I am looking at either the CIE Ireland Odyssey (12 day) tour or the CIE Ireland Classic (13 day) tour for May. Has anyone been one of these specific ones? Both of them go to Northern Ireland and follow the coast all the way around. This is the first trip to Ireland for my Mom and I so we were looking for a good overview. Both trips seem to offer some different sights and we wanted to hear which ones people have done and liked.

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I have not been on them as i live here but CIE is a reputable and popular company. My mother was going to organise a groiup of her pals in America (mom is Irish born) to come over and take a CIE tour and show them "her" country as no one seems to think she was born here (its the American accent she now has!)

What is the difference in the Classic and Odyssey tours?

Haven't toured with CIE, but as SiobhanP said...they're very reputable.

Both tours cover a lot of ground and hit a lot of great destinations. You will be thrilled with either one.

Some things to consider:

The Odyssey has more one-night stays which is okay, but can make you feel a bit more like a vagabond.

One has Cashel the other has Waterford.

Both have great coastal/scenic trips, so whether it's the Ring of Kerry, Dingle, Achill Island you will have great views.

The Odyssey does have a castle stay.

Hmmph, tough call.

I did the Classic tour back in 1998 and thought it was very nice.
It seemed to me there were a lot of shop stops for the sole purpose of shopping and I did not like that.
Since that trip I now only do small group tours with no shopping.
But anyway, The driver/guide was very good. Some of the hotels were away from the city center but the Merrion Hotel in Dublin was in a great location.
All in all I thought it was a good trip.

cie is great, one of the premier tour operators to ireland. they are run very well, and i'm sure you will enjoy either trip.