vacations ever. We are looking forward to our next o ...read morene.

Wow what a fabulous tour we had. Tom our tour guide was FANTASTIC. We had gale force winds but Tom still managed to make us all smile. On our return home we noticed that we were missing a few items we had brought on the last day of our tour. (We didnÆt return home till just before Christmas and then had Christmas break etc). I contacted the Dublin office ...read more and they have gone far and above what most would do and contacted Tom to ask if he found anything which he had and he had left them at the last hotel. Martin in the Dublin office has since sent someone to the hotel to collect our things and they have now put them in the post to us. We couldnÆt be more happier with this outcome. I would recommend CIE tours to anyone. Also all of the accommodation was great, lovely and clean and comfortable. Thank you again for the great memories.

My husband and I were on the Taste of Ireland trip in November 2017. It was our first ever coach tour experience, so we really did not know what to expect. It turned out to be one of our most memorable trips thus far. Firstly Liam Finnegan our tour director was an absolute legend! His fantastic stories, funny jokes and snippets about all the amazing ...read more history and culture of Ireland, made it all the more interesting and fun. The itinerary was well planned and organised. We met such great people on the tour. A good mix from all over the world and different age groups made it very enjoyable. I cannot recommend this tour and CIE tours enough. The cherry on the cake would definitely be if Liam is your tour director. Thanks CIE for making this trip unforgettable, we are already looking at options to book CIE Scotland tours in the foreseeable future.