Enjoyed the tour and hotels were all very good. Tour leader was wonderful.
My main complaint was the time it took for bus company to get a functional microphone for leader to give the group information as we travelled between stops.
A very enjoyable tour. Tour guide & driver excellent, very knowledgeable & helpful.
the tour was excellent. It was very well organized, and everything went according to plan. The tour guide was first class as was the coach driver.
Not only did it cover most of Ireland but the local guides were wonderful and gave us a fascinating insight into Irish history. I would recommend it to everyone.
An excellent tour of Ireland covering an overview of its complex history and, of course, its glorious scenery. Importantly, it was done at a good pace enabling you to take your time seeing the detail and also speaking to the locals.
A wonderful opportunity to learn about both ancient and modern history of Ireland, this tour provided enthusiasm, knowledge, experience and passion for the Emerald Isle.
everyday was filled with great stops and beautiful views. our guide, Peter, and driver, Dylan, were wonderful. best tour ever!
Most enjoyable. Guide & driver very informative. Nice to be around Always helpful. Will recommend tour to friends. We had 13 in our group which was a good size. All 13 fitted together well. The included meals were very welcome. Altogether a stress free holiday. I would have liked a pick up from Dublin airport. It would have made arriving at a stange airport stress free.
Our tour guide, Coralie & driver, John made our journey through Ireland informative, memorable, very pleasurable & stress free.
We had the best time! The driver was very safe and funny and our tour guide was wonderful. She was very knowledgeable about every aspect of our journey. The group we traveled with were a perfect match for us.
This was not the small, intimate experience promised in the brochure. It was another tick the box, visited the main sights, follow the flag tour with less people.
What a great tour. Guide Peter,and driver Emily were the best. Lots of fun and very helpful and personable. Peter really knew his stuff and then some.
The tour was educational, informative,and the places we visited were beautiful and interesting.
Hotels were very nice, rooms neat and clean. Beds comfortable and meals were tasty and plentiful. Some hotels were really unique.
Just loved it. Ireland amazing tour leader Peter best one could get I reckon as was Emily the bus driver. Learn more in 2 wks than I ever did at school or in my life. Has had lots of sad times. Hope now on the up. Irelands Beauty makes up for all.
We enjoyed an excellent tour leader, Maura Cahill, a superior driver, John, and a great group of travelers. In addition, our agenda was well balanced and informative. Accommodations were well chosen and meals a good representation of irish cuisine.
Very well planned and executed itinerary, accommodation and included meals were mostly first rate . Guide and driver were excellent.
We had a wonderful trip with Caroline as our guide and Dylan our driver. Both did an excellent job. Our accommodation was very good, especially liked Kilronan Castle. Our group were friendly, mainly Aussies and two Canadians.
If you suffer from motion sickness this trip isn’t for you. Very winding roads, hence the name Back Roads.
We enjoyed the tour greatly, capably led by Caroline and our driver Dylan.
The tour was well organised, great itinerary and very nice hotels. My favourite was Kilronan Castle. The dinners at the different hotels were fabulous, also all the breakfasts. If you suffer from motion sickness the windy back roads are probably not for you.
Excellent tour around Ireland.
Staff as in tour director & driver where also excellent. Nothing was too much trouble and they made it such fun.
Would recommend to family & friends.
We really enjoyed our adventure in The Emerald Isle. The trip was executed at a good pace with enough time allocated to all adventures and activities. Peter, our guide was very professional and knowledgeable, always making sure everyone in the group got to experience and capture all the highlights of the trip (there were too many to single out anything in particular). Ray, our driver, has superb skill at negotiating the narrow winding back roads of Ireland, always considerate of all the passengers on board his vehicle. He went above and beyond to make sure we all experienced the culture of his Ireland, always available for a chat or imparting his local knowledge of the towns we visited. This trip has been amazing and also provided us with valuable friendships and cherished memories.
Well presented..very informative… knowledge of the tour guide was excellent… no extra cost or any surprises on “optional extras” value for money…the driver was very experienced…we saw a lot of very interesting history of Island.
If you like bus trips, this one is probably a corker. The guide and driver were terrific, and most locations and accommodation very well-researched. However, although centrally located, the Dean Hotel in Galway was awful! The room was far too small, and cluttered with unnecessary themed paraphernalia, such as a turntable and an old-fashioned radio, which filled most of the valuable bench space. There was nowhere for travellers to put suitcases and little hanging space. That said, this small group tour is a very good opportunity to see touch of Northern Ireland and Eire.
Great tour. Well organised, very good guide who was so helpful and very good driver. Thoroughly recommend this tour.
Our entire experience for Ireland has been wonderful. Accommodation, bus, driver (Dylan) and especially our guide, Caroline, have all been outstanding. These things have enabled us to experience the many attractions and history of Ireland!
Fantastic guide and drivers in Ireland. The tour was top notch and covered a lot of the entire island. Would highly recommend!
We were exposed to marvellous sites and a detailed explanation about the sites we visited.
The tour provided a better understanding of Ireland’s history which I found valuable.
I would recommend the Back roads tour to friends.
The itinerary was great. Number of passengers ideal. Tour leader Liam was very knowledgeable. Accommodation first rate.
Fabulous tour, tour guide and driver were fabulous. Everything was wonderful, scenery, history and historical sights. There were places we could have spent less time at and the dinners could be cut back to 2 courses, but on the whole, it was great.
Just what I was wanting - a touring holiday, not a fast paced sightseeing tour. Finished tour without a complaint.
Only recommendation is to shortened Jameson distillery guided tour. For those not interested, nearly 2hours was a long time to wait for it to finish.
I thoroughly enjoyed our Emerald Isle tour. Our driver and tour guides were exceptional. Some feedback, I felt we could have had more time at Titanic. It is one of the major attractions of Ireland. 2 hours was not enough time to complete the tour. We missed the last third of the walk through as we ran our of time. We also felt a stop at the Jack Doolan Statue would have been great. The 16 people on our bus were Australians who would have learned the story of The Wild Colonial Boy at school.
A great way to see a lot of Ireland in a limited time without feeling too rushed. Accommodation and included meals were all very good. Also appreciated some free time to wander around on your own.
Got more than anticipated! Guide and driver were both excellent - informative and helpful. Hotels were, overall, more than expected. Visited places not on the itinerary.
Everything about the trip met my expectations. I would have liked more time to explore the smaller villages at the expense of some of the larger towns even if it added a day or two to the trip. That, and perhaps staying no less than two nights at stopovers would have been good for me. But enjoyed the commentary, particularly local experts where available, the direction and assistance of the tour ****** and driver, the accommodation, and the small group experience. Good value for money indeed.
This was a lovely tour, both our tour guide Peter and driver John were fantastic. They were very knowledgeable and friendly. We saw magnificent wild scenery and stayed in very comfortable hotels.
The food was very good.
We thoroughly enjoyed the entire trip. Your history is fascinating and your sense of humour and hospitality where great.
A terrific tour at the right pace, the tour guide Peter was exceptional .
His knowledge of the island and the history, recent and old was amazing. He was very approachable and couldn't do enough for us.
The driver John was also exceptional.
The bus was comfortable, being 6' 2" another inch of room would be good.
Everything about the tour was terrific. What we saw. Where we visited. Our accommodation and meals provided.
Peter our tour guide was so knowledgeable about Ireland and was happy to share it with us. He help make our trip one I'll never forget.
John our driver was terrific. I felt completely safe with him at the wheel. He also made our trip enjoyable. 2 good people to have on board.
A great trip over 12 days covering many areas of Ireland, filled with history and information. Great range of accommodation, great small group tour, fantastic guide and driver.
Great itinerary and excellent guide & driver
Our guide Shabby and driver Paul were extremely helpful and friendly impressed with the use of whatsapp for communication and posting photos and links to points of interest.
Accommodation and included meals exceeded expectations.
The Tour Guide and Driver were excellent as was the accommodation and the choice of places of interest.
The route selection and tour guide commentary was ecellent. The driving was also first class.
Fabulous tour . Good cities and places visited.good mix of people on the coach.
John the driver was sensational
Good guy lots of fun.
Your tour guide is the best.
Deirdre is the best we have ever
Experienced a wonderful lady
And so full of knowledge and fun too.
We loved every minute of the tour.
"We had an amazing holiday with Back Roads Touring. Our tour director and bus driver were perfect hosts, and the tour director shared a lot of interesting history with us. Our bus driver was wonderful and ensured that we arrived at our destinations safe and sound. The scenery was spectacular, and our accommodations were superb. The included meals offered plenty of variety and were very nicely presented. The Irish people were very accommodating, and there were lots of good restaurants and bars."
We enjoyed a great time with back roads and saw lots of interesting places . We had good fun with fellow travellers .
Very enjoyable tour, saw and learned lots, very nice hotels. Guide and driver were excellent
A great experience, so much to see and do. Well cared for by tour guide and driver. Hotels bar one were excellent. Food extremely good. Good mix of scenery, history and culture
The trip was organised exceptionally well. Good balance between site seeing with group and free time. Our tour guide Sarah Downey and driver Dylan, made the trip. They were fun, knowledgeable, helpful, and professional. I celebrated my 60th birthday on our trip and they made my day extra special. We also enjoyed the selection of accomodations we stayed at.
We thoroughly enjoyed our tour with Blue-Roads around Ireland. We felt we got to see so much more than we would have on our own, and did not have to worry about driving in Ireland which at times seems like it could be quite challenging. Our tour guide was the best - had a great personality with a good sense of humour, and very knowledgeable. She easily connected with all members in our group. And we had a wonderful group of fellow travelers as well, which made the trip very enjoyable and relaxing as well. I highly recommend this trip for anyone considering a visit to Ireland!
Exploring Ireland with Back-Roads tours is a fantastic way to see the country and learn some more of its history
Everything was thought out carefully. The best routes to see the most. Outstanding tour guide and driver. Interesting excursions full of history and beautiful scenery. Excellent hotels and meals. What is there not to love?!
Loved this extensive tour of Ireland, accomodation was VG to Excellent,
Food (way too much good food), our guide and driver the best and a great group to interact with.
The weather wasn't the best but the experience and fun outwieghed the weather.
Thanks to Brenna and Laura for a great trip
Maura and Ray were great. At times I felt the hotels could have put Backroad guests into better rooms as Backroads give them business. Probably would drop the folk museum. Other choices wonderful.
We enjoyed every minute of the Emerald Isle tour. The itinerary, accommodations, pace and timings were all very good.
The tour guide, Breeda, create a really great tone.
Absolutely great value for money. Backroads was exactly the experience we had, as we ventured around beautiful laneways and small roads and minimal time on bigger motorways. Our tour leader Breeda was just perfect imparting her great knowledge of the Emerald Isle with humour and personality. The smaller number of participants was ideal giving us a feeling of not being lost or over run in a larger group. Our bus driver Laura was also wonderful and made us feel relaxed and safe during the tour.
The accommodation and meals that were provided were of a very high standard and generally in perfect locations.
Bus great,lovely lot of like minded people 🙄. Driver very good and a very friendly person. Tour leader very helpful and easy to approach. I got covid on the tour so I missed 4 days of the tour.
Your guide needs to stop & talk to the group rather than be in front when only the nearest few hear what is being said. Even better would be as BOX system where everyone has a hearing device so hears everything the guide is saying. Otherwise great guide with huge local knowledge & a great driver.
Thanks for a great trip
The very best of Tours. Fabulous time had by all. The smaller group is a great idea to go places not normally covered by tourist buses.
Excellent. Warm & friendly. Well organised & relaxing. Wouldn't try any other way. Micaela is tops!
Very knowledgeable and helpful guide and driver, both of whom made the tour interesting and fun. Interesting places visited at a leisurely pace. Mostly very good hotels. The included meals were excellent. Could probably have been two or three days longer allowing for extra time in some of the most interesting towns. Was hard to say goodbye to everyone at the end of the tour.
Excellent all around. Guide, driver, accom, friendly & knowledgeable. Being sml gr, git to places that bigger buses wouldn't. A very personalized & family feel about it fic both myself & partner Andy Chalmers.
I loved it tour guide was very good and friendly so was bus driver. And overall very nice trip . I thought most hotels were very central but cork was to out of town considering we had to buy tea where we had to eat at hotel. Limited options. Bar food ****. Restaurant expensive. But generally great. And I would have liked to explore cork more. I would recommend back road tours to my friends.
Meeting new people was good.
The meals to big.
The Music great.
Favourite place was a surprise, going to the Chocolate factory where Chocolate is made.
Last day to short.
Great trip. Well organised. Smaller group made it very comfortable and not rushed. Tour guide and drivers were excellent. Very enjoyable tour.
Fabulous tour. Small group and tour leader often gave us options along the way. Visited some off the road unique places. Accommodation was excellent we even got to stay in a castle which was amazing. Tour leader kept us entertained and was very in tune to individual personal needs. We really felt like the locals and not just a bunch of tourists. Meet some great people and we had an awesome time.
The whole experience was excellent
Our tour guide Eva and bus driver John made the Irish experience unforgettable.
They were both informative funny accommodating. Everything you need from guide
The local tour guides were excellent. They all brought their own knowledge of the area with sad stories and humour
The only hotel that wasn’t up to excellence was Vienna Woods. The hotel was tired looking the staff was not pleasant and the food was not up to the standard we had become accustomed to on the trip
Overall we would definitely recommend
My wife and I are Kiwis with early Irish ancestors. We wanted to see and learn more of Ireland. This tour provided the breadth of coverage we wanted. Together with an amazing Tour Director and fabulous, safe driver the tour delivered.
Tour provided a good insight into North and south Ireland. We learnt a lot about Ireland's history and the potato famine and its consequences. Perhaps at times there was a little too much emphasis on past history and potato famine. I would have liked more on Ireland's contemporary history. Overall accommodation was very good, particularly Redcastle Hotel and Benners Hotel in Dingle. I was disappointed in our final destination and accommodation in Kilkenny. Our room was not soundproof. Hence, we could hear conversation and movement from the adjoining room. On the final day of tour, all we saw was Kilkenny Castle before the tour ended in Dublin.
With experienced
, knowledgeable tour leader and driver we thoroughly enjoyed an informative and very interesting tour around the Emerald Isle. Hotels and meals were of a high standard and 'behind-the -scenes" planning appeared efficient, consequently the tour ran very smoothly. It was an awesome holiday.
Beautiful scenery, Fantastic bus driver. Great accommodation.
The tour involved history, magnificent scenery and practical experiences
Our tiur leader Peter was absolutely excellent as were our drivers Pat and Eugene.
The Emerald Isle is a bit too long, a little repetitive. I would recommend a reduction of about 4 days. Some of the hotels were below par and expectations, 3 star at best.
Very informative with indepth focus on history and struggles of the Irish people past and present. Minivan transportation between counties was easy and comfortable with leather seats and frequent stops to visit castles, statues and interesting sites. Driver and Tour Coordinator were professional and personable. Guides were informative, fun and knowledgeable. Small tour groups are so much more relaxed than Coach tours. Overall the Hotels included were 4-5 stars. An excellent trip to Ireland.
A wonderful experience. Our tour guide was knowledgeable, fun and kept us informed. He had places to see, etc, off the route. Our driver was outstanding. He also had recommendations for a quick photo opp or side trip. Perhaps a little too much concentration on Ireland's "troubles". Beautiful country, such friendly people and fun places.
Exceptional tour with great places of interest and amazing views. Guide Caroline and driver Ray were amazing with great rapport. Scenery out of this world. Hotels were very good and Kilronan Castle was a very special place to stay. All our days were filled with great scenery and plenty of history. An excellent tour. Definitely recommend this tour.
Great tour leader- very organised and helpful.
Need to advise regarding coach size in advance for those who might experience travel illness due to winding roads. A couple of free seats would allow more flexibility for travel issues.
Trip was everything I had hoped for:
*daily excursions timed perfectly, with time to explore or rest.
*saw many highlights of Ireland. Northern Ireland most interesting
*Food and accommodation excellent
*Guide Caroline and driver Ray were fun and informative
*Recommend this tour highly
Well organised and great accomodation.
Never too rushed with time to linger.
I found our guide's knowledge about Ireland was very enlightening and some of the side trips he took us on were great. It was a good tour as we got see most of the interesting places in Ireland. Our driver was a very pleasant young man and very professional, he went out of way to help all thee fellow passengers. Our accommodation was excellent and I believe we were very lucky with the weather over all.
The driver was very careful and considerate of her passengers.
Guide was very knowlable n
Great scenery fantastic guide and driver. All hotels were accommodating and good food.
Backroad Tour of Ireland was comprehensive, informative and entertaining. Caroline our Guide and Ray our driver did an awesome job of giving us a comprehensive look at Ireland's past, present intermingled with some excellent Irish music' special dance performance by Dave at the Dingle pub.
We have loved this tour' thanks Ireland 🇮🇪 🍀🧡
Fabulous trip and so well planned - places of interest to visit, accommodation, included meals, and a very friendly and helpful hostess/guide/organiser and excellent/helpful driver.
A good balance between scenery ,history and social .
there was also ample free time for personal shopping ,relaxing etc.
Excellent driver who contributed to the commentary ,and tour guide who did a brilliant job ,made the trip enjoyable .
well organised
comfortable coach
Great tour leader and driver
right amount of free time
very interesting stops
Wonderful people scenery history.
Excellent tour, comfortable bus, knowledgeable friendly Tour Guide and safe secure helpful Driver
Accessed sites an average independent tourist would not have known about, and a large tour bus could not access
Excellent accommodation and evening meals.
Breakfasts every day, and a good balance of free time in the schedule.
Excellent tour, with great guide and driver also very good hotels, very happy customer.
From start to finish this tour was fantastic. Every day I’d think wow , what a great day. And I said same thing every night. Our tour guide Sarah and driver John ensured we saw and experienced as much of Ireland as possible.
Hotels were very good , and the meals were amazing
I thoroughly enjoyed this tour. The itinerary was excellent and well paced. The guide Sarah and the driver John were very friendly and professional.
Thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. Great leader, driver and group. Saw all the places I wanted to see plus a whole lot more - and the weather and scenery were just perfect.
Tour was well formatted in terms of sights visited, Accommodation, and meals included.
Both the tour leader (Peter) and dri er (Ray) were on top of their game in the seamless progression of the tour.
Fellow travellers were intelligent with all members of the party being mindful of each other's needs.
A really enjoyable tour which represented great value for money
The accommodation was excellent. The rooms were spacious and well appointed The food provided as part of the tour was excellent. The staff at the hotels were friendly and helpful. The pace of the tour was good and the small group size made life easy moving around and comfortable on the bus.
I enjoyed the Backroads Emerald Isle tour, and would recommend it to fellow travellers. I may suggest that you undertake the tour more into the season than I did - the weather you can't control, but perhaps you may have a better experience with it more into summer and spring these days.
Too many long days on the bus and we spent much longer than necessary at most places we visited.eg the Blarney Woollen Mills.
The excellent quality of our trip was equally matched by the cost.
Parts of Ireland are dear
An wonderful overview of both Northern Island and the Republic of Ireland, covering a number of natural and historical sights.
A very interesting and well run tour. The Driver and Tour Guide were very knowledgeable and worked well together. While it was probably impossible to cover all the delights of Ireland in a 14 day tour such as this, every day had at least two visit/events to keep us busy with self time at rest/meal breaks to explore the sites and towns of significance. I confess I remain thrilled that at 72, I was able to kiss the Blarney Stone.
The occasional generous two day stop overs (without the additional stacking and packing frustrations of a daily travel schedule) were appreciated by all.
But beware, Ireland is a surprisingly large island and to get around it all in 14 days involves with a lot of coach travel miles.
I have already reviewed and commented above
First and Last day wasted. Never have we started or tour at 6pm and finish at 11.30 a.m. - 2 full days absolutely wasted. Three previous tours started at 9 a.m and the last day finishing at 5 p.m - 2 full days of touring - this was very disappointing. And not as many main meals in the evening as we had previously. I was not impressed the Back Roads Office staff. When we booked we were told we were having twin beds. I was not impressed with this, we are a couple, and have never had twin beds. The Office girl said 'you were last to book' and YOU ARE HAVING twin bed. When we booked we were not the last to book. I felt she was extremely rude, we had paid the same as everyone else, we should have the same as everybody else. As it turned out, Breeda really looked after us, as she did with everyone, we had such lovely rooms and beautiful double beds.
Battle of Boyne was closed, we had an alternative place New Grange, it was very disappointing with monument in the distance. The walk to the centre was nice. Enjoyed the Titanic Museum. We all got drenched at Giants Causeway, very heavy rain, no cover. Had to sit in our soaking clothing until we got back to hotel for 2 hours. This was no ones fault, but it resulted in most of us coming down with flu like symptoms with continual coughing. The next day the Black Cab tours, and it was raining again, no option to stay in the coach, we all got wet again. A couple having to see a doctor and myself and another ending up at hospitals to see emergency doctors, when tour finished.
The Redcastle Hotel and the Kilronan Castle were outstanding, but some of the hotels do not give you a flannel and noticed only one a dressing gown. I didn't pack one as just thought they would be at each hotel. The Dean Hotel in Galway had to be the worst one. Cold wooden floors, dim lighting, there was twin beds here and the mattresses seem to bend in the middle. There was a dressing gown here luckily as I had to put it on the bed to keep myself warmer.
The morning tour of Galway did not happen. We were told that Ray had do have a full day off from driving. It was very wet day, so really didn't see much of Galway at all. Galway was disappointing for us.
Day 8 we started to see some of the scenic areas of Ireland which is what I really enjoy. I was over all the history by this point. The Cliffs of Moher, our time there was definitely not long enough, that was disappointing. Quite a long walk to get to see the best of the Cliffs. The Dingle Peninsula was lovely The Gallarus Oratory was a very long walk to get to it and really not that much. And the Great Blasket Centre was a bit ordinary.
Blarney Castle was really nice, the grounds I enjoyed, while my husband did the stairs. And a bit my scenery of the Lakes of Killarney. Denners Hotel and Vienna Woods Hotel very nice. We celebrated our 54th wedding anniversary, and Breeda and Ray both organised us to have a bottle of wine with our meal.. I thought their jesture was extremely touching, and we appreciated their kindness. She said we don't usually have anniversaries that vintage. It was very special. Kinsale was a pretty town and we had a realy nice tour guide called Brian.. Enjoyed Kilkenny it was also a beautiful town,. with the Hibernian hotel right in the main street. But did think the traditional cottage orne was a waste of time. You could not take photos inside, but really not much to take. Would have preferred a bit more scenic or perhaps the Rock of Cashel, which used to be in the Iterniary and has been taken off.
Unfortunately this was not the best Back Roads Tour we have experience, shame as we always wanted to see Ireland. There needed to be more scenic areas and less of the history.
First and last days wasted. Tour started in evening of first day, and finished early on last day with only a direct drive back to Dublin.
The last three tours we have taken commenced early on the first day and completed in the late afternoon after a full day of sightseeing.
Battle of The Boyne Centre not visited because of closure. There must have been sufficient advice of this to permit a better alternative to be chosen. New Grange as substituted did not permit us sufficient time to visit the monument.
The drive to the Giant's Causeway was taken via motorways. We had anticipated being driven up the Antrim Coast Road as it was advertised in the itinerary as "North Irish Coast". There was sufficient time to do this as we arrived early for our lunch at the Bushmills Inn, & had to use up time at the Bushmills Distillery sales office prior.
The Redcastle, Kilronan Castle & Vienna Woods accommodations were exceptional.
The Dean Hotel was not satisfactory with wooden floors, limited hanging space & poor lighting in the dark rooms. Breakfast choices were also limited.
We did not visit Kenmare, however a return visit & stop in Cobh for us was most appreciated.
I would have preferred a tour of the Rock of Cashel, rather than the Swiss Cottage "Traditional Cottage Orme"
All other sites visited were satisfactory.
For a small group tour it was worth the money.
We enjoyed the smaller tour bus with only 17 passengers. The hotels we stayed in were all great. Very nice beds and bedding and great included breakfasts.
It was a beautiful place to visit with a long history and welcoming, entertaining people
Well planned, great itinerary, good hotels, amazing tour guide.
Good balance of activities & accomodation good variation
Good experience, but requires refinement. Not a lot to do or easy to do things when given free time, especially when hotels location is an issue.
The tour was really good and all the hotels we stayed at were really nice. We felt like we saw places that a lot of other tours would not go to.
By its nature, Nithern Ireland was rather depressing.
Well organised that obtained a full site seeing experience at a leisurely pace. Great tour director and driver. They added so much to the trip experience
I thought I answered this already.
Good itemised itinerary & variety. Took into account his clients on excursions
Because the rour was of excellent service
Small group touring was the perfect way to see major sites and small town areas of interest.
It was a great experience, seeing the sights of Ireland
Great experience, covered lots oh history and topics and visited some fantastic places.
Showed us what the real Ireland is!!!
Very comfortable bus, great tour leader, sobering view of history in Be
Fast ams Derry then astonishing scenery and people along the Atlantic Way. And the craic was wonderful in Dingle!
excellent guide and driver
Our guide was very knowledgeable about Scotland and Abi our driver was a very safe driver with a lovely personality.
See above. Hotels were good too. Safe driver.
Tour guide: excellent and driver excellent.
Tour did all interesting places as well as touristy places. Accomodiation was of a high standard
Excellece all round. Culture people tours history accommodation activities tour guides counties who spoke a out the good and the bad. That's history
Good value for your money.
What we saw and did and the effort of Peter and Dylan made it worth the cost
Great tour leader. Very knowledgeable about everywhere we visited. Loved all the places we visited. Great company on the tour.
Ticked all the boxes. Local guides excellent
The tour lived up to what was advertised
As per above in the first box as indicated
I really enjoyed the experience
Some of the accomodation was not up to the standard I expected
The comments above apply here.
An excellent service and value for money.
Local tours were well chosen and interesting history given by each guide.
Tour was relaxed and we never felt rushed
All went well and we were looked after well
A fascinating, comfortable and well organised way to see Ireland.
Great service and well planned out stops.
Great way to get a taste of all of Ireland at a leisurely pace.
Flawless delivery of promised events. My travel agent was also impressed.
Goods tour with most hotels up to standard with meals and accommodation
Liked the extensive route - but it was a bit rushed at times
It is expensive but the hotels are good and you are only a small group so less time is lost getting on and off the coach.
Tour leader was excellent - Mikaela went above and beyond to make the tour fun, informative and enjoyable. Our tour driver, Dylan, was the same - and an excellent driver on some of those back roads. Accommodation was A1, and we were so lucky with our group - Mikaela certainly was able to get all interacting and having fun!
Just enjoyed it overall, everyone friendly
Excellent value for money.
As already stated - “fantastic”. A really good overview of the whole country. The guide Peter made us all feel comfortable and special.
Well planned and easily adapted to weather conditions. Hotels generally good . Not keen on the Dean as room cramped and filled with unnecessary devices filling all the surfaces. , the Langtons was very noisy but very centrally located. . Initial meet needed to be clearer as to time and location within the hotel
Excellent guide and driver in a small group that allowed access to many little known but significant sites.
Well organised, good pace, great hotels, great group dinner option.
Locations visited very good. Of particular note, Black cab tour in Belfast - eye opening.
Walking tour of Derry - extremely moving
The scenery is amazing.
We saw alll them must visit places. The tour seems just the right speed and we had more than a little fun.
Backroads need to look at accommodation where we were staying outside the township, this was very disappointing. When you have a free night but nowhere to go because the accommodation is too far away from town, village or it’s in a very remote area, this was unfair and a poor decision by Backroads. Too much focus on history and not enough on life in Ireland now..
Well thought out, just as we wanted and more
With the exception of one hotel, the accommodation was very good. In Cork our hotel was out of the way, and on our second night the dining room was closed - only bar food, and that not great.
Fun interactive organised and a great group
Got to see a lot of the country and learn about the people and history.
Great tour seen heaps from the Battle of Boyne to the Jameson Distillery and loved every bit.
Great tour to give an overview of the whole of Ireland
The whole tour was a very pleasant experience. Good hotels. Experienced and congenial tour leaders.
Visited several unexpected and most interesting places that really were located on back roads.
Good itinerary, average accommodation and meals, poor tour host, organisation and group communication, very uncomfortable bus.
The place was very beautiful.
Locations visited were very interesting. Possibly aimed more at American tourists, but interesting just the same.
While this vacation was not inexpensive there were no surprises and we booked through our regular travel agent prior to COVID in 2020 and the trip was postponed until this year (same month).
Expensive but worth it. We saw absolutely everything and then some.
Ireland has spectacular coastline and there's a real history to be told
A varied coverage of Irish geography, history and culture
Being able to drive on smaller roads allowed us to get a better feeling for the country and see sights that large coaches could not.
Very unorganised tour. Some very nice spots but times at different places could be better utilised
The cost increase after covid 19 had me having to think about the added cost, although I did decide to go ahead as I always wanted to really see a lot of Ireland and i believe the tour does that.
Tour took us to all of the most beautiful places in the country.
Was well organised. Great driver
We were taken to spots off the beaten track. The tour was well organised and run.
The tour has enabled me to see the parts of Ireland i would never have been able to experience
A well organised, fun tour.
The places we stayed at were lovely with wonderful, helpful staff.
We saw what was promised. The itinerary was excellent. Issues encountered with communication and tech, such as paying by card, splitting the costs correctly among 3 people. Advertised an American office (Blue Roads), but communication through the Australian office email and phone was difficult. Staff was lovely, but tech issues were evident and should be addressed before I am comfortable recommending the company to US customers.
Excellent tour. All inclusive and wide ranging activities like Titanic Museum, Cliffs of Moher, local guide tour of Derry and Giants Causeway. Clean and comfortable accommodation. Delicious breakfasts and dinners.
There are some problems. Putting accomodation that is are away from the centre of the town does not work.
Before we left we had only 1 email about 1 change in accomodation. We had no communication that the meeting hotel had changes. If we had not contacted the office this would be a big problem for us
You need better communication and blameing us is not the problem..
The Connacht hotel in Galway was some very substandard
Great guide and service was excellent
I loved Ireland and the wonderful people, both on the tour and the locals.
The itinerary was well laid out
Good service and great atmosphere for travelers and the guide was great
Great coverage of the country but would have liked some time allocated to mixing with Irish people on a recreational basis.
I saw what the big cities were like in Dublin and Belfast, colorful doors, cobblestone roadways, fun shops. I felt comfortable in counties as we travelled and thoroughly enjoyed seasshore stops wishing we could stay longer there! Tour was comfortable and just right amount of time at each location. Throughly enjoyed river cruise seeing a Irish jig demonstration; experienced being in large churches through many counties, loved hearing about the old city walls in Londonderry, seeing flocks of sheep and learning about Irish history during the potato famine. Very scenic and beautiful countryside!
Price was little on the high.
Very informative and interest.
Anticipated quality and was delivered
Same as customer experience
It was just fantastic all round.
An outstanding trip at a reasonable pace, small group, excellent guide and driver who went out of their way to give us a great understanding of Ireland
A great overview of Ireland - both past and present with excellent tour leader and bus driver
The price was great for what we did.
Enjoyed the tour, places seen very good
A great Country shown to us very well.
As an English couple touring Ireland we expected to hear some negative comments about the English, but as this accumulated every day our patience and goodwill faded a little. We certainly wanted to feel the culture and learn some history but this was still meant to be a holiday (and therefore enjoyable).
Most of the hotels were very good, although a couple were a bit "faded" around the edge.
Some days were very tiring (too long on the minibus).
However, overall an excellent itinerary and very knowledgeable guide
Excellent, but tiring....hectic pace.
Excellent tour that showed us the best of Ireland
Well planned and great mix of activities and quality local hotels
Beautiful country and fascinating history
Wonderful tour! The people are so friendly and Ireland is such a fascinating country. The history! The beauty!
Tour operates at the right pace, not hurried and hotels used all have the right charm and character.
Great research, excellent planning, superb delivery.
Did not make any purchases
Excellent places that were decided to stay at and visit.
Same comments as above. Perhaps a little expensive.
A comprehensive tour of Ireland giving an indepth insight into the history and geography of the country.
Guide was excellent as was our driver , tour its self was very informative and interesting.
If the accommodation was consistently good, it would be value for money
Same as previous comments, a very good tour.
Well planned, well executed. Staff cared about us. I don't buy "stuff"
I saw many places that I did not know existed and places that I was excited to see.
I only bought some linen from Dingle but it is beautiful
The few items that I purchased I was very happy with. Avoca Mill was one that inspired me.
Appreciated the fact there were no 'add on' options offered or pushed, it was all inclusive.
We were very pleased with the features chosen and the variety chosen which gave us a great insight into the history and a feel for the present, along with the show casing the beauty of Ireland. The driver and the guide were excellent in their interaction and their commentary and his driving ability. We did indeed enjoy the extra insight that the "Back Roads" gave us.
Fabulous local guide and driver. Breeda certainly knew her knowledge of Ireland and its history. We stayed in some lovely locations, though it was a pity that the Belfast hotel couldn’t supply hot water!!
We think it was good value for money.
Innovative, excellent choice of hotels and meals, with friendly supportive guide and driver.
A very good all Ireland experience
Loved Ireland, the people, the scenery, the history, learning about the troubles was an eye opener. Eva the guide & Christy the driver did everything to make our holiday one to remember
It was easy and did not have to pay the bulk until nearer the trip