A friend and I are planning to embark on our first trip to Ireland in September. We don't want a inflexible bus tour, yet we also don't want to be trudging blindly through the countryside with backpacks. We were thinking of CIE Tours' package with car rental and B&B coupons. Can anyone recommend this package or suggest something similar?

I used CIE's car and voucher program for England and Wales last year and I mostly liked it. The major advantage over "trudging blindly" as you put it, was the fixed cost. You had the flexibility to change your itinerary on the fly, but you didn't have to worry about finding a B&B in the right price range every night. All the B&B's were acceptable, some were quite charming, others not so much. Almost all the places were small. Maybe we just picked them that way, but we often stayed in places with just 3 or 4 rooms. The one disadvantage, and you can learn to deal with this if you are prepared, NONE of the places were central to anything. We were always outside of towns, in the countryside. Sometimes that was nice, but we did a lot more driving than we expected. Also, the book was misleading. A B&B would be listed under Cardiff, for example, but could be as much as an hour away from Cardiff! After the first couple nights we started scrutinizing the directions with a map before we booked anything in a sometimes vain attempt to get closer to where we wanted to be. Mostly this worked pretty well. <BR> <BR>In hindsight this worked particularly well since I was travelling with my husband and my mother, and I didn't want to be in the middle of an argument if we decided to stay someplace too expensive. But I think if I was doing it again with just my husband I would be more inclined to either book places independantly in advance, or do it on the fly.

given the talesi've heard from others of the trauma of driving on the "wrong side of the road" while watching for signage on tiny roads, we opted to hire a driver. We arranged a package through an agency called Destinations ireland & Great Britain in New York, and it included accommodations. I'd do it again in a heartbeat! The driver knew the best way to get to wherever, and was able to offer tips on when to go where. We were able to spend our time relaxing and taking in the sights without worrying about parking, driving, signs, directions, gas stations, insurance, etc.

given the talesi've heard from others of the trauma of driving on the "wrong side of the road" while watching for signage on tiny roads, we opted to hire a driver. We arranged a package through an agency called Destinations ireland & Great Britain in New York, and it included accommodations. I'd do it again in a heartbeat! The driver knew the best way to get to wherever, and was able to offer tips on when to go where. We were able to spend our time relaxing and taking in the sights without worrying about parking, driving, signs, directions, gas stations, insurance, etc.

My friends and I are going to Ireland for 10 days in August. We booked through a travel agent (Crystal Travel , Myles Miller 210-826-4149). He was able to put together a great package for us. I have been to Ireland before and have traveled on a bus tour...you are right, too structured but you definitely see a lot of the country. This time, my friends and I, have secured our lodging in three different places and are renting a car to drive around. Just come up with a general plan before you go of what you would like to see. Research through this forum, the internet, travel books etc.. of places that sound of mutual interest to you and your friend. By coming up with a general plan you can partially eliminate the 'blind wandering'. I, by no means, advocate planning out every minute either. Blind wandering may lead you to see interesting places that don't make it into the tourist guides. There are some great travel books on Ireland that offer maps of the different towns. <BR>With all that said, I would be tempted to book the trip myself next time rather than go through a travel agent. It's a little more work but can prove to be cheaper sometimes. IF you decide to do it this way, call AutoEurope (1-800-223-5555) for car rental. I found this to be the cheapest. Without (hopefully) sparking another round of discussion about Collision/Damage waiver, check with your credit card company if you can waive this insurance. It will save you some money. Some cards do, some don't. In september, you shouldn't have any problem finding B&B's with vacancies. <BR>Hope this helps. Best of luck and have a great time. Remember, Ireland is an adventure! <BR> <BR>Rick

My husband and I are also traveling to Ireland in September. We booked our trip through a travel agent and they booked it through Brendan Tours. They handle travel in other countries, as well as the U.S., but they specialize in Ireland and Britain. <BR> <BR>Like you, we thought the rigidness of a bus tour would drive us nuts, not to mention we want to see things and take part in the local atmosphere and we just felt that the bus tours would drag out the dinner hour and maybe take longer to get from place to place due to older travelers. I have nothing against older travelers, however, we felt that if we weren't interested in a certain aspect, we could move on ahead if we were driving ourselves, or that we wouldn't need or want an extended dinner hour if we wanted to go out to hit the pubs and walk around the cities. <BR> <BR>Check out the Brendan tour web site at www.brendantours.com and that should help you out. They have self-drive tours, escorted tours, you can rent a cottage, or hire a driver as mentioned in a previous post. The site should give you information on the tour, what it includes and the cost. We're taking the self-drive tour and our first night's lodging is booked near Shannon Airport where we fly in. We also made reservations for a ceili the night we arrive, at Bunratty castle. This can all be done through your travel agent. Our tour is for hotels, but you can also get it for B&B's if you'd prefer. Our first night is already booked, but we receive vouchers for the rest of the time there and can pick and choose from the information they will give us as to the places we want to stay. The web site will allow you send for brochures and the brochures will give you information, pictures of some of the hotels as well as names of other hotels. We also received a free video tape that I signed up for through that internet site, and it will tell you about their various tours and show you highlights of Ireland. I'm not sure if that was a limited time offer, or if they have that all of the time. <BR> <BR>Other sites to check out for information are: http://www.beourguest.ie/index.cfm <BR>this one is especially helpful as it lists all of the hotels and B&B's and guesthouses and shows you a picture in most cases while telling you about their amenities and costs. VERY HELPFUL. They also have books that we received by registering with the Irish Tourist Board. They were sent to us and are the best tour books I've ever received regarding hotel information. We received 3 separate books. That web site is www.ireland.travel.ie <BR> <BR>Hope this helps you out and that you have an enjoyable trip. We'll be there from September 4 through 17 … maybe we'll see you there!