Amazing Ireland - Signature

Steven   -  Traveled, September 2023

A dazzling landscape, an explosive history, ruined monasteries, magnificent castles, and a friendly and hospitable people-all make Ireland a must on anyone’s bucket list. And Trafalgar made it even better with its itinerary of must-see places, reliable transportation, fine hotels, convivial multinational company, a superb guide, and an expert driver. I especially appreciated the combination of guided orientation tours and free time to explore the many places we visited according to our individual interests. Of course, given these diverse interests, we visited a few places that I might otherwise not have been inclined to visit. But, for the most part, I found those places interesting as well. Maeve was a great guide–knowledgeable, articulate, a fascinating storyteller with a fine singing voice when she occasionally regaled us with Irish song. In her dealings with the tour participants, she was patient, helpful, and empathetic. I was somewhat amazed that the activities and movements of fifty plus people, including many seniors, could be coordinated as smoothly and efficiently as it was. Our driver, Tom, expertly negotiated the bus through tight and demanding places, and he managed it with confidence and humor. The only negative feature of the tour was the lengthy time on the bus with fifty people, some of whom had colds, which they freely gave to me, giving me the opportunity to return the colds and receive them back with interest. However, the bus was well ventilated, so it could have been worse.

Source: Tour operator   Submitted: 10/04/2023

Mark   -  Traveled, August 2023

Great trip by Trafalgar

Source: Tour operator   Submitted: 08/30/2023

Patricia   -  Traveled, May 2023

Great tour, excellent tour director.

Source: Tour operator   Submitted: 06/01/2023

DJ   -  Traveled, June 2018

Our problems started when there was no one at the airport to meet us in Dublin. All other travel groups had guides with prominent signs greeting them as they excited their flights at an unfamiliar airport. Our group had no one for over an hour, and we had to seek out someone to assist us. We looked long and hard and found two young girls carrying notebooks (NO SIGNS!) with Trafalgar written in small font. Our guide Bridget and bus driver Patrick have been outstanding; however, there’s only so much they can do about lousy accommodations, repetitive breakfasts, and unsavory areas our hotels were in. The 48 people on our tour our absolutely wonderful, but Trafalgar has decided to load this tour to capacity making it rather crowded and uncomfortable. Many of the sights we have seen have been spectacular (Giant’s Causeway, Ring of Moher, Blarney Castle, and all of Belfast), but areas such as Galway and Cork (a crumbling, dive of a city) could definitely be left OFF the itinerary. All in all, I’d say this tour was just okay. We’ve accrued many additional expenses with “optional” tours and most meals on our own without any meal suggestions. Ireland is an amazing place, but I don’t think this has been an Amazing Tour.

Source: Tour operator   Submitted: 07/03/2018

Linda   -  Traveled, June 2016

Amazing Ireland My husband and I have been on numerous other tours on five continents as well as small boat cruises, all of which we enjoyed. We will not be repeating the Trafalgar experience. Trafalgar says the hotels are 4 or 5 star which they are not. Three hotels were Holiday Inn level, which we expected, one was very nice although the room was small, and three were lower level, including two in out of the way locations. The tour itself usually took us to one main sight in a city, and often we would not say was the major attraction, the other museums, churches, castles, forts, etc. were "on our own." The tour director did not inform us about the other possibilities in many cases, nor did she make recommendations for restaurants when we were on our own. Trafalgar bills itself as a lower cost alternative, but when you include the cost of Optional Experiences and entrance fees for other sights (not included in the tour), the cost rapidly escalates. For example, on our own we took “The Belfast Experience,” a walking tour with a guide that included high tea for GBP 15 per person, one of the highlights of our tour, while the Optional Experience with fish and chips and a beer was GBP 45.

Source: Tour operator   Submitted: 09/21/2016

Jackie   -  Traveled, May 2013

The guide was amazing, accommodations nice, comfortable transportation. Couldn't ask for a nicer experience!

Source: Tour operator   Submitted: 12/25/2015

Pauline   -  Traveled, May 2015

We found Trafalgar to be very professional and fun! We were with a fantastic group of people from lots of different countries. Our Tour Guide and Driver were the best! Have done 2 Trafalgar bus tours and will do many more! The best time!

Source: Tour operator   Submitted: 11/23/2015

Valerie   -  Traveled, October 2023

The natural beauty of Ireland is what saved this trip. I hate to submit a negative review, but honestly, I would never do a Trafalgar trip again. We had 3 different tour guides. I understand that life gets in the way sometimes and family issues do take precedence, so no foul there, but the guides also weren’t great. The second one, who was with us for one day was actually really good, but then she left us with a woman who did it out of a sense of duty, but bless her, she had things going on in her life and just didn’t have the energy. She had some affectations that were annoying, like repeating everything she said, but mostly she just was quite humourless. The biggest issue with the guides was that they had no emergency plan. The first one gave us his number and told us not to call “unless there was blood!” Really. We had an elderly couple with health issues go missing. They called him. He didn’t answer. Great. No plan was made available to people about what to do in case of an emergency. The guides who replaced the first one did not have a list of names and contact details for tour participants. That’s awful! Good thing we were in an English speaking country. On the plus side, our second driver (yes, they changed too!) was excellent and he did a masterful job with a sense of humour. Excursions: A few were good, some were a complete waste of time. I suggest a list of excursions be disseminated for each place we were staying with a good description of those events. Suggestions for alternate options for those who weren’t interested would be beneficial. For example, we had such little time in Belfast and spent hours at the Titanic museum. It was ok but there is so much interesting history to discover there. The JFK Arboretum was completely a waste of time—a 20 minute talk by a not very eloquent guide about a few trees planted by the Kennedy clan. The visitors centre with quotes and photos of JFK (whom I do genuinely admire) was of an era. Those days are not much in vogue anymore. The list of optional excursions had no explanation of what they were. The dates were also incorrect but rather than print up an updated accurate one, they stuck with that so people were always confused about what date was which event. The poor guide also did not have accurate information about who had paid the first guide for these excursions and she got left holding the bag for some of them. Terrible system. Some accommodations were ok, but mostly they were lacking. The Maldron Hotels had such tiny twin beds that my feet hung over the end, and I’m only 5’6. The rooms were very warm most places. I understand no ac, but perhaps a lighter cover and windows left open to air out the rooms? Kee’s Hotel was pretty but very outdated, the International was nice and the best was the Maritime Hotel. Breakfast was very good everywhere and dinners provided were good. There was no effort made to help people get to know each other. I wasn’t looking for friends but at the welcome event, name tags with country of residence would have been nice. The majority of participants were American (who seem to show little curiosity about anyone else) but it took time to get to know where others were from and anything else about them. A simple icebreaker would have been good. The hurling lesson was excellent, and Malzards Pub was a real treat. They showed genuine passion for their country and were really grateful for the visitors. The trip to Taylor’s was forgettable—an obvious opportunity for the owner to try to sell stuff and the show was mediocre. Kate Kearney’s Cottage was good and Celtic Steps was great. So there were some good things. A lot of days we were up very early and really had no need to be. I appreciated being early to the Cliffs of Moher to miss the crowds but otherwise it was often unnecessary. Overall, I was disappointed. I appreciated the beauty of the country but would not do another bus tour, and definitely not one with Trafalgar. I have heard that Rabbies small groups is a better option, but I think I will just continue to drive myself. Better value I think.

Source: Tour operator   Submitted: 10/16/2023

Yolande   -  Traveled, August 2024

There was too much time on the bus vs stopping and seeing the little towns along the route. Also, there should be an itinerary of all the 'extras' in the tour listing so that one can budget for the costs of attending those events. Lastly, there should be a requirement to wear an N95 mask if someone has a cough to help reduce the spread of germs.

Source: Tour operator   Submitted: 09/12/2024

Gail Q.   -  Traveled, May 2024

The tour was disappointing. One hotel lacked fresh fruit. A second hotel was under construction. The tour guide was unprofessional. I recommend avoiding Trafalgar after this experience.

Source: Tour operator   Submitted: 08/11/2024