CIE Tours International

Pros: The frustration of dealing with CIE will not kill you.
Cons: Too numerous to mention briefly. Read our review.

We were taking our 82 year old father to Ireland. Being novice travelers, eight of us family members booked a Go-As-You-Please CIE Tour where you drive yourself and the airfare, car rental and B&B vouchers are all included in the price. We paid an ...

Pros: Famous name for Irish tours.
Cons: Expensive; some needed info was not conveyed.

About our tour I'll start by saying that we are not very experienced international travelers, thus certain naive assumptions were made. ...When our travel agent sang many praises to CIE TOURS International, after briefly glancing at costlier ...

Pros: A lot of fun.
Cons: enough sheep and cows. ready to go home by the 5th day

If you are getting into Dublin first thing in the morning, you won't get a room until at least noon. Book a room for the day before. Mespil Hotel served it's purpose. Walking distance to anything you needed or wanted. Nice staff. Guinness stop wasn't ...

Pros: Tour guide and tour bus driver; Knappogue Castle banquer, Galway extension, Waterford Factory
Cons: Dinner at 6:30. Hotel discrimination against "bus" people, but MINOR issue in a great trip.

We just returned from Aug 24 Irish Heritage/Galway extension trip with our two daughters (21 and 16) and had a wonderful time! My daughters were apprehensive about a "bus" trip, but it turned out to be just the thing for a short family vacation and an ...

Pros: flexible, good value
Cons: Weather (not much CIE can do about that)

In March 2006, my husband and I spent a week in Ireland on the "go as you please" plan. We opted to NOT pre-book the first night, as we wanted to go to Kinsale directly that day. We had emailed/booked our B&B there ahead of time and the following night ...

Pros: All inclusive. Intelligent Guide. First Class accommodations. Adjustable for group's needs.
Cons: Lunch on own.

I am the tour coordinator for a busy senior center. Our trips are known for high quality. This is in reference to our first CIE tour. Arrangements were made through another tour company. Upon arrival in Ireland I became aware of many differences in the itinerary I received. The CIE Driver/Guide and company worked very hard to rearrange the tour to include activities the group was expecting. I am sure the group did not have any idea how many late night hours and rest stop phone calls it took to make the tour reflect what another company mistakenly offered as our tour. I alone was aware of what happened. I would have been very disappointed if the group was alerted to any problems with the trip. Not only did the driver/guide make the tour feel flawless, as it should, but also offered endless history and folklore in a manner that appealed to the entire group. I did not hear one single negative comment regarding the tour, driver/guide, destination or accommodations during the entire trip.

Pros: Great Hotels, great restaurants, smooth travel, knowledgeable guides/drivers, all wrapped around a jam-packed itinerary.
Cons: Eliminate the "tourist-trap" areas. Don't need them on a "get to know" trip

I, too, traveled alone on 8/5 to 8/13 through London, Coltswold, Strafford, the Lake District, Edinburgh, the Highlands and Glasgow - all via CIE Tours. It was wonderful. Rushed? Maybe a tad, but with all we saw, it was so worth it. The Hotels were fantastic, almost every meal was excellent, our tour guide was knowledgeable, smiling and a great driver. Yes, he rushed us now and then, but he also made sure we saw everything promised and even more when possible. We, too, could not stop under two hours each time, but we were warned. Expensive? Well, with the dollar vs the pound being what it it, of course it was expensive. But I wanted a "taste" of the UK, since it was my first visit, and wanted to know what there was to see so next time I could thoroughly enjoy specific areas and CIE TOURS gave me exactly what I paid for - a dream vacation. I'll definitely use them when I book my "taste of Ireland" trip. Gloria M

Pros: joe clancy, john costello, the intinerary, all of it!
Cons: none

We recently returned from a CIE tour Irish Heritage. Words can't explain what a WONDERFUl trip we had. Our tour guide was Joe Clancy. His knowledge and sense of humour made the trip so memorable! Our driver was John Costello, he could drive the bus on the narrowest roads! Both were wonderful, every detail was taken care of, great food, places to stay, things to see! We weren't rushed at all, plenty of time at each site. Joe would tell us the history in such a way it was easy to remember. He would sing and tell stories and play music! John was a wonderful person, would take the time to talk to you, was very down to earth!We saw castles, the cliffs of Mohr, went through the Ring of Kerry, saw Waterford being made, went to the Jameson Distillery, Abbey Tavern, Kissed the Blarney stone and so much more! My only complaint is that it didn't last longer! CIE is the only way to go!

Pros: The landscape,culture & lovely Irish people (especially Ned Roche,) made this a memorable trip!!!!
Cons: The only disappointment was Foggarty's(Dublin). The food and service were not very good.

My husband, son and I recently took a C.I.E. tour through Ireland. We were traveling with twenty other Americans that we already knew. It was a great trip!

Our tour guide, Ned Roche, really added to the enjoyment of the trip. He was knowledgeable, friendly, funny and yet very professional.

Ireland was breathtakingly beautiful, the people were lovely and the overall experience was wonderful!!