The Emerald Isle Reviews

What a fabulous 13 days! We covered so much of Ireland from top to bottom. What a great bunch of people to travel with from the tour leader, driver and fellow passengers. We learnt so much of the Irish History & Culture and many on board were able to connect with their ancestral heritage. Accomodation and meals provided were excellent. Would highly ...read more recommend Back Roads Tours.

Overall the tour anticlockwise around Ireland from Dublin was worthwhile. I enjoyed learning about the history, especially in Belfast. The Derry tour was shortened because we linked late with the local guide. The scenery down the west coast was nice, especially Galway, Derry and the Dingle peninsula.

Things deteriorated a bit from there. We didn't ...read more see the vaunted "lakes of Killarney", which was a disappointment. The last couple of days felt like they were being padded out and everyone was winding down. I think it would be much better to finish the tour after breakfast in Dublin instead of Kilkenny. The current arrangement and communications around timing of drop off in Dublin are varied and imprecise, and can mess up travel arrangements for people flying out of Dublin. Global Journeys information did not coincide with what actually transpired when we got to Kilkenny. I had to book a bus from Kilkenny to Dublin Airport. The tour guide was nicely understated for a Irish person :-). ie she didn't talk too much but told us what she felt we needed to know.

Ireland surely is "40 shades of green", absolutely stunning and beautiful. Back-Roads was able to take us to out of the way places that larger coaches would not be able to do. The Titanic Museum was very impressive; we loved the walled city of Derry and the day excursion to Malin Head, County Donegal. Sadly we missed the beautiful south-west because ...read more of an unscheduled "excursion" to the Galway University Hospital but caught up again with the tour in Cork. The day trip to the beautiful port village of Kinsale was a highlight of the tour. Overall an excellent tour. Our tour leader, Bree, was outstanding and as always, Yvonne, from Global Journeys organised everything beautifully for us. Perfect!

From start to finish our holiday to Ireland with Back Roads Touring was perfect. From Peter our wonderful Guide, his assistant Guide Gearoid (hope that's spelled right) and our very experienced and wonderful Driver Brent. We wouldn't change a thing, we went everywhere on the itinerary and had some surprise places added too. There were many laughs, ...read more some hilarious times, yes talking about you Gearoid...

The accommodation, the meals, the pre dinner get togethers, some after dinner get togethers, everything went smoothly, nothing was too much trouble and we were cared for by these 3 highly experienced and warm friendly people. Each day our destinations and plans were shared so at no time were we wondering the whys and hows, it was relaxed but organised and a well thought out itinerary.

By the end we felt as if we had gone on holidays with friends, and a few of us got a little tearful when saying goodbye back in Dublin.

We think perhaps we have been spoiled and will have trouble going on holidays with any other Touring Company. We have been on a few but this Company and the combination of people will be very hard to beat if at all possible.

Excellent Tour director and driver. Hotels were good to excellent. They need thicker black out curtains with day being so long. Enjoyed the tour.

The tour was amazing taking us right around Ireland mostly via backroads - the scenery was breathtaking. The coach was great and there were 18 passengers in total. The driver and tour director were the best and went out of their way to make sure everything was perfect. The accommodation was of a high standard and we had a number of 2 night stays which ...read more is always a bonus. I have no hesitation recommending this tour, it gives you a good sample of the Irish scenery, history and culture. This is the fourth trip I have booked through Yvonne at Global Journeys who is extremely helpful and thorough and as usually everything went perfectly to plan! Thank you Yvonne another great holiday!

Loved the whole trip. New small bus full of wonderfully friendly people. Well organised with interesting stops along the way. The guides and our tour leader were fountains of knowledge. All the accommodation was if high standard with a couple of nights being a real stand out.

I had previously undertaken a coach tour of Ireland and was left a little dissapointed. Not this time! The Back-Roads people do exactly what their name implies. We rarely saw a main road it was truly on the back roads where the scenery was spectacular. The transportation was by a small mini bus with only a maximum of 15 people. The driver and guide, ...read more Breda, was wonderful. She was a true Irish woman with a keen wit who continually entertained us with stories about the history and area we were in. She was a key element that made the trip so memorable. Some of the places we ran into were unique, no major coach lines could get there. The accommodation was first class, again due to the small numbers, we were housed in smaller boutique places unavailable to larger groups. This included a castle and manor house. Overall a great trip. I certainly will look at using Back-Roads again.

This tour was well above expectations with lots of wonderful surprises. Accommodation was superb. Guide was exceptionally knowledgeable. Accommodation you would only dream about. Food wow so so much quality and highly presentable. Great for singles. A beautiful country with a must to learn and see Northern Ireland. Loved every minute.

All the way around coast of Ireland, Dublin to Dublin. A lovely mixture of old and new Ireland. So good I would do it again but there is still more of the world to see. Definitely travel with Back-Roads again.