I plan to go to Ireland next fall. I am looking for help with information on your expierence with escorted tours in Ireland, Which are the best?

We always travel with Tauck World Discovery, but understand CIE and Brendan are also good.

I've heard that CIE tours of Ireland are very good too. You might also want to check out Rick Steves. His tour of Ireland looks like it has a really good itinerary.

I have to give CIE the thumbs up as the best Ireland tour company. Do a text search on the Europe board for CIE. They are run by the Irish government and because of that they can secure better (cheaper) prices than the other tour companies. If you check Tauck vs. CIE, you will see Tauck runs about 1k more for the same trip and accomodations (deluxe Ireland). Have done Tauck, CIE, and Maupin, CIE wins for best price/lodging/ and dining.

I would also post all your Ireland questions on the Europe Forum. There's a lot of expertise and people willing to help you out on your trip.

Ireland is one of my favorite spots. I just love the people, the countryside, and the Guinness.

Forgot to add that you should be able to save 5-7% off the tour rate by using an online travel agent like trafalgartours4less.com and affordabletours.com, and pavlustravel.com, they discount mostly every tour company. In my experience trafalgartours4less discounts the largest $$ amount.