4.5/5

Beautiful, historical, unforgettable tour!

We saw so much of this beautiful country, from numerous castles to the Isle of Sky and everything in between. Our tour guide, Ian, was so knowledgeable of the Scottish history of each venture that we became totally immersed in each days historical site. My favorite was the Tattoo . It was an unforgettable experience which topped the ending to a fantastic tour. I will miss Scotland but am so grateful that I chose this tour.

Taste of Scotland and Ireland Tour

We had a wonderful experience, a top notch director (Paul) and we enjoyed the opportunity of the Taste of Scotland and Ireland

An excellent itinerary, let down by logistical challenges.

Greatly enjoyed the itinerary. The tour director and the driver were both great as well. Our experience was let down by the inability of CIE to get us our welcome packs until the end of the tour. We would encourage the company to deliver to Australia the packs prior to the tours, as they do for USA. This factor alone means we would not recommend the company to other Australians as things stand. We also found a couple of the hotels below the standard we would expect, especially in Glasgow and Inverness. Some of the more remote hotels were actually more suited to our needs and were not as overwhelmed by multiple tour groups trying to squeeze into lifts and looking for space at breakfast.

Mornings too early!

Excellent planning logistically but 5 hotels in 7 nights was difficult for this retired person. Great tour guide, David, and masterful driver Aiden. We saw a lot and I appreciated that it was rarely that we sat on the coach for more than 1.5 hours. An hour later (9am) boarding the bus would have been preferable.

Great time!

Tour was great! A small hiccup occurred where I never got picked up from the Dublin Airport to get the transfer to the hotel. Had to taxi which CIE reimbursed me for. Overall, would love to join another tour from CIE.

Great circle tour of Ireland

Great company. Used them for Scotland and now Ireland. Tour was good, guide very knowledgeable, accommodations great.

Taste of Scotland and Ireland Made Pleasant

This was a "taste" of Scotland and Ireland; our leaders (Colm and Becky) were very personable and knowledgable, giving information rich tours. They made efforts to insure we had a good experience, paid attention to a lot of detail. The tour captured a lot of the history and culture of the areas visited. Excellent in this regard. Always felt comfortable. Only down side (for me)--went through Scottish highlands--beautiful scenery--but were only able to get a brief stop (Glencoe) in a less-than-opportune photo-opp setting of these highlands. Overall, was a great experience.

Great Time in Scotland!

Our family has used CIE a couple of times. With our Scottish Clans & Castles Tour, we enjoyed 11 days in Scotland.

Our Guide/Director Ian Foster is amazing; knowledgeable, organized and funny, Ian kept us safe, entertained and in-the-know. His communication was clear - necessary for this 11-day trip! - and he shared such rich, local knowledge. We wish he was allowed to dine with us - he was an integral part of the tour! Our drivers were caring and safely navigated the countryside. We wish both Ian and our drivers safe travels and fulfilling lives.

The scenery can’t be beat! Whether exploring a city, village or the rugged Highlands, there was something new and incredible to simply take-in and enjoy. A country so rich in history - beautiful, painful, resilient, cheeky, complex history - you can’t help but be captivated by your surroundings. Each castle transports you back in time; the sheepdog demonstration reminds us that tradition should be respected; the Royal Military Tattoo encourages us to join-in in honoring and celebrating such traditions. Each village showcased their own uniqueness, and we thoroughly enjoyed exploring them!

There were only two things we wish to be improved upon: there seemed to be a bit of disorganization from CIE. Most of the tour did not receive our vouchers for our last day (pretty much free day) in Edinburgh, and there was a scramble to get that sorted. The other concern is the use of the Glen Mhor hotel in Inverness. The hotel was confused about our booking of three family members, and wanted to split us up, providing us with two separate rooms. It turned out to be that one of those rooms did have three beds, adding further to the confusion. It was eventually all sorted, but we’ve never encountered this level of confusion during a tour. Their food was just ok. My family didn’t hate it as much as others, but it was admittedly a fairly odd selection of dishes: almost trying to cater to Americans and not knowing what to offer. Other hotels provided dishes with local recipes, which enhanced our experience.

Despite those two items, we highly recommend this tour. Very much worth it. Thank you. CIE!

Ireland 101+

CIE was easy to work with before and after the tour. I especially appreciated their sending a backpack containing currency converters and other useful items a couple weeks in advance.

Excellent customer service

Excellent customer service. Tour director worked through snafus (not his fault). He was informative and entertaining, too.

Fabulous and Fun

Your company provided a wonderful experience for our family. Your staff are extremely knowledge, eager to help in anyway and very amusing! We will highly recommend your company if going aboard.
Thank you

Scenic Ireland

Spend less time on the bus without stopping to see the sights. The tour ended with Hop On Hop Off in Dublin for two days, but all flights were out by mid-afternoon, so no one could take advantage of the second day.

A First Class Vacation!

With C*I*E Tours, everything is first class making for a first class vacation!

This was my second tour with C*I*E Tours and everything on my second tour was as excellent as it was with my first tour. You start with the numerous well planned variety of tours available, add in all of the wonderful inclusions, add to that terrific tour directors, and top it off with excellent customer service.

One of the things I like best with their tours are the things included with the tour. I don't need to do the planning - nor the driving. When we made a stop for the night, our room keys were waiting for us to pick up at the front and our rooms were ready for us. There was no need to either check into the hotel nor check out of the hotel. Luggage was brought to our room at each stop and picked up again the following morning. Breakfast was included each day as were our most of our dinners. Admission to any attractions was completely included. It makes budgeting for the trip easy.

In summary, there isn't much to do but relax and enjoy the vacation!

This was a good tour. A couple of long days which need to be broken up

Enjoyed the tour , especially since we were treated to great weather for the duration.
Found the history lessons interesting, the sites visited well maintained, the staff very accommodating.

Murt, our driver/ guide is fantastic!!

Very comprehensive tour. Murt, our driver and guide is the very best!!

John was phenomenal and a wealth of information about where we were and where we were going. The hotels were very very nice but the bus was not comfortable at all. Loved all our little stops and wish we had more time in York. I was told CIE was suppose to help since our first flight was cancelled and I booked through CIE but the lady I spoke with said she couldn’t help me so I am hoping to get some reimbursement for that flight and gas money it took to drive 4 1/2 hours to NYC to make out connection and start the tour on time

Coach guide was very personal. Billy asked everyday how we were doing and made sure hotel accommodations were good.

The tour director and bus driver did an amazing job for our trip. They were knowledgeable and very efficient throughout the trip.

I have and will vacation with CIE again. We saw so many different roads and new experiences from the other 3 times I’ve been to Ireland.