10-Day Ultimate Small-Group Tour of Ireland from Dublin

Just completed 10 day small group tour with Overland. Our guide Kat was outstanding. Driving and guiding our entire tour she was amazing. We had a small group of only seven but we were busy everyday with beautiful hotel and two or three events every day on the tour. Overland prepared a memorable trip which my wife and I will share with family and friends for a very long time. Thanks again to our guide Kat and she is a real asset to this company and you are lucky if you get her for your tour.

All the tour pre stuff: Overall, company website info was truth in advertising. Some changes to itinerary occurred from the time we booked (1 year in advance) to actually going on the trip. But the changes were not missed. They considered this a "relaxed tour" ......far from it......we were go go go! Starting point for tour was Ashling Hotel. The Ashling Hotel is a great choice for a pre/post hotel stay. Solid food at hotel restaurants and several things to do near hotel including restaurants. If traveler is really interested in Dublin, they will need to book 1-2 extra days. Popular activities like Guiness Storehouse and Book of Kells are all timed tickets. We only had 5-8 hours in Dublin after deplaning and impossible to book a timed ticket with our limited schedule. The requirement to purchase a Government ETA for crossing into N Ireland is a money grab ONLY. There is NO border btw Republic and UK and no way to create one or verify you purchased the ETA. Homes literally can be Republic on one side and UK on the other. When we reached the border, our bus simply changed dash metrics into miles/gallons! TOUR OVERVIEW: Tour was maxed at 15 people in a Mercedes mini coach. Pretty comfortable. Tour was very balanced with driving time vs get out and tour time. You could nap on the coach. I think we were able to go places in the mini coach that the big coaches could not which is why this tour was able to concentrate in small towns. We drove ~1000 miles on the trip. Stayed in a different hotel every night but one. If traveler cannot carry, they're on bags up flights of stairs (I had to carry up three flights in one hotel) and carry themselves along uneven foot paths, many many outdoor staircases and over boulder rocks.......I would not recommend this trip. Highly recommend limiting luggage to carry on bag size. Accommodations: For the most part, solid choices. I felt slimed by one hotel...stained carpet with a very dysfunctional bathroom set up (Westport). Lodge in Dingle where you stay 2 nights is very dated but the staff is lovely, for 25 cash euros they will send your clothes off to be washed and returned to you-same day (assisting you in your efforts to pack light for this trip!), good breakfast, very conveniently located in Dingle. We all wanted more time at the 5 star Castle. But as this was a familiarization tour..........no rest for the weary. Every hotel was ready for us upon arrival calling out last names and handing out keys making check-in a breeze. Thankful for cool nights in Ireland as many hotels did not have A/C. Small Towns: We LOVED staying in all the small towns. Everyone was friendly. We dropped into many local pubs and all with lively atmosphere. Music everywhere. We particularly enjoyed Dingle. There were two Brits singing and playing at a piano in Dick Mac's AND were taking song requests.........super fun. Also, dropped into Courtney's Bakery run by a man named Gene who'd been baking in Dingle for 50 years. Gene had some stories and entertained us with tall tales while simultaneously insulting a Frenchman who came in for a croissant where he was promptly told Irish baking was superior and left with a loaf of Irish soda bread. (we were rolling in the floor laughing.......best morning of the trip). Food Reservations: If traveler is a FOODIE, I would recommend doing the research and booking your own restaurant reservations in each town. We arrived in each town ~5:00pm/daily. Our guide James went beyond company's recommendation of First/Final night group dinner experience and booked something for the group almost every night. Downside is his reservations are limited to places that can seat a party of 15. We greatly enjoyed reservations at small establishments that may have only had 20 seats in the whole joint. And we saved on dining b/c there is no food taxes and no tipping culture. I overheard one restaurant say their payment machines don't include a screen for adding tips! TOUR DETAILS & GUIDE: We had an EXCELLENT tour guide, JAMES, native of Gallway and fluent in Irish and English. He weaved the story of Ireland through its history, language, culture, music, and the endless beauty which is Ireland. He was very attentive and after seeing so many sheep in Ireland we dubbed him our shepherd, and he was very good at looking after his sheep.........ha! . We all wanted more time in certain places and were always managing walking time and still carving out time to eat/shop but so is the nature of this kind of tour. The company did a very good job at arriving in places opposite from when big motor coaches fill a location. Castle tours were guided and very engaging. We were blessed with a very short queue to kiss the Blarney stone. Beautiful grounds at Blarney Castle. James stopped at many places along the way for group to get out and take pictures. Sheepdog demonstration was very cool plus an explanation for how the land was divided among landowners which included strip of land from mountain to the sea. We had a surprisingly good time at the Dingle cooking school. Mark weaved the history of Ireland through its food. We tasted fresh soda bread, scones, and rustic apple cake. Great visit to a new whiskey distillery in Donegal which took you through the history of Irish whiskey making and export then to its almost collapse down to two distilleries in the whole of Ireland. The Ardara distillery is the first to distil whiskey in Donegal since ~1894. Owner is using his grandfather's recipe. VERY neat experience. Communications: Comms went through WHATS APP very successfully. James communicated next day itinerary and when to meet bus, pub/restaurant recommendations in each town. He also included extras that gave context to what we were experiencing like TV shows based in the towns we were visiting, penal laws for Catholics, Irish football and Hurling rules, Irish language lessons, etc. Travelers could post their photos to the chat so others could download pictures especially any group pictures. James took pictures/videos of us on the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge when we couldn't easily film ourselves crossing the bridge. Tour Red Flag: The tour includes ferry ride over to Innis Oirr and on return ferry extends return crossing out to view Cliffs of Moher from the sea. James said our trip out to the Cliffs was the roughest seas he had ever experienced. The crew went through 3 rolls of vomit bags and we estimated at least a third of passengers (above and below deck) were sick. There was ZERO communication from the company/guide about rough seas and providing an opt out. I don't appreciate unnecessary vomiting on my vacations. Special Note on Belfast post violent incident June 2026: Always expect the unexpected when traveling. We obviously did NOT get a feel for the city with most of the 700,000 residents staying indoors due to nature of incident and multi day violent protests in response. Overland was monitoring telegram chats, police, and communicating with people inside the city before making the decision to go INTO Belfast. Company seemed to have our welfare at heart and also recommend we eat at the hotel limiting our walking about the city unescorted. Foreign Currency: For the most part, I could do everything on VISA. Some pubs were cash only. We paid cash for a few tips and laundry. I had no need for cash Pounds in Derry or Belfast. Favorites: Did you know there are cliffs in Ireland taller than Cliffs of Moher.............they are called the Slieve League Cliffs..........OMG so overwhelmingly pretty and windy! And fewer people! Giants Causeway to Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge...God stamped his majesty on these places Dingle Cooking School and Ardara Distillery..........so interesting Arno's Bistrot (Westport) and Cava Bodega (Galway) Boathouse (Dingle) restaurant .........excellent dinners Giving a hug to a home sick girl from North Carolina working in a Galway bakery🙂 Morning chat with Gene the baker in Dingle

This is a wonderful way to see a lot of Ireland. Our tour guide, James was excellent and added a lot to our experience with his knowledge of the country, its history and legends. The hotels were top notch (with the exception of Dingle, which was still OK), and the Lough Eske Castle stay was especially nice. It's a lot of moving from town to town, but if you want to see everything, this is the way to do it. So many wonderful activities along the way; we learned so much about Ireland.

Loved the 10-day Ultimate Ireland trip with Pat! He is a walking encyclopedia of all things Ireland. We laughed and learned the whole time. What a beautiful country full of friendly people. Highly recommend this tour. It was a wonderful experience. We truly felt like we got to know Ireland… rainy days and all!

Loved the 10-day Ultimate Ireland trip with Pat! He is a walking encyclopedia of all things Ireland. We laughed and learned the whole time. What a beautiful country full of friendly people. Highly recommend this tour. It was a wonderful experience. We truly felt like we got to know Ireland.