I am planning a trip to Ireland in September with my mother who is 68 and trying to decide which is best, using a tour company or independent travel. This is the first time we will have traveled outside the US so I'm leaning more towards using a tour guide. Can anyone recommend a reliable, reputable company? Also, any suggestions on the best places to visit for 1st timers? Many thanks!

Hello,

My sis and I went to Ireland, England and Scotland a couple of years ago. She was 58 and I was 60. In Ireland, we rented a car for 10 days. She dorve while I navigated. This worked so well. We could travel at our own pace and see places that are not on the usual tours. Loved it all--no problem driving and no damage done to the car.

I checked into tours, but they were so limiting on places they visited. Of course, if you are really opposed to driving, a tour would be fine, too.

Check on this board--there is lots of info and opinions on tours vs. independent travel.

Much of the west and southwest, some of the most beautiful parts of Ireland, have very little train service and not much more bus service. Therefore, independent travelers see the most by using a rental car. (Tours can take you to those places, too, of course; but you don't get to pick which ones.) If your mother is a good map reader and navigator and you are a confident but careful driver, then renting a car should work well for you. How many days do you plan to be in Ireland? Knowing that would help readers suggest tour companies whose schedules will fit yours. Is your mother physically fit?Some tours require very little walking. Others stress packing light and spending a lot of time on your feet.

Hi hiltonk,
Welcome to Ireland. Hope you enjoy the planning as much as you will enjoy the holiday. I am sure that you will get many great suggestions from all the friends here.
Can I suggest the following www.goireland.ie for a start. it will give you an overview of this fair land.
I think in your situation it would be wise to take an organised tour and for that I would suggest www.cietours.ie

If you happen to be around Clare in September you might like to call to the matchmaker festival in Lisdoonvarna.(www.matchmakerireland.com)and click on 'festival'.

I took my mom when she was 56 and we had a wonderful trip. She still talks about it all the time 8 years later. At the time, this was her first trip outside the US and only my second.

We rented a car (drove, read the map and navigated - lol) and trekked around the western and southern parts. It was so easy to do solo with the car and B&B vouchers. And, it such an easy country to tour ... great roads, beautiful scenery, somewhat easy to navigate.

In our case, part of the absolute joy of the trip was making our route as we went and really setting a lovely pace.

Just talked with mom and she said her favorites (but difficult to choose) were driving around Dingle Pennisula, visiting the Aran Islands, and Muckross House. Editorial note: her least favorite was driving over Connor Pass in fog so thick you couldn't see the end of the car hood let alone the road.

Thank you all so much for your replies to my email. I will take your suggestions to heart and do some research on independent travel as well as some of the other tour agencies alternatives as well. We plan to travel for about 7 - 9 days. My mom is physically fit and can read maps relatively well, so if she is up for the challenge, I think I'd rather go it solo. I will continue to read up on the boards here. Again, thanks so much for your wise counsel!

If you drive, it's essential to have a detailed map. While you can buy Ordnance Survey maps that divide Ireland into sections, I've found the Michelin Ireland map to be detailed enough. You can buy it at amazon.com. Even if you take a tour, I'd recommend taking the Michelin map with you. (But then I'm a confirmed map lover.)

Thanks TimS! As I am not a seasoned traveler, I need all the help I can get.

You're welcome. If you travel independently, you'll need a good guidebook or two to help you with your planning. For my trip this past May I used Rick Steves (www.ricksteves.com)and Lonely Planet (www.lonelyplanet.com). LP was more comprehensive, but I found both to be very helpful. RS publishes a new edition every year. A new LP edition is scheduled to be out sometime this month.

TimS,
I will pick up both travel books at the local Barnes & Noble and do some online research as well. I'm so excited! Thanks for your info!

Also,
Would it be best to fly into Shannon or Dublin airport?

If you're only going to be in the west and southwest, then fly in and out of Shannon. If you want to spend some time in Dublin, then fly "open jaw" into one airport and out of the other so you won't have to cross the country twice. Don't drive in Dublin! If you start there, pick up your rental car at the airport when you're ready to head out. If you end there, turn in your car at the airport before your stay in the city.

Great suggestions! Thank you again for your insight. Have a great day.

We went to Ireland in April '04 with CIE tours and were very happy with their services. We stayed at very nice hotels, had a great itinerary, and contrary to what we were told about Irish cuisine, had very good food. They are run by an Irish company and have a nice local touch. They've very well organized and we saw many wonderful sights. They offer an escorted bed and breakfast tour but we preferred hotels. Check them out. We tend to be a little fussy and were very happy with their tour.

evyce, thank you for your recommendation of the tour agency. They are one I have come across in my research and a co-worker of mine also recommended them. Although, still not sure what we might do, it can't hurt checking out all the options. thanks again!

Hello again, hilltonk. I have another book to recommend. It's Europe Through the Back Door, a travel skills handbook from ricksteves.com. It's a great confidence-builder for independent travelers. If you'd rather not spend any more money on books, you can read much of what is in the book in the "Travel Tips" section on the Web site.

Hey TimS,
You're the best! Thank you for the book and website suggestion. One can never have enough books, right? I appreciate your help. As I continue to plan, I'll check back to this website and post my itinerary, hopefully I'll catch up with you again. This was my first time to the site and it's been well worth the time and effort! All the best.

You're welcome again. Two other travel bulletin boards worth reading are the Graffiti Wall at ricksteves.com and the Thorn Tree at lonelyplanet.com.

I did something very similar with my then late 60's mother in Ireland. After weighing all the options I decided to skip renting a car and driving. Yes, I know lots of folks do it, but I did not want to have to deal with driving on the "other side of the road" in areas I did not know, especially in the more rural areas where the roads are narrow and sheep may be a traffic obstacle (really!). Another thing to factor in is that insurance coverage from credit cards does not apply in Ireland so you must purchase additional insurance for the rental car. Then there is dealing with parking, getting fuel, etc.
So what I did was book a private driver and it was one of the most enjoyable trips I have ever taken. Our driver was a wealth of information and suggestions and dropped us at or close to the entrance to wherever we were going - much better than looking for parking then hiking to the entrance.
I booked everything through a NY based company called Destinations Ireland and Great Britain (www.destinations-ireland.com); they also booked our accommodations. We flew into Dublin, where we did not need the driver other than to pick us up at the airport and take us to the hotel)and spent a couple days there before heading out on a sort of grand circle tour in a counterclockwise direction. Another benefit of this arrangement was that we made our own schedule and did not have to keep to a group itinerary, and were able (aided by the driver's insight) to avoid the times when tour groups clogged popular sites. The cost was a bit - but not really all that much when all costs are considered - more than drive yourself or roup tours, but absolutely worth every cent and more. All in all, I highly recommend it.
In terms of places to visit - try your best to spend at least a night at Ballymaloe House - it will be a treasured memory.

While insurance coverage for cars rented in Ireland is specifically excluded by many credit cards, that is not true for all of them. My platinum Mastercard DOES provide coverage for cars rented in Ireland and I was able to decline the CDW for a trip I took this past. I did have to show written documentation of my coverage which my card company provided for me.