6-Day All Ireland Tour from Dublin

Got left behind for pick up first day in Belfast. The pickup spot was not where we were told it would be. He must have waited 5 minutes and then left and apparently circled the square but we were walking counter to him and missed him on each round. We tried to call paddy wagon but no one answered. Left 2 voicemails before I got someone to pick up the phone. Never got a direct call from the company although the driver claims he told the office to call us. One other couple was left behind and they also called Paddywagon and they were told to go to the Ulster bank while we were told to go to the original pick up spot. Galway was 1.5 hours behind schedule as Paddyeagon didn’t send the correct size bus to fit the group after another 3 day tour group was as added to ours and we jumped from 8 people to 32. The new bus had a malfunctioning microphone and damaged charging ports. This turned our tour guide into just a bus driver as the middle to back of the bus was unable to hear him when he drove. We missed The Burrens on our itinerary due to this delay. Killarney we stayed in the BnB with the backpackers while the rest of the group that paid full price stayed in hotels. When we questioned our guide (Gordon) he got defensive and hostile and told my husband to watch what he was saying and walked away. I felt threatened. In killarney he made a 20ish girl in the group cry because she changed her mind about riding horses. She was feeling ill and didn’t have the cash or time to get to an ATM and he got in her face and yelled at her until she cried and a man in the group lent her the money. This same girl he videoed later signing karoke and offered to send it to her on "Whats app". He then asked for her to enter her contact information into his phone and label herself anything she wanted on the contact information. He then suggested she name herself “Delicious”. Instead of taking us to Dingle as on the itinerary we were taken to a small remote town where the only restaurant/bar open was owned by pPddywagon. Even though they were expecting us when we went to get food they were out of all the starters and 80% of the entrees. My husband and I shared a steak and had to share a steak knife with another customer as they were “out”. We all stayed in rooms that were spreado ut down the street. Ours had no towels, no air conditioning and the second floor was a spiral staircase that was treacherous to take luggage up and down. Our room had to be locked from the inside with a skeleton key. This is a major fire code risk. One of the young men on the tour had a drone and a license to operate it. He wanted to take it out on one of the stops and use it. The tour guide threatened to report his to authorities if he did and photo or video anyone on the tour. No faces are visible at that height. Overall we have used Viator many time for tours and I was very dissatisfied with the quality I received on this tour and feel you should re evaluate using Paddy Wagon in the future. I don’t feel that I received what I paid for.

We definitely struck gold with this tour! Daniel was the perfect tour guide - excellent driver, and always gave a wonderful running commentary. The tour covered notable landmarks around Ireland, Irish folklore, and many aspects of Irish history. It was also nice that after checking in to our respective accommodation each afternoon, our time for the rest of the day was essentially our own, so that we felt that we had free time to ourselves. In short, we had a fabulous time!

The tour offered in the brochure was not delivered. The itinerary changed daily and even when it didn’t change, like for example for the Burren, it was just a driving by accompanied by a poor, shallow and badly delivered commentary. When things offered were cancelled, like the walking tour of Derry, it was not replaced and when questioned, our guide’s response was nonchalant and despondent. There was no wifi on board, they offered 6 breakfast but only 5 were given, the driver’s commentaries were inaudible, due to a poor microphone and unintelligible due to a combination of heavy accent and speed. The locations which were delivered, were interesting but many of those visits were too short to get a good feel and at the wrong time of day , like in Dingle , where the treasure lies in the music and atmosphere of the pubs which at midday were either empty or closed. All communications were delivered (often unwillingly ) by driver and no response from operator when I send an email for clarification. It may have been the luck of my draw , but I doubt it.

Awesome informative tour with an amazing guide Danny! Only complaint is accommodations sometimes had no AC and 1 shower didn’t work. We enjoyed the beauty of Ireland and had a blast!

DANNY was a fantastic guide and driver. Great storyteller - Great history buff. Hope you are assigned DANNY for your trip. There was 1 incident that I'll share with you with this Limerick I wrote for Danny; THE BUSTED BUS The bus worked just fine... now it's BUSTED. The ferry we wanted... we now LUSTED. With Danny's pride on the line and his face full of grime, a new ride just arrived... we ADJUSTED!!! As we were waiting for a ferry, the bus just stopped working. Danny and a few mechanic-minded riders tried to fix the problem to no avail. A new bus was requested and within the hour we were back on the road again.