CIE Tours

We just completed a Taste of Scotland/​Ireland guided tour by CIE, (purchased from San Francisco, CA, USA) and it was excellent. The motor coach was comfortable with AC and bathroom, and the hotels were quite attractive. The guides were excellent — courteous and knowledgeable, and it was well organized.
Highly recommended.

The BFF always has the most brilliant vacation ideas. I usually get a call telling me where and when the next destination is. This one was the best one and we owe it all to CIE Tours. Initially, I was a bit skeptical. I picture older married couples or groups hopping on and off a bus, having a great time but it wasn’t my cup of tea.
Boy, was I wrong!
We did the Taste of Ireland tour and it was AMAZING! Dick was our host/​guide/​story teller and after the tour, he felt like our new friend. The tour was well designed, maximizing the sights around Ireland. I feel like we couldn’t have experienced what we did without CIE guiding us through. We saw castles, sheep, incredible landscape and had a terrific group touring with us. The coach was comfortable and clean. There were more than enough stops for shopping, eating and exploring! I loved that there was a lot of down time for us to have mini adventures as well! We went to Ring of Kerry, Killarney, Cliffs of Moher, Bunratty and of course Dublin.
Dick did such a brilliant job, we couldn’t have been happier. We’ll be using CIE in the future and already started looking into the Scotland tours!
I highly recommend them!

May 21, 2015 we began CIE’s Southern Supreme 9 day tour. It was very well designed, we were on the go all the time, visited many interesting sites and covered alot of ground. Best of all, we had great weather. We stayed in fabulous hotels and over the top elegant castles and in most cases 2 nights at each location. I can hardly believe how much we saw in 9 days! Everything was provided for and I always felt very secure. The breakfast buffets each morning were amazing and the places we had dinner were diverse and sometimes included entertainment. There were always several entrée choices. There were 23 people on our tour many of whom were near retirement age. Our driver who navigated nearly impossible roads without incident in a brand new large bus was very knowledgable but was expected to act as both driver abd guide for the group. We would have preferred having both a driver who could concentrate on the road and a guide who could have concentrated on providing information and answering our questions. There were times we could tell our driver was quite frustrated… But then again, who wouldnt be???
Each day, our bus followed another large CIE bus that was doing an extended version of our tour that included Northern Ireland. That group only consisted of about 12 people but still occupied a 40 passenger bus. We always ate together and visited most of the same sights. It seemed to me they could have combined both groups in 1 bus. We found at times we had to wait for the other bus before we could disembark. Also our bus should have provided bottled water for everyone.

My husband became ill toward the end of the trip and required medical attention. We were so impressed that Ashford Castle staff arranged an immediate doctor appt for him, transportation to and from the appt. and followed up with him several times.
All in all, it was a great trip and an excellent value for the money. I don’t recommend renting a automobile in Ireland. Roads are not well marked, are very narrow and they drive on the right side of the road We booked this trip thru Affordable Tours.

Thank you CIE Tours! I just flew back yesterday from doing the 9 days — 8 nights «2014 Irish Pubs & Folklore» Tour. First of all Matt Nolan our tour guide was fantastic and his customer service is incredible. I went on this tour with my Mom and we made many friends on the tour as well. I learned so much about Ireland on this trip and there is no other way to do Ireland than with CIE Tours. Every day was a new adventure and I loved everything we did. Some highlights of mine were the Cliffs of Moher, Blarney Castle «Kissing the Blarney Stone», Guinness Tour, Brazenhead in Dublin, Achill Island with lunch at Beehive Restaurant, Walking Tour in Kilkenny. I loved Ireland and it is such a beautiful country. Thank you so much CIE Tours for an incredible vacation I will never forget!
Meals: Everything was delicious from Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Kate Kearney’s Cottage had an incredible Fried Brie Salad and Brazenhead night was great as well!
Hotels: Favorites were Ashling Hotel in Dublin and Wyatt Hotel in Westport
Tips: Exchange for euros in Ireland when you land, Sign up for the Horizon Tax Free Shopping card that CIE mails you before your trip. I received a great amount back before departing Dublin from using this card with purchases in Ireland. Bring comfortable walking shoes and clothing.

I did this tour for free as a guest of someone who won it. The name of the tour was «A Taste of Ireland.» It was a four day adventure across Ireland, including Dublin, the Cliffs of Moher, the Ring of Kerry, Killarney, and Bunratty.
Liam was a great tour guide. He was funny and very knowledgable about Ireland. He even sang! He narrated the tour while driving. We had another tour guide for Dublin along with a walking tour of the Dublin Castle.
The hotel in Dublin, the DT (Doubletree) was not cute at all. They were undergoing construction, and there were men working in the hall when we checked in and when we left. The hotels in Killarney and Bunratty were small but fine.
This is great for older people and couples. Most of the places we went were older people and couples. When we got to Killarney, there were nothing but tourists in the town.
Breakfast and dinner was included with the tour. It was a great way to save money. We skipped lunch for most of the tour.
The dinners were in the hotel except for two, the Merry Ploughboy in Dublin and the Bunratty Castle Medieval banquet.
CIE is government run and is the same entity as the local buses.

I just came back from the Irish Legends tour (9 day), and my friend and I absolutely were blown away by this tour. We are in our 20’s/early 30’s and even though we were the youngest people on the trip, it did not make any difference at all. The people we met on our tour were amazing and adventurous, so unless you have some prejudice against people over 40, then don’t take ANY bus tours to anywhere.
I can’t say enough good things about CIE as a company. They were organized, professional, and went above and beyond. Literally after you get off the plane in Dublin, everything is taken care of, you don’t even need to think or stress out over anything. Our tour guide was Patrick O’Reardon, who had been doing tours for 17 years… if you enjoy history and a good conversation about the culture, politics, and the lifestyle of the Irish, then try to request him.
THE PRO’S
Right from the start, you are escorted from the airport to your tour and it starts right away. All activities and excursions are included, there is nothing hidden in the fine print. The places that are arranged to visit were impressive, the hotels were fabulous, and of course, the tour guide was wonderful. You learn more about Ireland than you even thought possible; it was a well rounded tour.
THE CON’S
You literally see half the country in 8 days (you’re saying, that’s a con?). BUT be prepared to get up early and run around all day. As stated before, I am in my mid-20’s and at the end of the day I was pretty much exhausted.
Please note: If you are visiting Ireland with the intention of getting drunk every night, DON’T take a bus tour. After running around all day, sometimes we wouldn’t have free time until about 9:00, then you’ll have to be at breakfast at 7:30 and be on a bus for a couple hours in the morning.
TIPS
Exchange your US dollars right away either before you leave the US or as soon as you get to whichever city you plan to visit first. Bring a travel pillow, you’re on the bus every day, so you end up nodding off at times. Bring snacks, although we have 2 meals included every day (you’re on your own for lunch), I found that I needed a pick-​me-​up between meals and you don’t always get the opportunity to stop the bus just because you get hungry. Bring two pairs of sneakers, there is a lot of walking and standing, but that’s to be expected on any type of tour. Bring a water bottle and fill up at the tap as frequently as you can, buying bottled water gets expensive. If you are a vegetarian, you’ll have to warm up to the idea of eating some meat every so often, it’s not a vegetarian friendly country.
There are a lot of companies out there, so if you’re considering CIE and have additional questions, feel free to message me

2.5 stars
I did a week long tour of Ireland: Dublin, Co. Kerry, Co. Clare, Co. Galway, and back to Dublin. It was called «A Taste of Ireland». I am glad that I did the bus tour because I did see a lot of the country in a short amount of time, but I feel mislead by the travel agent.
I am a single traveler in my early 30s. I was assured over and over that there are always other single travelers on the tours and that the age demographic is diverse; neither was true. There were a few young girls with their grandparents, a 21 year old couple, and pretty much everyone else was over the age of 55. I guess maybe I should have known better about bus tours, but… I feel like I should be able to take someone’s word.
If you are not comfortable travelling alone or are in the above described age demographic, then by all means, you should book a tour with them. if you are some place in the rage of 25 – 45 do yourself a favor and do it on your own no matter how hesitant you are about travelling alone. Remember, they speak English there so you will be able to speak with someone and figure it all out.
The tour guide, Tadhg Murphy, was great. He was friendly, informative and not full of Blarney (based on my knowledge of the country and lore, he was accurate and didn’t engage in too much puffery as I’ve been told some tour guides are prone to)
At least now i can say I’ve done Ring of Kerry, Killarney, etc and can go back and do it my way with a little more sense of adventure.