First trip to Ireland with senior parents
 

Am planning a nine- or ten-day trip to Ireland from the States with my very active senior parents (ages 76 and 81) and have a couple questions:<BR><BR>If we decide not to go by ourselves, what tour would you recommend? (Grand Circle, my parent's first choice, doesn't have a trip to Ireland this year).<BR><BR>If we go by ourselves, what itinerary would you recommend for senior travellers?<BR><BR>What time of year would be optimal (fewest tourists and warmest weather)? Other posters have mentioned September as the best month. Do you agree?<BR><BR>Realize these are pretty in-depth questions, but am having trouble finding info geared for older travellers.<BR><BR>Thanks so very much!<BR><BR>Arabella<BR><BR>

Hi Arabella. There is a great site that might answer some of your questions run by Pat Preston. It is the Ireland Expert. She answers questions only about all things Irish.<BR>You will get good advice here, but she does a great job too.<BR>She also is offering some tours, I noticed.

I highly recommend CIE tours (www.cietours.com). If you do a text search you will find lots of positive reviews of the company. I can't say enough good things about CIE. Sept. sounds very good. Also I've done May twice and found the weather to be very nice and not too many tourists.<BR>We travel with my inlaws too in their seventies = ) The tour is nice and relaxed yet you see all the main sights and the food is very good. Have a great trip!

I second the recommendation for CIE. They also offer Fly-Drive tours for you to do on your own. This is the one my mom, who was ~80 at the time, and I did one Spring. Also, Pat Tuniston was extremely helpful to me during my planning.

Hi there Arabella, You mentioned going to Ireland in Sept and the other good Ireland site www.irelandyes.com is doing tours to Ireland in Septmeber. I have found Michelle's site is also wonderful for getting answers. Pat at www.irelandexpert is doing tours in July &amp; Oct. I was there in Sept two years aga and loved it.

You may also want to check out Michele Erdvig (sp?) 's site - Irelandyes.com<BR>She is also doing a guided tour. <BR><BR>Both Michele &amp; Pat offer great suggestions on their forums - check them out.

My parents recently did a CIE bus tour and absolutely enjoyed it. They're in their 50s, and they were easily the youngest folks on the bus, so your parents would fit right in! Mom loved the local Irish guides, and they stayed in B&amp;Bs at night, which she also adored. (There's also a hotel option, too.)<BR><BR>I was there in early May '02 for a weeklong horseback trek, and the weather was a bit chilly, but the hoardes of tourists hadn't arrived yet. Later in the month would probably have even better weather, but once school gets out, the tourists arrive.

Thank you, everyone, for the wonderful suggestions. I'll follow up on your advice.

Hi. Arabella, My mom (70) and I went to Irelnad during the summer for 16 days. We did the CIE tour and it was wonderful. My mom and I have been to 14 countires in Europe and have done alll tours by far this one was the best. take a coat and warm socks it rains alot but it was wonderful the people are so nice and the country so full of history. Hope you have the best time . My mom and i are doing vienna and budapest in june so we are off again.

I think that both Pat and Michelle use CIE tours. The added extra is you get to go with the experts!

Hi: We travelled last summer with 2 other couples, all seniors , 68-71. We hired a driver and had a wonderful time. He took care of all the details, the driving (which can be onerous), the hotel arrangements, finding us good places to eat, tickets for shows, etc., and was a marvelous host, giving us tips on history, culture, etc. He was with &quot;Small Escourted Tours&quot; and we highly recommend him. Name is Micheal Foristal.

Aurelia,<BR><BR>That sounds ideal. Do you have a web site or phone number?<BR><BR>Thanks.<BR><BR>Arabella

If you visit the countryside and drive, bring a guidebook. You can stop and read it to your parents. I did that and they liked it. They liked the freedom of note joining an escorted tour. Furthermore, it can be much cheaper travelling on your own compared to a tour.<BR><BR>If you buy a guidebook, quickly read through it and pick what interests you. That's what I did.

arabella: try '[email protected]. all the info is there. Tell them you heard about them from the 'folks in Seattle'. They will know who you mean. Hope you try it. We were so satisfied, and the cost is not so much when you consider you have a guide for the entire day, plus car and gas. Very 'stress free'