06/14/25 - 06/22/25 was my tour dates for the Tuscan Treasures with Cinque Terre package. I stayed at the Grand Hotel Croce di Malta. We had the delightful, educational, welcoming, fun packed experience to have Andreia Leal as our Tour Director. I won't this trip on a game show called Let's Make A Deal with Wayne Brady, so needless to say this was a once in a lifetime experience and opportunity for me. I was allowed to bring one person which was my teenage daughter Freddie Lynn and we paid for a third person, my Dad James to also come. After all, we would be spending Father's Day in Italy! Pretty amazing. From day 1 our tour was exquisitely planned and we were given full details of meet up times, daily activities and all we needed to know. We had a small group of 12 members so we felt comfortable and like a family straight away. Especially with Andreia giving us all the inside knowledge from her, not only being born in that area, but going back and being academically trained to get her degrees and exactly what she does. Our tour and time spent in Italy would not have been half of what it was without Andreia. She truly is a very special and kind human that I will treasure my time with her forever and wanted to let CIE Tours and its Management know what type of employees that they have in the field. Every single Ancient site, Farmhouse, Or activity that was planned for us was filled with history and education, along with a lot of fun activities and extra information. I truly felt part of the history and understood the current climates of the communities we visited, again; due to Andreia and the other guides within each city. I always felt safe and secure At each new location and Andreia Was always watching out and over us to ensure we were safe and kept together in a group. Which sometimes is not easy to do with so many beautiful sites to take in, everyone tends to wander off. Lollllll. Each day before we left each other Andreia would explain the next day and answer any questions we had. We always knew exactly where to be and what time to be there. The tour itself was beyond my imagination. All the ancient sites, architecture, history; it was breathtaking and humbling to know I walked the same steps and pathways as some of the greatest minds God has blessed our planet with. Our driver Mr. Silvio was always on time and again, most careful with the bus and passengers. He was a nice and funny guy too. There were bees near the last farm we visited and he fearlessly battled them as we entered the bus as to not have any of the bees enter as well. It was funny, we were all safe and no bees ended up in the bus, thankfully. I cannot thank you enough for having employees such as Andreia Leal. She is professional, kind, funny and made our entire tour memories we will never forget. I have been HIGHLY encouraging everyone who has asked about my trip to book with you because as much as I can describe and show photos, it does no justice to actually being there and experiencing that much history in one area! Also to have the Tour Director Andreia Leal made it an even better experience that I thank you from the bottom of my heart. If you have any questions please feel free to reply to this email. I would love for Andreia, her supervisor and management to see this compliment about this tour and Andreia Leal the Tour Director Misti L. Harrelson read more

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My husband and I did Legends of Ireland 10 day tour. I would never recommend this tour because you are on the bus soooo much and little time at each highlight. Example, 1 1/2 hour drive to get ferry to Aran Island, then 50 minutes on ferry after bus tour you have 1 hour to wait for the ferry , etc. After traveling almost 2 hours from Galway to Dublin, we get to the hotel in time to change and go to fairwell dinner another hour away! the dinner was terrible and the music was not great. basiclly we got to see highlights of Ireland and were on the bus a lot. The hotels were very nice, but we did not have much time to enjoy them. ONe of the tours was a visit to Moriarty's a store owned by CIE. There are plenty of other places to shop I don't think we need to waste time to go to this one read more

We trusted CIE to coordinate and choreograph our bucket-list trip of a lifetime to Scotland and Ireland, and the company delivered exactly as advertised. We were beneficiaries of their expert planning, meticulous execution, professional expertise, and solid value for the money. " Taste of Scotland and Ireland" in mid May 2023 delivered exactly as advertised on the web site and the printed brochure - right down to the word "taste" and the descriptor "lively pace." Taste meant a smattering of sites and activities; some left us wishing we had time to stay longer for a more immersive experience. Lively pace may relate to the sometimes early wake-up times, the frequent packing-to-relocate (about an equal measure of one-night and two-night stays) and the sometimes long bus rides as the itinerary demanded. Note that never were we more than two hours without a bio-break bathroom stop), and often not more than 90 minutes between them. Included were all breakfasts, most dinners and some lunches, admission fees where applicable and locality-expert guides to share insights not otherwise available. The meals were solid and in line with the price point of the tour (we could have chosen either a more lavish and more economical company than the one recommended by our travel agent). Our cash outlay largely was for those meals not provided by CIE and for tips to the driver/guide and various specialty guides. As overseas vacations go, this was pretty cost-predictable and cost-controlled. Our charter bus (they call them coaches there) sat about 50 people and our group of 23 could spread out all over the bus, which may have been an artifact of our May booking. It could be busier over the summer. It had (usually quite balky, admittedly) wifi but otherwise was quite comfortable with USB chargers at every seat. CIE wisely implements a number of policies borne of an effort to maximized fairness - the daily seat rotation was an example. Many entrance fees to special venues were included so as to be invisible and transparent to us. The hotels were good to very good overall. Most but not all had plumbing of modern design. Most but not all had airconditioning. Most but not all had king sized beds and rooms of adequate design, layout and furnishing. All seemed safe. The breakfasts were largely ample and curiously identical. One star held back based on uneven hotel experiences in a couple of spots and unnecessarily early departures from sites that really could have used another hour or so. Ex: The Titanic Experience in Belfast - the ship did sink, right? We had to leave before we got to that part! The bottom line is that this experience met our needs and expectations but is not for everyone. Some may overlook the implication of "Taste" and "lively pace" and be flummoxed by the "bags outside your rooms by 6:50am" sort of thing, or the inadequacy of time to fully explore a museum. However, there was much more room for error than for improvement. Trust CIE to get the details right, if this sort of vacation is what you seek. read more

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Went to Ireland with 26 coworkers spouses. CIE tours was spot on and our Driver Austin Mc Ardle was fabulous. Very knowledgeable, and interactive. I cannot recommend him high enough for a driver/tour guide. Heck, we have made up a song to sign for him. If you plan a trip, Ask for him. Austin, You're the BEST!!! Insurance Doctor (Virginia) read more

Just returned from an 11-day Taste of Scotland and Ireland tour with CIE Tours - amazing trip! Our Scotland guide, Heather, was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about Scotland. She had everyone on the bus speaking Scottish Gaelic by the time we took the ferry over to Belfast (much to the chagrin of the Irish driver, George - ha!). Once in Ireland, George pulled double duty as driver and Tour guide. His love for his homeland only elevated his knowledge of the Irish landscape and history. Both he and Heather always made sure that we were fully aware of the schedule and rolled with a few changes due to the weather. The local shows that were part of the itinerary were very enjoyable, especially the Medieval dinner at Bunratty castle. The busy itinerary did not leave much free time in many places, but just getting to visit those places was absolutely worth it. Also made some great friends along the way - tripmates and locals, alike! Highly recommended! read more

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We did the Best of Ireland tour with CIE, Leslie (Les) was our driver. Very knowledgeable and great sense of humor (dry but funny) trip is very well organized and timed well. Amount of time spent at each site was perfect, not too much not too little. Bus was clean, trip was smooth, some hotels better than others but overall an excellent trip! One of the best parts of the tour was the Irish National Stud and Gardens. read more

We just did the irish gold tour and was less than impressed. The guide on the bus and the driver were good the trip wasn't organized. We had some good stops but could have spent more time at places like Blarney castle. We made two stops at pubs and to be honest with the hundreds of pubs in Ireland I don't need that as part of the tour. We could stop for lunch at probably good places, a hotel lunch buffet isn't one of them especially since we had to pay for lunch. I didn't come all the way to Ireland to have one of the stops be to shop, there was nothing special about it. We stopped in waterford, everything was closed and we could have skipped that tour. I would recommend driving yourself or try a different tour. read more

This is the company we took our Ireland tour. They took us all over Ireland. The rooms were about 3 star level rooms, not the newest of accommodations but clean and comfortable enough. Took us to the Waterford tour and let us watch some of the crystal being blown. Went to the Connemara marble factory. Had to make a stop to make the awkward drop backwards to kiss the Blarney Stone. We stopped along the road so many times during our travels for pics and such, lost count and locations too. We got to see a traditional Irish dance while eating some yummy food. Our hotels and our transportation were all planned and taken care of. We had a tour group of about 41+ people. Our tour guide was fun and informative. I would definitely use their services again. Our personal driver for all us was Dermot, he was such a cool, funny, boisterous and amiable driver and guide. We all adored him throughout our tour and he made it fantastic. read more

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I recently returned from a CIE tour of Iceland. While the sites were breathtaking and our tour guide (who was not a CIE employee but brought in at the last minutes) was amazing, the CIE experience was terrible. The lack of communication with CIE was appalling. We never knew exactly what we were doing even though our tour guide tried numerous times for clarification with CIE. Things promised were not delivered (i.e. a boat tour looking for the northern lights, a bus with USB ports, luggage portage on the last day, an outdoor hot tub, northern lights wake up service, what meals were included etc.) To make matters worse, the hotel accommodations ranked more as lower end budget hotels--in particular Fosshotel Nupar which we were stuck at for two nights was filthy. The bedding while clean (I hope) was stained which was disconcerting, the room safe was inoperable and not fixed. When we dropped something on the floor and had to retrieve it from under the bed, the filth beneath the bed was nasty. Ostensibly, this hotel was picked because it was out in the middle of nowhere to facilitate viewing the northern lights. And yet, there were not wake up calls available for that. In fact, there weren't any phones in the room. There was no way to notify guests if there were Northern Lights (which was one of the main points of this tours.) The Hotel Selfoss was supposed to have had an outdoor hot tub to be able to watch the Northern Lights if they were visible. Well, the hotel did not have an outdoor hot tub. Also given the location of the hotel, I'm not sure they would have been visible there. For the price of this tour, the accommodations at Hotel Selfoss were, at best, mediocre. Iceland was on my bucket list, and I saved for a long, long time to be able to travel there with my daughter. For the price (and compared to other tours I have taken) this was a very overpriced tour which under-delivered in every single capacity and at every single turn. The only saving grace was the natural beauty of Iceland, but I'm certain that if CIE could have ruined that, they would have. read more

GEORGE MURRAY IS THE BEST! George drove us around Ireland for the majority of our trip and he made it the best experience ever. Our first driver was not a good match for us but luckily CIE made sure to get us a new guide and he redeemed the issue and more. He was so kind, knowledgeable and a great driver. We felt safe and comfortable with him. As a father himself, he was also so great with my 2 young nephews. He treated them to chocolates and they were calling him Uncle George by the end of the trip. If you're booking a trip with CIE, try to get George! I'm sure there's many great tour guides out there, but George is definitely the best! read more

Went on a 10 day trip. Was amazing. Hotels were great and ready for us upon arrival. Stops were good, many different types of things to see. Our driver Franky Mulcahy went above and beyond for us. read more

We used CIE for an amazing tour of Ireland. The food and the locals were amazing. Here is my issue: we were told that another CIE tour from Scotland would be joining us in Dublin. The majority of those travelers had some type of respiratory virus and joined our tour. Tour director knew they were sick as she pointed out pharmacies at every tour stop. Every scheduled breakfast, lunch or dinner was restricted to certain tables since we had limited reserved seating and that virus spread like wildfire among the original Dublin travelers. My understanding is that CIE has a policy that "sick" passengers are not permitted on the tour. My wife got the "sickness" and I got COVID. Ruined such an amazing place. I placed a customer service ticket with CIE on 21 May 2024 and have heard nothing back. I will probably see Bigfoot before a response. read more

We just came home from CIE's 8-Day Irish Pub Tour. We stayed in 5 hotels for one night and one hotel for two nights. All were very good except for a service issue the day of our arrival at The Ballsbridge. Except for the Armada, all hotels have a great location within walking distance of more than you'll ever need. The Armada was a seaside hotel but it's pretty scenery & tranquility made up for nothing within walking distance. All breakfasts & dinners, and a few lunches are included. No complaints about the food at all. Our driver-tour guide John was stellar. Knowledgeable, witty, and one helluva tremendous driver. His motor coach was big and spacious with roomy seats and pretty decent WIFI. The CIE brochure gave us the impression there'd be charging ports at each seat, but that wasn't the case. There are a few by the driver's seat if he isn't using them. The coach has one "Emergency" bathroom, but the coach never drives for more than two hours. The coach windows are huge and great for photography. There's a daily seating chart posted, so the early birds don't hog the seats up front. The speaker system on the coach was excellent most of the time, but we noticed sound quality varied as we moved around. DAY 1-2 : These two days kind of morphed together into one very long day. Meeting our CIE agent in the airport was a snap- the kiosk was highly visible and "right there" as we left customs. Their agent checked us in, gave us a voucher for a coffee, and the van took us to our first hotel, the Ballsbridge Hotel in Dublin. We did have an unpleasant experience here, because we had flown all night from CT, arrived very early in the morning, and the hotel didn't seem very interested in helping us out, so we slept in the lobby for a while. At 2:00 PM, we left for our 1st CIE activity -a city tour & visit to Guinness, the # 1 tourist attraction in Ireland. It was packed, but Guinness knew how to handle a large crowd. We had a great time, & even learned how to pour a "proper pint" of the black stuff! After the tour we returned to the hotel for an orientation meeting & a complimentary cocktail. Next morning we packed our bags, placed them outside our hotel room doors for pick up, had an excellent buffet breakfast, & boarded the coach at 9:00 AM. DAY 3: We left Dublin and stopped for a tour at the historic Glasnevin Cemetery and Museum for a terrific visit with a charming tour guide who taught us a lot about Irish history and culture and some of the Irish heroes and martyrs buried here. Next we drove to Kilkenny and the Ormond Hotel. Kilkenny was great! There were so many pubs and restaurants within minutes of the Ormond. There was a lso a castle and the Smithwicks Brewery. We had a group dinner at the hotel before we hit the streets of Kilkenny for some pub crawling. DAY 4: After breakfast we left Kilkenny to tour the House of Waterford Crystal. We enjoyed the tour a lot and we saw the glass making process step by step. Next stop was the Blarney Castle to stroll the grounds, see the gardens, kiss the Stone if you wanted to, and shop at the Woolen Mills Store. A long drove to Killarney was next. We had dinner at the International Hotel (where we stayed for two nights) and enjoyed the town's impressive night life. DAY 5: After breakfast we left Killarney and headed for wondrous countryside, farmlands, fishing villages & beautiful scenery. After a group photo, a stop at the South Pole Pub for Irish Coffee & a terrific presentation about a local's historic trip to the South Pole. Onto Dingle with a stop along the way at a jewelry store for a break, coffee & biscuits. Fahan had a fun exhibition of sheep herding dogs. There's a long walk up an inclined path, so be advised. We had a few photo ops along the way, with spectacular scenery. Lunched in the lovely seaport town of Dingle with dozens of food & shopping choices. I adored an Irish lass street performer who sang a Bob Dylan song. Dinner was a blast at Kate Kiernan's Pub for a 3 course dinner with live music & step dancing. DAY 6:After breakfast our coach drove right up onto the Shannon Ferry for a calm 20 minute crossing of the Shannon River. We drove to the Cliffs of Moher and walked up the long pathway to gain access to some jaw dropping scenery. Lunch at McGann's Pub in Doolin, and then the Ailwee Caves for underground fun. Ended the day with at Spanish Point & the Armada Hotel for a drinks and dinner. DAY 7:After breakfast at the Armada, our coach drove to the wondrous City of Galway where we spent a few hours exploring this center of retail and the arts. We made a quick stop in Leenane to visit a café & a photo op of a fjord. Then it was on to Westport, the Wyatt Hotel, a walking tour of the city, & dinner. DAY 8- A 3 hr drive back to Dublin had a washroom break at a museum/coffee/gift shop. We toured Teeling Distillery. Our CIE tour ended with a wonderful evening of storytelling, music, food & drink at Dublin's oldest pub, the Brazen Head. read more

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We booked the Scots-Irish Tour which was a 14 night/15 day tour of 3 countries. We flew into Edinburgh, Scotland and spent 5 days touring Scotland before taking the ferry to Northern Ireland where we spent a little more than 2 days before finishing up in the Republic of Ireland. For the Scottish portion of our tour, we had a Scottish guide as well as the tour director/bus driver. The Scottish guide confessed that he was a native of Ireland but that he had lived in Scotland for over 40 years. He had a wealth of knowledge about Scotland and gave an ongoing commentary about the country and what we were seeing during the bus travel portion of the trip. It was obvious that he loved Scotland and that - while not native-born - he was Scottish at heart. From Scotland, we took a 3-hour ferry ride to Belfast, Northern Ireland where we spent the next couple of days. A highlight of Belfast is the Belfast Titanic exhibit. This is a "must-see" attraction. From Northern Ireland, we moved into the Republic of Ireland. For the Ireland and Northern Ireland parts of the tour, we did not have a separate tour guide but our tour director/bus driver served as the primary tour guide and provided a running commentary. On several occasions, we had a "step-on guide" who joined us for a portion of the tour and we had several occasions where we had guides for walking tours of some of the locations. During the tour, we stayed at 9 different hotels. There was a wide variety of hotels ranging from your basic average hotel to some really nice hotels, including one in a castle. Generally, each hotel provided a breakfast buffet (traditional Scottish or Irish breakfasts) and we had 1 evening meal at most of the hotels. The meals were generally good and typically the package covered breakfast and dinner with a couple of exceptions. We did, however, get really tired of the traditional Irish breakfast (eggs, sausage, ham, broiled tomatoes, sauteed mushrooms, fried potatoes, etc.). It was all very good but after having the same basic breakfast every day, everyone was pleased when one hotel had waffles as an alternative to the traditional Irish breakfast. Overall, we were very pleased with the tour and we were happy we booked with CIE Tours (which we did at the strong recommendation of our travel agent at AAA). The accommodations were all very good, the meals were good (despite the repetition at breakfast) and the tour guides were all excellent. read more

Got COVID on a Scotts/Irish tour last month. Half the 43 people on bus were coughing & blowing nose. They moved us around almost daily so the germs could spread to everyone. Nobody who was coughing wore a mask. A costly trip to end up with COVID. The guides were good but not worth getting sick. Will never use CIE again. read more

PJ was a wonderful tour guide and the trip was so stress free and included so many amazing experiences and dining. we did the best of Ireland south tour and loved it! only comment is some places we wish we could have stayed longer but it's a large group and a schedule has to be kept to get everything in. would definitely recommend and would travel with CIE again! read more

I think C.I.E. is probably as good as it gets for a tour company in this price range. My husband and I were very happy. The itinerary, tour director Linda, driver Mick, hotels and food were all excellent. My only complaint was that sometimes we were rushed through things during the day to get to the hotel with too much time before dinner. Most people seemed to like to have plenty of time to relax before dinner. If you're an "on-the-go" person, you might want to consider a company that specifically has this option. read more

I will NEVER book a tour through CIE ever again. It was a horrible expierence and I would give a negative 5 stars if I could. I hope anyone reading this review will think twice before booking a tour with CIE. I unfortunately ignored the other negative reviews and have regretted it. After paying for our tour package, CIE cancelled and rescheduled our flights and hotel accommodations several times in the weeks leading up to our trip. On the day we were to leave, our flight was cancelled and while it wasn't CIE's fault the airline cancelled the flight, we expected CIE to assist us in rescheduling that flight. CIE told us our cancelled flight was nonrefundable and there was nothing they could do. We would need to call the airlines ourselves to reschedule our flight. The earliest flight we could reschedule was 2 days later, which means in addition to losing 2 days off of our package that we paid for, our hotel reservations for those original 2 days were also nonrefundable and they could not reschedule our hotel accommodations. Instead, CIE's response was for us to forfiet the cost and 2 days in Dublin and make and pay for our own reservations at another hotel or find a B&B outside of Dublin. On the last day of our trip we went to the airport hotel with our CIE travel documents and reservation confirmation in hand only to be told by the hotel staff that CIE had cancelled our reservation. We called CIE and they told us the reservation was still valid but the hotel staff provided us a copy of the email from CIE that clearly stated our reservation had been cancelled. We called CIE back to find out why our reservation had been cancelled and the customer service rep told us they had to talk to management to find out what happened and they would call us back. Meanwhile, the hotel didn't have any rooms available for us. In fact, all other area hotels were booked and we had no place to stay that night snd our flight home wasn't until the following day. We called CIE again to ask them to help us find a hotel for the night and they again told us they would call us back. Not once has CIE called us back. CIE will take your money and once they do, they stop caring about you and you might as well do everything yourself. read more

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. read more

CIE Tours - Cliffs of Moher - Tours Near Me - Dublin, D

I waited 20 years for my dream trip to Scotland and Ireland. The second half of touring Ireland was great, the first portion in Scotland was horrendous. The tour guide for Scotland made sexual advances and inappropriate comments to me and I had to cautiously avoid him and stay with the group to not have any interaction with him. I also sustained an injury on the bus, caused by the driver, which I had to report to CIE myself. I filed a complaint with a CIE customer service manager when I returned and learned that another woman also filed a complaint regarding the tour guide (2 women from the same tour!) CIE has not responded from the initial report over a month ago and have DONE NOTHING!!! This sexual predator is still working as a tour guide for them which is a screaming indicator regarding the sexual harassment investigations and policy enforcement for this company. Beware if you are a single woman and are looking to book with CIE, there are better options and I strongly recommend you avoid this company!! read more

Do not use this company. The are crooks. THEY voluntarily cancelled my tour, not part of US Travel ban. Now they refuse to refund my money so I can make alternative plans. Will only offer a voucher, which I dont want. Policy clearly states they will offer 100% refund. THIS IS A LIE. They will not let me speak to a human. I can only communicate via chat or email. This company is terrible. DO NOT USE THEM FOR ANY TRAVEL. read more

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 read more

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! read more

Great tour of Ireland on the Irish heritage tour. My wife and brother in law have the Irish heritage, but I enjoyed learning of the history of this green, largely rolling hilled island. Only problem was the check in at the Strand hotel in Limerick on the first day. Exhausted after a 20hour trip, but because it was a Bank Holiday, they could not check us in until 230, leaving us in the lobby for 2.5 hours. Unfortunately the CIE website has not accepted our driver review, so we are posting it here. We have a lot of tour guides in our time, but none better than Denis O' Sullivan. Unlike the staccato listing of information that some folks provide or the often entertaining comedic style of some guides, Denis did an excellent job of mixing information with humor. He provided perspective on the grim history of the potato famine, various failed rebellions and the more recent Troubles of Northern Ireland, citing the view of these situations from both the British and Irish perspectives. He had a style of raising his own questions, pausing to allow people to offer guesses (but never criticizing our ignorance) and then filling in the response. He mixed in DJ duties (introducing and then playing various musical artists) with a video presentation of the Irish favorite sport of hurling (not curling). I'm a little more antsy/energetic than most and Denis always made an effort of provide alternate programs for people who "wanted to get the knots out of their legs a bit more". What I will remember most about Denis is his use of inflection in describing the past stories or present day conflicts and features of this land. The contrast of "some would say..." with "but I have found too that..." with a touch of irony in his various phrasings kept the audience laughing and engaged throughout the tour. The tour itinerary was good, but our guide made the experience great. read more

We booked a tour to Italy due to the great reviews this company received. Once we tried to obtain information about canceling due to the pandemic we found that we could only communicate with this company via email. They cancelled our trip and would not refund our money. Don't trust this company! read more

Just finished our 7 day self guided tour of Ireland. CIE made the whole trip simple and fantastic as we had no worries and no problems except for deciding which B&B's we wanted to stay at from the HUGE selection they provided. But once that was done the paperwork with the vouchers and all our confirmations arrived allowing us to motor the Emerald Isle focusing on the scenery and the people. One comment was the vouchers for the B&B's didn't have the specific names of the B&B's on the vouchers so make certain you know the specific names of the B&B's with confirmation separately. One additional positive comment - we asked for a night at a castle near Galway. The recommended place - AbbeyGlen Castle Hotel (in Clifton) was FABULOUS. read more

What a great tour. On the Irish Odyssey and we visited many places. We were treated well The guide provided great information. The stops were interesting. The bus was new. read more

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 entree 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. read more

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. read more

We have just returned from the CIE Knights and Wizard tour of London and Wales. Great coach and driver. But our tour guide was a disaster. She had trouble managing just 16 guests; mis-identified a statue calling it JFK, when it was actually Nelson Mandella. We were rushed through meals because she had planned poorly - and at times had us wandering a city in circles because she was lost (relying on one of the teen guests to find our whereabouts on Google maps). The itinerary was good, but our time was wasted by this hapless guide. read more

Dear CIE Tours We just came back from a tour of Ireland with our church group arranged by you. It was very well organized and we saw some marvelous sites and scenery. We are ready to come back and visit again to see some sites we were not able to see because of time limits. The hotels were grand especially The Lake Hotel, the food was excellent and plentiful. Some of the side trips were just enchanting especially the one to the Aran Islands! I shall never forget the beauty and simplicity of the Islands. If you really want to relax go to the Aran Islands.!! The people were nice and friendly and helpful (nothing like some other countries in Europe especially France and Italy)I hope to go back to Ireland in the near future again. Also I would like to mention our driver/guide Brian H. The man is a trove of knowledge about Ireland history, rites etc. He certainly made the trip more interesting but also fun and enjoyable at all times. He was there always to help anyone with luggage or lend a hand or just be kind and courteous. Serious when necessary but funny when telling stories or depicting some old story about a site we were visiting. From landing to departure in Shannon he was gentlemanly to the end. We sure hated to leave your beautiful country. Please keep up the good job of excellent tour itinerary and guide' We all plan to come again and enjoy Irish hospitality. Sincerely Jackie Zelinskas Cayot PS: Please try not use United to fly over. We had delays, airport problems. Probably this is the only thing anyone complained about. read more

Trouble with CIE self-drive tour of Ireland. My wife and l love to travel and have been looking forward to visiting Ireland for years. We booked a self-drive tour with CIE through our AAA office right here in our town. AAA helped us with the airline tickets to Ireland and elsewhere as well as the tour with CIE. We needed an extra day in Dublin at the end of the Ireland tour to prepare for the next leg of our Journey and the CIE people here in the US assured us that there would be no problem doing that.... wrong, wrong, wrong. After I paid the initial deposit, AAA has been unable to persuade CIE to add that additional day to the itinerary and what is the most troubling, CIE has been utterly unresponsive. I've tried speaking with CIE myself but their office here in the US refuses to discuss with me, the tour I've already booked. They tell me that I must speak with AAA. AND they added, while I am in Ireland, if I encounter any problems with CIE bookings (auto rental, hotels, tours, etc) they (CIE) won't be able to assist me there in-country either. Sooooooo....if I have a problem, I have to call AAA back here in the US and wait for them to contact CIE about the problem. What exactly am I paying CIE for....well I'm just not sure. Judging from the tiny bit of energy CIE puts into resolving difficulties at this stage, I am pretty sure that CIE will be of no help to me in Ireland whatsoever. I booked a tour with CIE in order to make my trip easier, but that is just not the case. It's hard for me to understand CIE's logic when it comes to customer service. read more

I just returned from a wonderful CIE tour "Irish and Scottish Sampler 9 days". This is my 2nd tour with CIE tours and I would highly recommend CIE to everyone. The Itinerary was great and all the sites on the tour were well worth seeing. All the hotels on the tour were top notch and all the meals provided were very good and plentiful. The Irish and Scottish nights were very entertaining and fun. I can't give high enough praise for Our tour director Pat O'Riordan with his wealth of knowledge about both Ireland and Scotland regarding the history and culture. Our coach driver Ramon Davey showed superior driving skills and we all felt safe with him behind the wheel. They made a great team and were very caring about all the people on the tour. I made friends from the minute I arrived in Dublin and many more on the tour. What a great group of people and the atmosphere during the whole tour was positive and upbeat. I am planning on more tours with this great company and some of my new friends I met on this tour are also planning on coming back and hope we can travel together again. Very satisfied with CIE tours!! read more

Recently returned from a trip with family and friends. The ladies in our group traveling alone were constantly hit on by the tour guides. Not just our guide, but when various groups ended up in shops, rest areas, or hotels, different guides would try to charm the pants off the ladies. The guides would stand together and size up all the women, and talk about them. I stood close by and listened in horror to this. Today is a bank holiday but CIE is getting a call tomorrow about this. I have some of their names too. Just because a woman is traveling alone, doesn't mean she is looking to hook up with a stranger. Ladies, be careful! read more