Escorted Tour vs. Independent Travel
 

Hello, I am planning a honeymoon vacation for August of this year. We are hoping to have 10-12 days in Ireland, and have been researching the various options. I am wondering which way to go for a first time traveler to Ireland- Escorted tour or independent travel with a rental? It seems like the escorted vacations have good deals with lots included, but the thought of being on a strict time schedule seems rushed. I've also heard the price of rental cars and gas is very expensive in Ireland. Any thoughts? Thank you!

***UPDATE*** FYI- My fiance and I are in our early 30's and want to see as much of Ireland as we can, but have a good time and relax, too. Thought that might be helpful in answering the post- the biggest question I have about the escorted tours is how much free time we may actually have, and the age ranges that are typically on these tours? Thanks again!

Hi mmur --

I know there are tours that are targeted towards your age group, but am not sure that is what I would recommend you do... Tours do tend to be very rushed and also not terribly intimate. For an occasion as special as your honeymoon, and consider how exhausted you'll be after your wedding, I think it would be best to plan the trip on your own or with the help of a travel agent. Planning a trip to Europe can be very time consuming and daunting when you're also working on wedding planning, but it can be done. Start with a map and some guidebooks (Rick Steves, DK, Fodors, etc). Once you've targeted specific destinations that appeal to you, you can turn to various sites and forums (ie here, tripadvisor.com, slowtrav.com) to seek advice on specific accommodations and sightseeing. With patience and effort, you can certainly plan the honeymoon you're dreaming about... If you are strapped for time and not concerned about too tight of a budget, go for a travel agent!

Good luck!

I've only been to Ireland, and that was quite a long time ago, but I would certainly vote (if I had a vote) for your planning your honeymoon as an independent trip. Who wants to travel with a group on their honeymoon?

I don't know that I would say that planning a trip on your own can be time-consuming. It can, if you want it to be. And I'm sure I'm not the only person who planned a wedding, reception and honeymoon all at the same time. In fact, I'd say that planning the honeymoon was the most interesting & fun part (for one thing, my fiance and I only had to please ourselves, not the whole family, on our honeymoon).

A trip you plan yourselves will allow you to travel where and when YOU want to go, and allow you to have as relaxed (or not) a trip as you want. Gas is expensive in Europe as a whole, I don't know if it's more expensive in Ireland than elsewhere. But keep in mind that the distances you'd be travelling could be less than a trip you'd take in the U.S.

And, as another comment, we went to Austria for our honeymoon - not the typical honeymoon destination. But the positive note on that (other than that's where WE wanted to go) was that people were so tickled and happy for us when they heard we were there on our honeymoon. You may have the same happy experience in Ireland!

Enjoy!

Contiki tours is for people under 35. My husband drove us (we're in our late 30's) around Ireland back in June 2002. Awesome scenery but white knuckle driving. I sat with the map in my lap because every 5 minutes there would be a round-a-bout where you had to know the name of the next small town to head in the correct direction. We had to see alot since we were only there 7 days. Driving 120 miles (and stopping to sightsee) would consume the entire day. In the evenings we were too tired and stressed to enjoy any evening entertainment. Friends who have taken tours had a much better time.

You don't HAVE to drive 120 miles a day if you go on your own! Trying to do a tour company's itinerary on your own leads to this kind of trip. Plan to take things slowly.

There are many tours so I don't know if a generalization is possible. My impulse would be no way on a honeymoon, but you may be more sociable and find it worth the money and convenience factor.
Consider if you want to be driving there--I've heard it is harrowing, but you have to decide for yourself.
Also, map out the place you most want to see--it seems obvious but sketching it all out on paper always helps me tremendously.
Also, are you active/outdoors/fitness types? Maybe look onto tours of that sort, such as cycling.
Congrats and good luck!

I've taken a Contiki tour and I can not think of a WORSE way to spend a honeymoon. (I loved it, but I was 22 and I wasn't on my honeymoon.)

Do not take an escorted tour. You will want private time with your honey (at least I would hope), and that's no way to get it.

I wouldn't drive 120 miles a day either. That doesn't sound like much fun. Plan your own trip, and <i>take your time</i>.

I don't think a honeymoon is the time to be rushing around trying to cram in as much sightseeing as possible, nor do I think you want to get up at o-dark-thirty every morning to meet your tour group.

I can't imagine being part of an organized tour group AND on a honeymoon. Sitting on a bus with a bunch of strangers? Does not sound very romantic to me!

For a honeymoon I would absolutely reco independent travel.

With a tour you're likely to have a lot of early (bags outside the door at 7 am) starts, a lot of stops for &quot;souvenir&quot; shopping - and the group is likely to be on the older side,

to have free time in which to relax, explore - and wind down from your wedding - I would definitely do a trip that fits all YOUR needs -not those of an unknown group.

Not Ireland specifically, but rather a general method of trip planning - we don't care for tours and we like to spend at least 3 nights in each area we go to, more if possible. This allows us to settle in a bit and explore the area beyond the surface things, and make day trips. It also makes for a more relaxing trip because we have time to just hang out if we want. There are many days when we don't have to do anything if we don't feel like it :) And it takes less planning because there are fewer hotels to book and fewer logistical things to sort out.

I would recommend, esspecially for a honeymoon (and we weren't typical honeymooners - we spent ours in New Orleans) to do the trip independently and choose no more than 3 locations in Ireland to stay in so that you have a nice balance of relaxation and sightseeing.

mmur75

Do it on your own. Two websites that are helpful are:

http://www.irelandyes.com/
and
http://www.irelandexpert.com/

Of course this site is very helpful also.

Regards, Joan

Can you do a mix of independent travel and small tours? Are you looking for something in Dublin, or more country'ish? I haven't been to Ireland (going this summer) so these are only suggestions to consider.

One idea is to start in Dublin and spend a few days seeing the sights in and around Dublin. Then join a tour or take public transport out into the countryside for a few days, and then back to Dublin or on to Shannon maybe. I want to say that AirCoach has a bus that goes from Dublin to Cork. If you could find something going from Cork over to the Ring of Kerry, or up to Galway or Shannon, that would keep you away from the hassles and expenses of driving a rental.

Instead of going 100% one or the other if you mix small area tours with traveling on your own maybe you can get the best of both worlds - privacy and a flexible schedule without the headache of planning everything yourself and trying to drive a rental.

I have been on tours with honeymoon couples and, contrary to the opinion of others here, they have had a wonderful time just because almost everything is done for them in terms of baggage collections, etc.

But you do have to be aware of some of the shortcomings of escorted coach tours I suppose you are researching...I don't consider these really as big deals but be aware of them

1. As noted the early starts each morning where you have to be up at the break of dawn or slightly thereafter, have your bags put outside your room for collection and down for a bountiful breakfast (especially in Ireland) and early departure.

That's the extent of the logistics shortcoming.

2. The schedule is not set by you but rather by what the tour itinerary calls for...if it calls for a stop of two hours at Blarney Castle that's what you get...although most of these stops are adequate to do what the &quot;touristy &quot; thing is to do. Also if while driving along there is something you have a certain urge to see, sorry not on the itinerary.

That's the extent of the shortcomnigs as far as siteseeing is concerned.

But all this must be overcome by the advantages of escorted coach tours

3. Lower prices for accomodations (the group price)

4. The porterage in the hotels.

5. The fact that you don't have to start looking for your hotels upon arrival in each new Burgh.

Also contrary to opinion of some who have never done a tour, there are stops every couple of hours for loos, coffee or purchase of cold drinks if necessary, strething your legs.

Also be aware that all these tours invariably include extra fees for some of the siteseeing you might expect to do which will be spelled out although a bit vaguely in the tour brochure (watch for words such as why not visit or you might wish...)...some evenings dinner will be included and while the included dinners will be okay, portions are small..this usually occurs in smaller cities. In the large cities, optional dinners will be provided which might include a touristy type show (in Dublin for example an Irish cabaret)...they will be excellent but the price for getting to the venue will make this more an evening's entertainment + dinner but most of these dinners include unlimited booze (or in my case diet cokes)....

One other point I might be permitted to make..Ireland's highway system is not the same as throughout much of the rest of Europe...there are precious few motorways (interstates to Americans)..which is okay in terms of siteseeing but, and it's a big but in Ireland trust me, it means the driver has to be ever vigilant as the roads are narrow, lorries sometimes are very impatient (got to keep that schedule) and the driver sometimes misses out on the great scenery...with a tour coach with large windows you get to take it all in...

So, as with everything, there's no black or white answer...tours have their place and are outstanding for some.

Enjoy and congratulations.

You really can't generalize this way about tours. xyz is describing a certain kind of tour - I've been on those with Maupintour and the Smithsonian. But I've also traveled with Rick Steves (Europe) and Intrepid (Asia) and there are differences.

For one, putting out your luggage and porterage doesn't apply - you pack light and handle your own luggage.

Then there are no optional add-on excursions, no shopping stops, and no tipping - the leaders are expected to live off their salaries, not on commissions and tips.

Finally, included meals on Rick Steves' tours are ample and good, and hotels are small and central. There are other small group operators that wouldn't fit this profile, either.

For me, one big down side of tours is that they move too fast. There's a big difference between settling into a place for three or four or five nights, and spending just two, or worse one, nights. Also, in Ireland you can get your hotel costs down, and have more fun, by staying in B&amp;Bs.

My wife and I honeymooned in Ireland and had a wonderful time: we spent 1 week &quot;on our own&quot; with a car and another week on a guided tour -- but not your typical guided tour: we went from town to town on horseback, with a guide, another honeymooning couple, and 2 other people. This kind of trip really requires a guide. But unless you're doing something unusual like this, my advice would be to do it on your own: the planning is fun, finding lodging was never a problem for us (and we were there in July/August), and we met many wonderful people we would not have on an organized tour.

Congratulations, and enjoy Ireland!

Ireland is sooooo easy to do on your own. We booked with Spectretours.com It included air fare, rental car and vouchers for B&amp;B's. The B&amp;B's or Ireland are beautiful, all over the place and inexpensive.
My sons and their wifes also did this trip and loved it.
Relax, see what you want to see and enjoy.

I would not get accommodation vouchers. Many of us used them on our first trips and found that it can be hard to find a B&amp;B that takes them. In August it would be really hard.

Regards, Joan

id avoid escorted tours at all costs
except maybe in egypt and sth america

and russia for those who cant speak russian

in ireland youd be right
there is nothing worse than that 45 minutes they allocate to you to race around before meeting by the church clock
forget it
do it yourselves..plenty of b and bs ...dont plan it too much ...you can drive and stop where you like without being hellbent on getting somewhere
plan your first night or two ...do plenty of research and have a basic idea but then dont have a tight schedule or else you may as well be on that bus
plan a base or three..leave your stuff and do day trips ..i prefer this to the road trip where youre staying in a different place every night
enjoy it...you have a man with you..bonus!!!!!!!!!!!!
my OH is invaluable but on trips hes a Godsend

Visiting Ireland on your own in August would be a wonderful honeymoon.
We visited last Sept. for the first time, flew in and out of Shannon.
We spent 2 nts Doolin
2nts Dingle
4 nights near Killarney---Look at www.lochleinhouse.com. This is a fabulous place to spend a honeymoon and lots to do near Killarney. There is a discount offered on the www.irelandyes.com website.
2 nts Kinsale
and then a nt near the airport.

Cars are expensive and gas last summer was $6/gallon, but we only filled the car once. The distances are not that great. Our lodging was very reasonable.

I posted a trip report(It may be unfinished) here and have an outline of our trip on the Irelandyes.com website

Mmur, I enjoy Rick Steves' tours. However, if it was my honeymoon, I would not go on a tour for the following reasons:

1. It would be a honeymoon, and most tours are rushed.

2. There would not be a language barrier in Ireland.

3. I have been told that Ireland is a very easy place to travel to.

For a 10-12 day trip in Ireland, I would say you can do the trip on your own and join day tours if you base yourself in the larger cities and use trains or buses to get to those larger cities. If you really want to get out into the countryside for a few nights, then you can rent a car - this saves you the hassle of having to drive constantly and saves money on rentals and gas. Rentals can be more expensive if you don't know how to drive a stick.

Escorted tours have to cater to the masses - if you stop somewhere that you'd like to stay and explore, you can't do it because you're on someone else's timeline.

mmur - In the end, as you can see, whether to take an escorted or independent tour is dependent upon the person. I would suggest that you and your fiancee think and talk about the way you both like to travel:

1. Do you like talking to/being around other travelers or are you loners?
2. Do you enjoy planning a trip or do you hate that part?
3. Do you have the patience to go at your own pace, which may mean getting lost or turned around, or do you prefer having someone take you exactly where you want to go?
4. Do you have any dietary restrictions (it is sometimes harder for tour groups to properly meet dietary restrictions)?
5. Do you want time to relax or do you want to see as many sights as possible? (personally, after our wedding, my husband and I were so exhausted that we spent the first two days doing little more than sleeping).
6. Are you good drivers and do you enjoy driving? (driving in Ireland can be very stressful so if you don't like driving I would not recommend it).

We went to Ireland for 10 days independently, and loved it --- but we like to do things on our own, at our own pace, and have infinitely good humor and patience when we travel. Hope you have a wonderful trip and if you need advice on an itinerary, this is a great place to look!

Another vote for traveling independently.

If you have the time, pick a handful of locations and enjoy your time traveling between them. Don't pack in too many locations.

I enjoy researching and planning my own trips. For my honeymoon to Australia 1.5 years agao, though, I decided to enlist an expert. We booked through a travel agent specializing in Australia (where we went). I'm glad we did because he handled all the details - accomodations, transportation between locations, car rental, some small tours, etc. He gave us a packet of our booking information, and then we were on our own. During the planning process, we met with him and emailed often. We gave him a list of the top 3-4 areas we wanted to see (we had 3.5 weeks), and he always consulted us regarding accomodations, activities, etc.

It was great. With all the wedding details, I just didn't have the time to organize anything.

Now I'm back to planning on my own, which is great! But if you don't have the time to do your own research, a travel agent could be a good option.

I've had fun on tours when I was in my early 20's, but I would not recommend them for a honeymoon.

You pose a very difficult question to answer because there are so many variables. We can start with the type of tour you are on and the level of accommodation they provide.

We took a tour of Ireland with Insight, and it was not to my liking at all. On the bus, off the bus, some commercial stop at a shopping place that had a rest room facility large enough to handle the group, back on the bus, and then off again to some other place I don't remember.

We were in different hotels almost every night and never spent long enough at anything I was interested in while all the while we often had some kind of optional tour at extra charge available while those of who did not want the option had nothing to do but wander around the town.

I honestly could not tell you where we went in great detail because I had not planned the trip and was not enthralled with the whole situation.

By in large unless you take a high end, luxury tour, you will not get what I would call good hotels in Ireland. On our tour some were OK while one in particular was abysmal and one was weird: the Earl of Desmond outside of Tralee that we dubbed Hotel Crazy-xxx for multiple reasons. (E.g. shower handle in the shower, not enough hot water, less than top level food, etc. Not such good food was a characteristic everywhere we went. No meal was memorable.)

I enjoyed Ireland more when we left the tour and freelanced.

On the other side of that coin is the fact that Irish roads are not all that good for finding your own way and, frankly, the trains I rode on were ratty dirty, easily the poorest train system I have experienced in Europe.

Are you dead set on Ireland? I can think of other situations where you could do it yourself and have the time for yourselves.

For example, in Paris you can find a decent hotel that is inside the peripheral highway and go places at your own pace. I have been to Paris 4 times and there is ALWAYS something to do.

In addition to just being in Paris, there are ample opportunities for day trips at your pace to wonderful attractions.

So you could have a base and your own pace.

I also think that the Berner Oberland of Switzerland, or the area around Zermatt, would be good. My wife and I took what we looked at as a &quot;third honeymoon&quot; after I retired. We were both stressed on the job, and with retirement there was that euphoria of new enthusiasm. So despite the fact that we had been married for over 35 years, it was the adventure of the start of a new dimension to a long-term relationship.

In Switzerland we found good places to stay, plenty of opportunity to go on our on, and lots to see and do at our pace.

Well, those are my thoughts on it.

We just came back from Ireland and for the first part of our 14 day trip, we went on a CIE tour of Dublin, Glendalough, Waterford, Blarney, Killarney, Ring of Kerry, Galway, Westport, Ballina and Malahide.

There were two couples on their honeymoon, when asked why they chose the tour, they said they wanted to stay in nice hotels and see the sights without the worry of renting a car or deciding where to eat.

The tour was a great value, we stayed in moderate to superior hotels and the breakfasts and dinners were excellent.

I have never been to Ireland, but I know English is spoken there and I also know driving and stopping at B&amp;Bs are very popular vacations for Ireland. On my honeymoon (33) years ago we went to Mexico City, Taxco and Acapaulco and had such a great time, because we were on our own, found our own adventures and made wonderful discoveries, that are harder to do on a tour. The Ring of Kerry, I hear is a popular way to spend a week driving from village to village and then maybe go somewhere for a few days, like London (?). Mainly, taking a group tour just sounds like a bad idea for a honeymoon.