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12 day CIE Tours- Irish Odyssey-Guided Motor Coach

****************Started and ended in Dublin**************

This was my first experience with CIE Tours and would travel with them again. I chose this tour because of the itinerary. It was very comprehensive and many of ‘my must sees’ were on this tour. Also they provided a nice back pack (small for under the seat) and document holder.

My main objective was to see everything I could on this trip. It has been 20 years since I last visited Ireland and only saw a few of the sights.

This trip was to SEE as much as possible. I do have Irish heritage, and even though it was not my main reason, it was fun while there as I was asked several times if I had “Irish roots”. Since everyone wants to be Irish, especially on St. Patrick’s Day, you are made to feel extremely welcome by the Irish people.

My highlights- which are ‘must sees’

• Cong – where the movie from 1952 “The Quiet Man”  with John Wayne -was filmed- react of scenes from the movie, very cute and quaint village
• Cabra Castle- our castle stay which was a great experience and recommendation when visiting Ireland
• Titanic Belfast -visit- was spectacular and 9 interactive galleries – history of the building of the Titanic in Belfast
• City of Belfast-very interesting history,considering still under British rule
• Giants Causeway- which is 60 million years old
• Cliffs of Moher- breath taking view
• Blarney Castle
• Sheep herding in Dingle- so fun with the Border Collies and watching them work- got to hold 2 week old puppies
• Interacting with the Irish people- always friendly and helpful

Pros:

• Fully guided tour- watched the beautiful countryside and someone else drove
• Motor coach comfortable and plenty of leg room- rotation of seats daily so everyone had a turn in front
• All bags handled ++++
• Most meals included – a lot of potatoes
• Optional Tours not offered as most options included
• Most hotels on tour were great and good location – only 2 were not well located but our tour guide made sure we had transportation to town and back

Cons:

• Quick paced but we knew this- 4 stays were two nights -rest of tour were 1 night stays
• Dunquin-Blasket Centre was a waste of time and un-interesting
• 2^nd Glass Factory- Connemara Crystal unnecessary- already saw Waterford Crystal Factory which was far better
• Belleeck Pottery Factory- just ok
• Could have used one more night in Dublin as we were rushed and did not have time to see Trinity College or Book of Kells

Contact Linda Rigg at 1.800.683.1556 for information on your next vacation to Ireland!

Tags: Blarney Castle, CIE Tours, Dublin, Ireland, motorcoach, Travel Agent

This entry was posted on Monday, December 12th, 2016 at 12:17 pm and is filed under Destination, Ireland, Tour, Travel Agent, Travel Type. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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