“The Tour Awakens” in a Continent Far, Far Away

From the first line of communication to boarding our plane in Dublin, our travel agency's perfection in planning made our vacation a perfect dream.  

I found this agency through Zicasso, and after filling out our wish list, our agent emailed me back with the PERFECT itinerary. I didn’t have to make one change, and she nailed all areas I wanted to see, and offered several options for dining, excursions, sites, and must-see and do things. (They were also extremely patient, as it took us about 3 months to actually book due to busy schedules!)

The agency did not book flights but was helpful in helping us find flights and then worked with our flight schedule to finalize our itinerary. When we arrived in Dublin, we were met by our representative who was truly wonderful in making us feel welcome. He was friendly and chatted with us about things to do and see in Ireland, and made us feel very comfortable and relaxed, especially after traveling for about 25 hours. He advised us on the best way to get out of Dublin when we got our rental later in the week and pointed out places of interest on our drive to the hotel.

Upon arriving at the hotel (AMAZING), we were met by friendly staff, and since it was 9am, our room was not yet ready, so they sat us down so we could relax and enjoy breakfast. They provided us with a place to store our luggage and freshen up so we could explore Dublin a little while our room was being readied. Our stay at the hotel was simply outstanding, and made even better by a welcome gift from our travel agency, a chilled bottle of Sparkling wine, handwritten welcome card, and a scented candle!

Our rental car was delivered as promised (wonderful) and the process was simple and easy. From Dublin, we headed to Galway for a two-day stay (stayed at a modern and posh hotel with a spa and edgy and fun décor), had dinner at an Inn, which was spectacular and then spent an evening out in Galway City Center with the locals. An amazing place with tons of fun pubs and live music. We then headed to Killarney (stayed at a 5 stars, and luxurious resort again with a spa). In Killarney, we went to the Ring of Kerry and explored St MAry's Cathedral and Ross Castle. The town is beautiful, and the Muckross was in the Killarney National Forest-Absolutely beautiful.

After Killarney was Kinsale, where we stayed at a seaside boutique hotel and just gorgeous. On our first night, we stumbled into a restaurantand pub, great food, neat ambiance. We were also able to find laundry services as we were beginning to run low, and the town was easy to explore on foot. In Kinsale, our agent arranged dinner at a restaurant that was by far some of the best we had (and that’s pretty good, considering all the food in Ireland was fresh, locally sourced, and simply outstanding).

After Kinsale, we headed to Kilkenny for our last night. My only regret was not adding one more night to fully explore Kilkenny. It is a beautiful medieval town with some pretty amazing scenery, and we just didn't have enough time to see it all. We stayed at a very luxurious and nice hotel, and our last dinner at was delicious. I had fish and chips, and can still taste them!

All of our wishes, desires, and hopes were fulfilled during our trip. Our agent and the travel company team somehow knew exactly who we were and what we wanted, and then delivered perfectly. I would absolutely recommend this company for all of your booking needs. Thank you Zicasso for connecting us with them, and thank you to the team at our travel company for the vacation of a lifetime!

Our agent and her travel company were wonderful to work with for both our trip planning stage and during the actual travel.  This was a 10 day trip for a tour of Ireland.  Our agent asked the appropriate questions to understand what we were seeking to both do and to gain from this travel experience.  She then planned an excellent itinerary for our travel to Ireland.  This vacation was a driving tour of Ireland with a mixture or stays in hotels/resorts and B&Bs.  The exploration on our trip was a mixture of self-guided exploration and expert guided sight-seeing.  She managed to get the balance of these perfect for our trip.  We started in Dublin staying at the O'Callahan Davenport Hotel.  An excellent location allowing us to explore Dublin without the need of a vehicle.  We spent two days walking the parks in Dublin (St Stevens Green, Merion Square), shopping on Grafton Street, touring Trinity College with the Book of Kells and the old Library, exploring Christ Church and the history, visiting St Patrick's Cathedral, and also a visit to the Guinness Storehouse with its beer making history and views across Dublin from the panoramic bar on the 7th floor.  Our trip next involved driving from Dublin cross country to the western coast for a stay in the smaller village of Doolin.  On the way, we stopped in Athlone on the river Shannon.  We took time to visit the Athlone Castle with it's museum and explore central Ireland history.  Also a stop in Sean's Bar the oldest pub in Ireland for a drink was a must. We then continued on to Doolin for a wonderful stay in a beautiful B&B with an exquisite restaurant.  We had a wonderful meal in the restaurant that evening.  The next day was a trip by ferry to Inishmor, the largest of the Aran Islands.  That morning was rainy and windy, so much so that we were concerned about the ferry boat trip to the island and being out there on such a poor weather day.  That was a rough ferry ride in ~1.5 meter seas.  However, we got to the island and within a half hour the skies cleared.  Our agent had arranged an expert guide for our island visit.  That was wonderful!  We explored the island for a few hours getting a lot of history and information from our guide.  This included a great hour spent walking up to the ancient Cliffside fort of Dun Aonghasa.  Beautiful views, along 300 foot cliffs, and amazing history.  We also spent time in the Aran Sweater market and purchased some beautiful wool sweaters before our island departure.  The ferry ride back to Doolin was a wonderful boat ride with scenic views of the Cliffs of Moher from the water.  We dined that evening in another local restaurant.  Nice meal.  But the hotel restaurant from the previous night was one of the two best meals on this trip and well worth the dining if in Doolin.  Then we spent some time walking around Doolin and having drinks in a local tavern. The next day our journey continued driving south to Killarney.  We visited the Cliffs of Moher on the way.  Beautiful sunny day made for spectacular views.  We got there early which is highly advisable.  Crowds were low upon arrival and made it a much more enjoyable experience.  By the time we were leaving later morning all of the tour buses and crowds of people were pouring in.  Then onward to Killarney and a visit to Muckross House.  A wonderful view of the aristocracy lifestyle and history of the 1800s through early 1900s period in Ireland.  We then went to our lodging for the next 3 nights at the a guesthouse, a wonderful small hotel in the center of Killarney.  This was one of the two nicest rooms in which we stayed in during this trip, which was great as we were there for 3 nights.  The following day, our agent had arranged for us to have a personal guided tour of The Ring of Kerry.  It was just us and the driver traveling in a nice Mercedes touring the peninsula.  He was extremely knowledgeable, took us to all the keys sights, provided a lot of historical and local perspective, and just made this day wonderful.  Even a side trip requested by myself to Waterville to see the seaside golf course and purchase a hat, logo ball, and ball mark was fit in.  No golfing this trip, but got to visit a beautiful course.  Maybe next visit.  There was clouds this day in the mountains, which made views from some of the high peaks less than ideal.  But the rest of the day was fantastic.  We even visited a small town (forget the name) and interacted a man with his pet goat (a large male with big rack) just hanging out in the park in the center of town.   Also we stopped at the gap of Dunloe for some spectacular scenic views.  That evening we walked downtown in Killarney to have a meal and visit all of the shops.  Killarney is a neat and bustling Irish town.  The next day was self exploration around the Dingle Peninsula. Very scenic!  We had lunch in the seaside town of Dingle, visited Inch Beach with great views across to the Ring of Kerry peninsula, a neat ride on very narrow Slea Head Drive to the tip of the peninsula, checked out some of the ancient beehive huts, and had a nice afternoon coffee/tea/pie break at a local woman's home along Slea Head Drive (she serves folks each day until the pies she has baked are all gone).  We returned to the guesthouse for our last night's stay in Killarney.  The next day was a visit to Ross Castle in Killarney (neat restored Tower House for the old aristocrats in the 16th-17th century period) on the way out of town and then a drive to the seaside town of Cobh.  We had lunch in Cobh, visited the Cobh Cathedral and the Heritage Museum which had extensive coverage of the Irish emigration periods and of the Titanic and Lusitania disasters.  We then drove to the Jameson Distillery in Midleton.  Not enough time for a tour, but viewed the history in front museum area and a wonderful sales associate gave us a tasting experience as we selected a few spirits for purchase.  Then onward to the small fishing village of Youghal for our stay at a guesthouse for the night.  Another lovely guesthouse in a smaller town.  We walked the town and viewed the history, but the highlight was the wonderful dinner in the restaurant at the guesthouse.  Fantastic restaurant with fresh seafood in this relatively small town.  Just great.  And topped with an after dinner spirit provided by our agent.  Thanks to our agent, that was a nice touch!  The next day was a drive up the eastern side of Ireland.  We stopped in Kilkenny on the way and visited Kilkenny Castle.  Wonderful tour with so much history.  Love the castles in Europe.  This one so well restored/maintained and great presentation of history.  We then ventured on to Glendalough, an ancient monastic sight.  Some amazing structures that date to the 11th century still present.  Apparently a Sunday pilgrimage site, as it was very crowded with visitors on this day.  Nice time on a beautiful sunny day exploring the site.  Then on to Brookview Lodge for our last night in Ireland.  This was a wonderful place!  One of the two best rooms in our whole trip.  This place is hidden away, took an interesting drive to get there.  They have restaurants, bars, spa, golf, and ducks and chickens walking around.  Very nice setting and relaxing place.  We had dinner and then a spa visit in the morning before our drive to Dublin airport to complete our trip.  Seems a nice place to stay for a couple of nights and relax.  We just had the one, but a perfect finish to our trip lodging experience.  The next day was a drive to Dublin airport for travel home.  What a wonderful trip.  I know this review is very packed, but that was our trip.  Hard to believe we did all of that in 10 days.  Was busy, but did not seem so.  Relaxing as well.  This agent and her company did a fantastic job to find lodging and locations that fit what we were seeking and to plan an exquisite mixture of self guiding what we would do in locations together with professional guides for key locations.  And especially the stays arranged in some of the smaller towns in wonderful guesthouses with great restaurants!  That really fit our desire for this experience.  Thanks to our agent!!  I raise my glass of Jameson in toast to you.

Claire and her team from the travel agency provided us with the most fabulous vacation touring southern Ireland! We spent two weeks at a leisurely pace exploring much of the attractions, atmosphere and culture of Dublin, Cork, Kinsale, Killarney, the Dingle Peninsula, ring of Kerry, Cliffs of Moher, the Burren, Galway, the Atlantic way, and Connemara! The cities were engaging, and the countryside was so beautiful.Many thanks to Claire and her team as all of our hotels and accommodations, along with our restaurant recommendations, we’re all perfect and we enjoyed everyone of our experiences! We were especially fortunate to have our driver and guide whom we would highly recommend to anyone seeking an individualized experience and he introduced us to Hurling and Gaelic football… So much fun to watch!

2. How happy are you with the level of customer service you received whilst booking your trip?

7 stars

There was slow response to our questions and concerns. As we were formulating our trip there was give and take. Guidance from the travel company was minimal. All of the excursions were booked. Drivers were booked.

How happy are you overall with your itinerary?

9 stars

We essentially chose our own itinerary. We had hoped to avoid one night stays.

4. Are you happy with the pace of your itinerary - Did you have enough time in each location?

7 stars

Generally we had not enough time at each stay. Some of this was our own doing as we tried to pack too much into the visits. We were worn out each night.

5. Are you happy that your itinerary provided good value for money?

8 stars

This is difficult to assess monetarily. Certainly, the money spent at the hotels and for meals was in excess of that spent for other trips. The cost of the drivers plays a lot into this.

6. How happy are you with the information and travel documents provided prior to your departure?

5 stars

Everything was planned out as "draft" until the week of our trip. This left a large concern as we had paid all of the costs up front and had no certainty of actually being picked up at the airport in Dublin. Communication was scant and explained away as "computer issues".

7. How happy are you with the standard of hotels/accommodation that you stayed in?

5 stars

The hotel in Dublin had wonderful staff and the breakfast was good. The room was 10 ft X 10 ft and we scarcely had room to move around the bed.

The Lodge in Ashford was excellent.

The Killarney hotel was fine though dated. The staff was not attentive and once we came back to our room and found the door unlocked.

The hotel in Edinburgh was in a good location but we were placed in the annex section that had no access to an elevator. Our luggage had to be hauled up and down steps and we had to wend our way around long hallways to get to our room.

We stayed just one night at an inn in Pitlochry. Again, the room here was on the top floor and we had to haul our bags and ourselves up to the top floor. The room was fine and the meal there was adequate.

Thehotel in Portree was a disaster. We arrived to surly front desk attendants who could not accommodate us with dinner or appropriate breakfast reservations for our stay. We were told that they had sent the travel agency information stating that we needed to do this ahead of time, but they failed to do this for us or forward the hotel's email instructions. It turned out that the hotel did not have a large breakfast rush (perhaps because of the ornery front desk?) and we could eat at our leisure. The last morning the water failed at the hotel and there was no shower available.

The Cameron House was very nice. I would not recommend our first night restaurant.

8. How happy are you with the standard of transport, car hire and/or transfers included in your itinerary?

10 stars

The vehicles for transport were all nicely equipped and room enough for the 4 of us. The drivers were all on time, efficient, and pleasant.

9. How happy are you with the sightseeing and excursions included in your itinerary?

9 stars

The guide gave us an informative walking tour and insight into the town. She was on time and at the site described for meeting.

Kilmainham Gaol, Trinity College, the Book of Kells, and the Epic Irish Migration Museum were great tours. Guinness was interesting but crowded.

The Tullamore DEW distillery Tour was a highlight. Kylemore Abbey and Gardens were nice. We enjoyed the Doolin Ferry Cliffs of Moher tour and the visitor center. The Sheepdog demonstration was great as we met a world champion handler and dog team.

We had a capable and knowledgeable driver. When we asked questions he would generally have the answer. He did not go out of his way to show us spots on or just off the itinerary. We had to ask him to stop at the Cliffs of Kerry as I noticed a sign on the road. He spent a lot of time circumnavigating Connemara without actually going into the park. He did stop at Waterville Golf Links on request and shared a couple of nice spots for lunch.

In Edinburgh, we had a walking tour on arrival afternoon. The guide met us on time. The meeting place was very crowded. The tour of the old town was extensive and we had great insight into the history of its development. She gave us dinner recommendations which came in handy.

The Edinburgh Castle tour was self guided, but we were there on time and saw what we expected.

We left the Castle at 11:45 as directed and caught up with Skye for the Edinburgh Food tour. Apparently we were expected earlier as we got there at noon. The tour guide had already been in contact with our travel agent who texted our party wondering where we were. The tour itself was fun and the guide filled in a lot of information gaps. He gave us recommendations for dinner which we happily followed.

Another guide picked us up on time as we checked out of our hotel in Edinburgh. We found him a huge source of information. The tour at St. Andrews was eagerly anticipated and met all expectations. The gudie took us on the tour of the course. He was quite a character and very informative.

We were then taken to the Culloden Battlefield and then to Eilean Donan Castle which were both excellent visits. We then went to the Isle of Skye for 3 nights. Our driver was knowledgeable and was able to find us a restaurant to eat that evening absent assistance from the hotel staff and the agency.

The boat tour out of Portree was cancelled due to weather. Our driver took us on a tour of the Isle of Skye on his day off. Taliskers Distillery was crowded and it was difficult at times to understand the tour guide.

The Loch Katrine Ferry ride was OK. The staff was nice.

The Inverary Castle tour was beautiful. We actually met the Duchess of Argylle and have pictures to prove it.

The Stirling Castle tour was our last tour and we found that interesting as well.

Through it all our driver was informative and helped to fill our impressions of what we were looking at.

10. How happy are you with the food/restaurant reservations and recommendations provided in your departure pack?

1 star

This was a major fail. In spite of giving detailed instructions, none of our restaurants were arranged. This came to a head on the Isle of Skye. Why, given specific instruction from the hotel staff about breakfast reservation needs, the staff at the agency could not accomplish this for us defies comprehension. We gave them ample time to do this and they failed miserably. If not for our driver we may not have even been seated for dinner our first night on the Isle of Skye.

11. How likely is it that you would recommend this travel company to your family, friends or business associates

1 star

Very unlikely.

13. Could any part of your experience be improved?

If only the agency could communicate. We only heard from our agent when we were supposedly late for our food tour of Edinburgh and the final night as we were packing to leave for home. And then only by text. That is unacceptable. This was not our experience with Zicasso recommended vendors.