Custom Ireland Vacation

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!

This was the first part of a trip to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary. It included our children and grandchildren aged 15, 14, and 10; nine of us in total for eight days all over Ireland in an 11-person van. It was memorable beyond words. It was planned terrifically by Zicasso's travel company, with one exception, and our driver/guide was exceptional. We appreciated his knowledge, humor, and flexibility.

The tours and activities were excellent. We especially liked the Jeanie Johnston famine ship tour, the EPIC museum, the Book of Kells, the sheep dog tour, feeding a baby lamb, the falcon demonstration, and the many historic sites we saw.

Our hotel in Dublin, the hotel in Cork, and most especially the hotel in County Clare were fantastic and well worth the cost. The hotel in Kerry was good as well, but unless you are determined to be in downtown Galway, do not go to the one near Eyre Square. We should have planned to stay an extra day at the hotel/castle and drive into Galway. That was the only planning mistake. There is no way that hotel deserves a four-star rating; two-and-a-half for me.

We are now on the second part of the trip to Northern Ireland without the family, just my husband and I, and except for the rainy day that cancelled a planned boat trip, so far so good. We also have an excellent driver/guide.

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!

The travel company's contact was helpful and responsive. 

I provided a detailed review for them and I am copying you on it. 

In regard to our Dublin hotel:First, our cab driver from the airport had NO IDEA, never heard of this property, we had no address and neither did he and was annoyed. We finally found it but it was difficult. Putting the address of all properties on the final itinerary would be very helpful!!That said the staff was very friendly, we arrived at 11a.m, they served us tea and then had our room ready by 12:30.They were very helpful, made a dinner reservation at a restaurant which was excellent.  The chef/women who prepared the breakfast was very friendly and the food was excellent!! everything, the tea from tea leaves, the homemade brown bread, all of it.The first thing of note negatively was the cleanliness of the property from the lobby on. The floors were not swept,  and the overall feel was definitely not up to standard. We were in the back building and it was dark hall to our first floor room and the hall steps and area out side our room, where there are 2 chairs and large table had not been swept, cleaned in awhile. The bed for comfortable, good pillows but again not real clean and we had a leak in the ceiling from a problem shower on the second floor. Fortunately it leaked down in the entrance just inside the door to the room. The apologized profusely and thought they had fixed the leak. It was then found to be from another location and we had not more problems. I have notes at home on the rest of the trip that I do want to share but this is as you requested, specific to this property.

Hi again,I am curious what your other clients complained about in regard to their stay at the hotel in Dublin?That said the rest of my review:Dublin:We like the Pig's Ear for dinner very goodNever used tickets for Kilmainham Gaol, timing was not good to get there and back to get ready for dinner. Just didn't work for us. In fact we never used any reservation you made for us for the whole trip. Timing and where we were just never synced up. Did buy a Dublin tour and enjoyed a short tour but then bought a tram pass for a ride.Visited Trinity and the Book of Kells which we really enjoyed and lines were not that long.Ate at a restaurant night 2 on the recommendation of the hotel and it was excellent and we could walk there. Picked up by our driver at 9 AM on Sunday. He had a difficult time locating the hotel but everyone helped him get there!Headed to CORKEnjoy the Kilkenny Castle tour.Did go to Rock of Cashel, disappointed other that the view. We definitely could have skipped that other than a brief stop at the local pub!The hotel in Cork was a nice hotel although tough to walk anywhere due to the location. We ate there first night and it was very good. View was greatBreakfast was good but powdered eggs! Good buffet choices otherwise.Went to downtown Cork for dinner the second headed in a taxi to a cafe when the driver told us it was an ALL VEGAN restaurant and the chef was well known but my husband was NO WAY and we needed to get a recommendation from the driver and then chose one of his restaurants in the area which was good. Off to Kenmare:Loved the hotel--room was really nice, big comfortable. Would go there again. Great breakfast and could order from the menu. Very accomodating. Walked to everything. Nothing opens early!Did not kiss the Blarney stone my husband didn't want to waitDid not tour Muckross but took in the beauty and took photos of both places.Drive thru Killarney and walked aroundWent back to Kenmare. Ate at hotel first night and then a restaurant the next night which was very good. Enjoyed some Irish music in one of the pubs in Kenmare. Nice town much quieter than Killarney. Loved the Beara Peninsula, stopped in Castletownbere and shopped. Left for Galway;Cliffs of Moher beautiful but after 35 years so different and commercialized. The hotel in Galway nice good location. Room very small and the shower did not work properly only had boiling hot water. No maintenance on site to repair and after a bit of a struggle they moved us to a suite on the 5th floor, so hot, windows don't open wide. Would have been great if they did not have a heat wave. Breakfast was very good. Ate at a restaurant on the Corner which was very good. Next nigh at a local place. Local pub was nice to stop in and get a drink. Went to Croagh Patrick and walked just up to the statue. Beautiful views. Westport is very nice.We loved Connemara. Stopped in Cong so my husband could see John Wayne, and the site of the Quiet Man filming. He loved this. Beautiful area.Stopped at Kylemore again beautiful. Would go back to this area.Never used the boat tour tickets. We wanted to head back and the tour was not for another 1.5 hrs and we were done!We ate breakfast and headed toward Malahide and we would have had to hang around to go to the Monastery so we just drove past and did not use these tickets either. Malahide. Like the hotel BUT in a front room and all we heard were buses pulling up to the front door off and on at night and music so loud from the down the street until 1:30 AM! We could sing along that is how clear the words were thru our window. Easy drive to the airport, pretty town, nice shops and we ate in a local  pub NOT the tourist pub because the hotel staff recommend another place that is more local and not so crowded. So it was a good trip and the hotels were good, all the tickets were a waste, and while we stayed 2 nights everywhere ( which worked very well) I still think my husband got tired with the driving a couple of the days. We even cut off 70 miles by paying to take the ferry across the Shannon. The driver was good, informative and the car was comfortable.I hope this helps you improve the experience for others. Regards, Pat