Ireland- 5 day private tour guide

[Anonymous]

We have 5 days in Ireland and looking for a private tour guide/company who can take a family of 4 on a cross country sightseeing excursion--setting up the itinerary, hotels and working with us to pack a lot into the 5 days. We would plan to land in Dublin and take off from there (we don't plan to spend much time in Dublin).

I know we could rent a car and drive ourselves--we just don't want to given our limited time in the country.

If you have done this with a guide you would recommend I appreciate your sharing!

[Anonymous]

Most decent Irish tour guides would recognize this request as ridiculous. You just can't "do" Ireland in five days. Go somewhere else.

[Anonymous]

We had a driver take our family around Ireland. But we did Dublin on our own for 2-3 days and met the driver on day 3. He drove us to the west coast and we traveled a couple cities/towns counter clockwise around the country. Our total trip was 9 days.
You can search any tour you like. The driver was an add on for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most decent Irish tour guides would recognize this request as ridiculous. You just can't "do" Ireland in five days. Go somewhere else.

You are super helpful. Thanks so much for your opinion.

I've actually been there a few times before. 5 days is fine for us. I think its safe to assume that if somebody posts here asking for a rec, they've done their research and really are just asking for help with the topic they posted.

In this case there are plenty of tour guides who offer 4-5 day private trips. My ask is for who is good.

[Anonymous]

https://anamcroitours.com/

[Anonymous]

Just pick north or south on the train or bus. I personally would head up to Belfast and the Causeway Coast. You can see a lot in a short amount of time. Don't even consider Galway or Cork or anyone who tells you that can be done in 5 days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most decent Irish tour guides would recognize this request as ridiculous. You just can't "do" Ireland in five days. Go somewhere else.

You are super helpful. Thanks so much for your opinion.

I've actually been there a few times before. 5 days is fine for us. I think its safe to assume that if somebody posts here asking for a rec, they've done their research and really are just asking for help with the topic they posted.

In this case there are plenty of tour guides who offer 4-5 day private trips. My ask is for who is good.

4-5 days is absolutely plenty. Sure, you could keep yourself busy for 10 days or longer but you absolutely can get a lot in in 4 days. My dh is from there, so I’ve been many times, and I’ve actually never stayed longer than 5 days. It’s a small country!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most decent Irish tour guides would recognize this request as ridiculous. You just can't "do" Ireland in five days. Go somewhere else.

You are super helpful. Thanks so much for your opinion.

I've actually been there a few times before. 5 days is fine for us. I think its safe to assume that if somebody posts here asking for a rec, they've done their research and really are just asking for help with the topic they posted.

In this case there are plenty of tour guides who offer 4-5 day private trips. My ask is for who is good.

You would be so wrong.

[Anonymous]

Butler tours (https://www.butlerstours.com/package-tours.php) is highly recommended and can do transfers, hotels, etc. but I've found that those tours don't always propose the best hotels.

I would reach out to a travel agent. Someone on here mentioned https://www.auratravelco.com/ and I've been in touch with the owner about a 7 day trip to Italy and she's been really great showing me different options, price points, etc.

[Anonymous]

Having a solo guide will cost you quite a bit of money. You may be better off going on a bus tour. My friend did one through an alumni program that she quite liked.

While Ireland isn't a big country I do think narrowing it down a bit is appropriate for five days. Think about what you want to prioritize (Killarney, Kilkenny, Galway, Cork, Newgrange, etc.) You won't be able to see everything so decide which cities/activities matter to you and go from there.

My Dad's an Irish citizen so I normally just drive myself around, you do get used to it pretty quickly and the roads aren't bad at all, particularly between big cities (my great uncle and his family live way out in the middle of nowhere).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Having a solo guide will cost you quite a bit of money. You may be better off going on a bus tour. My friend did one through an alumni program that she quite liked.

While Ireland isn't a big country I do think narrowing it down a bit is appropriate for five days. Think about what you want to prioritize (Killarney, Kilkenny, Galway, Cork, Newgrange, etc.) You won't be able to see everything so decide which cities/activities matter to you and go from there.

My Dad's an Irish citizen so I normally just drive myself around, you do get used to it pretty quickly and the roads aren't bad at all, particularly between big cities (my great uncle and his family live way out in the middle of nowhere).

While I agree that you'd get used to driving around, I always wonder if it's worth the time and stress of driving. The person driving can't enjoy the views, and most likely, neither can the navigator.