Joe Cotter

We had an overall wonderful trip to Ireland in Nov 2025. It was a short trip, built around attending a concert in Dublin on 11/12. First, I want to say that I have used KimKim for several prior trips to S and Central America and have nothing but amazing things to say about those experiences. Which was why it was a no brainer for us to use KimKim for this trip. We didn't have as great an experience this time. We initially met via zoom with Joe to discuss the trip, our interests, want to do's for the trip etc. The initial itinerary Joe gave us was pretty confusing and just had very general info, like from a pre-written template which did not take into account specifics that we had talked about. I wrote a long chat to Joe expressing my confusion and pointing out some of the discrepancies and/or flat out errors. We planned another call which did take place with Joe and he said that the issues with the itinerary would be corrected after we finalized our payments. But then we were informed Joe was no longer working there so we were handed off to Dean. It was a little frustrating trying to get the corrected itinerary that had revisions away from the "template" they use for this excursion or that activity. We also didn't have near the customer service and one:one attention that I was used to from my previous trips with KimKim. When we got the app and our itinerary, it was not user friendly (this was the first time with Kim kim that we used this app). Again, the itinerary was using very rote (not individualized) descriptions. I was told not to look at that part of the app but to look at the documents and "driver notes." those were more helpful for sure.
In terms of hotels, we stayed at the Ashling Hotel in Dublin and the Galmont in Galway. Both were nice places, however, when we first talked to Joe, he knew we were going to a concert in Dublin (at the 3 arena) and I had said I wanted a gym in the hotel. The Ashling was nice as I said, but there was no gym and it was about as far away from the concert venue as you could get. I had also told Joe none of us were drinkers so going to Guiness or Jameson were not on our list of things we wanted to do. The Ashling is super near to Guiness and Phoenix Park and the bus station and that's about it. So I did not like the location personally and it made me feel like the trip folks had some deal with the hotel so they just funnel as many people there as possible rather than listening to the specifics of what i wanted. the Galmont was good location and it had a gym, no so complaints with that. Both had great breakfasts so that was nice. Our one group excursion to Belfast was a highlight. we opted for a black cab tour (which Dean did help us get corrected as somehow, that was not the tour we were booked on even though that had been communicated to Joe from the start as well). The tour was by Wild Rover and the woman on the bus with us was fantastic as was our black cab driver. high praise for both of them and for the experience overall. We did have a walking tour of dublin as well which was also wonderful. our guide for that was great. we also did the Viking splash tour (duck boat tour) which was fun and touristy.
Everything else was on our own, planned on our own. We enjoyed Ireland very much and we agreed we would all love to go back for longer and to explore more of the country. However, this time around, I didn't feel I received the support, suggestions, individualization and individual attention I have received from previous Kim KIm trips. Thanks very much for letting me review.

Hotel Reviews

The Galmont Hotel & Spa

Galway

good location, great breakfast, good gym

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Ashling Hotel Dublin

Dublin

great breakfast and restaurant, location was not good for us, no gym which was important to me

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Book of Kells and Trinity Campus Tour

Dublin

we didn't have a guide for this, we just did it on our own. fascinating, beautiful and interesting.

Quality of Experience

Dublin Guided walking tour tour

Dublin

Our guide, whose name i am forgetting, was GREAT. we learned a lot and he shared so much info, answered questions, made suggestions ...very helpful!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

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Belfast & Giants Causeway Day tour from Dublin

Dublin

loved the history of the black cab tour, made us all want to know more about The Troubles Giants Causeway was good too although the weather made it rough (windy and rainy), still was interesting to walk around

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Viking Splash tour

Dublin

It's fun and touristy. it may or may not be your thing. I like duck boats tour in general.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our point of contact with Kimkim changed several times both before end during the trip. Most of the time, we didn't even know who our point of contact was. We were told that David would be our driver the entire time we were in Killarney, yet we never saw him for five days. He didn't respond to the one text we sent him. The one day we had a time constraint was our boat ride from Ross Castle in Killarney. We were told that Dave would arrive in his taxi at 9:45 AM. At 9:40 AM, I sent a text to Ireland Hike Bike and Dr. asking them where Dave was. Just after that, a taxi driver drove up and when we ask if he worked for Dave. He did not confirm or deny but said he was here to take two people to Ross's castle. We got in the cab and made it to Ross's castle in plenty of time. He gave us a card with his phone number on it so that we could contact his agency to get the return trip to our hotel. Since our itinerary said that we were to call Dave to get a ride back to the hotel, and since Dave had not shown up at our hotel to take us there, we called the number given us by the taxi cab driver when we got Ready to come back. A taxi arrived within five minutes and took us back to our hotel. At that point, I happen to check my texts, then I saw that Dave had been late and supposedly arrived at our hotel at perhaps 9:55 AM. Another text said that Dave had been waiting for us to take us back to the hotel. Since we thought we had to call Dave, we found that to be quite surprising. Also, we find it hard to believe that he would drive 30 minutes to pick us up when he hadn't dropped us off. On the plus side, we did get a refund from Kimkim for the €60 we spent for the two cabs, as the cab fair was supposed to be included in our itinerary.
Prior to that, we are expecting someone named Philip to pick us up in Galway at our hotel to drive us to the cliffs of Moher and then drop our luggage off at our hotel in Doolin. I looked on the map and saw that Doolin was on our way to the cliffs, so I decided to propose to Philip that he stop at our hotel so that we could drop off our luggage there, and then drop us off at the cliffs. Instead of Philip, a lady named Anne showed up to pick us up. I told Anne about my proposal to drop a luggage off first, and she seemed reluctant to do it for some reason. I mentioned to her several times that our hotel was in DOOLIN, but she corrected me so that I thought perhaps our hotel was in a small town near DOOLIN. Thank God, I asked her to drop the luggage off first, because she drove past the cliffs to a small town on the other side of the cliffs and pulled into the parking lot. We checked our itinerary, and that was not our hotel. So if we had not changed her plan, we would've ended up taking the bus to DOOLIN, and our luggage would've been in some hotel we wouldn't even know the name of in some town we never heard of a good 20 minutes away at least.

The experience started off great with our KimKim guide Joe. Things changed after that and we felt that the information Joe had provided had not been effectively shared with Dean. Joe was incredibly personable and had great recommendations and personal stories that brought us comfort and peace of mind. Dean was trying to pick up where Joe left off and it was not smooth.
The highs of our trip were the accommodations and the breakfasts (but even those were a bit much near the end). We really liked our Dublin and Mout Juliet hotels. I appreciated the communication once we arrived in Ireland, especially with Morris (see later note).
I'll list some opportunities for improvement here:
1. There are too many choices in the daily schedule. We came to KimKim because we wanted someone else to help choose our activities and in the end, we still had to do that work.
2. It was not made clear to us how busy Ireland would be in August and that we should have been pre-booking things like activities at Mount Juliet or restaurants for dinner in small towns (like Lahinch).
3. Even though we discussed with KimKim that both my husband and I would be driving, Hertz charged us an extra 10 Euro per day for a second driver.
4. Three nights is too many in Killarney. It is a very busy town in August and we would have preferred exploring Dingle and spending another night in Mount Juliet.
5. There was unnecessary stress on our day at the Gap of Dunloe. From the very beginning we understood with Joe that we would be taking a boat trip and a jarvey ride back. When everything was booked, there was no jarvey ride. Now we understand that the jarveys need to be connected with in person. This was not made clear to us in advance. We also didn't understand how much money it was be. It was a lovely day, but Morris was challenged with securing us a booking (of sorts) the day before because we couldn't be stranded at Lord B's cottage without a ride for our 9 year old. Morris did a fabulous job, but it was very stressful for him and it should never have gotten this far.
6. I understand you have policies of not sharing your fees. In this day and age, this seems unnecessary. Companies seem to be respected more for transparency. I would be so excited to know what great deals you were getting on hotels. I know I'm paying someone to design our trip for us, I just want to know what I'm paying them.
7. Finally, something less important since we are resourceful, it would help for the days when we don't have a rental car (in our case this was in Dublin) for guidance on public transit or taxis. We ran into an issue with requesting a taxi at our hotel where the taxi driver was called from the airport and given an incorrect destination for us (hertz airport vs. city) even though we gave the destination address to the hotel host. AND the tram was right outside our hotel, so a link to that would have been super helpful.

If you've made it this far, thank you for taking the time to read.

Ken West of Kerry Coaches did a fantastic job guiding and driving us. One thing that could have been better was we were never quite sure what specific activities we had paid for, and whether that included Ken's lodging. It was a pleasure planning the trip with Joe, though we know he is no longer with kim kim
Mike & Stacy O'Rourke

The experience with Kimkim tours and Ireland Walk Hike Bike was amazing. It was the best vacation I've ever experienced. Since we were driving around the country, we were provided a diverse and varied itinerary that allowed us to choose where we wanted to go and how much time we wanted to spend at the different sites. My daughter and I were traveling together on this vacation and the routes, accommodations and intermittent contact with Ireland Walk Hike Bike left us feeling safe and secure during our travels. Not only do I plan to use Kimkim for future travel plans abroad, returning to Ireland with Ireland Walk Hike Bike is now back on our bucket list.

Hotel Reviews

Lyrath Estate

Kilkenny

Lovely setting and very relaxing.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Killarney Lodge

Killarney

A wonderful bed and breakfast and our favorite stay from our vacation. Friendly staff and wonderful eateries and pubs within walking distance.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Galmont Hotel & Spa

Galway

Wonderful hotel within walking distance of High Street.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Wyatt Hotel Westport

Westport

A great location and easy access to a variety of restaurants.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Lough Eske Castle Hotel

Beautiful setting and attentive staff.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Malone Hotel

Belfast

Lovely hotel and within walking distance of Queen's Quarter.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Connemara National Park and Kylemore Abbey

Ireland

Both Kylemore Abbey and Connemara National Park were breathtakingly beautiful. The abbey was an interesting part of history and the hiking in the park was one of our tour highlights. I highly recommend both sites for any visitor.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Black Cab Tour

Belfast

Our driver was very knowledgeable and provided great insight into the culture of Northern Ireland. The tour took us through some areas we would not have normally visited and I very much enjoyed the experience. I would highly recommend the tour for anyone visiting, especially if you want the chance to get know the culture by talking with a local.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Joe and the rest of the Ireland Walk Hike Bike team were great and ready to help rejigger things where needed.

Activity Review

Belfast & Giants Causeway Day tour from Dublin

Dublin

Really enjoyed the tour guide’s stories and personal experiences related to the history of N. Ireland. The Black Taxi Tour of Belfast was throughly enjoyable and worth the day trip!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Surprisingly comfortable bus ride. Black Taxis were unique and fun.

NOTE: Our rating is a 3-1/2 for the KimKim experience and working with Joe.

A beautiful island with amazing sights including verdant vistas, rolling gradation of greens, rugged and wild coastline a surprising amount of archeological history. So happy we toured around almost the whole island, starting in Dublin then south to Kilkenny and Kinsale, west to Dingle (our favorite) and up to Galway.

Many great experiences including the Ashling Hotel in Dublin (great location, helpful front desk folks and good breakfast selections), drinking Guinness and Jameson and hearing traditional music, quaint and colorful villages (Kilkenny, Cobh, Kinsale, Ennis, Dingle). Glad we made the stop at the Rock of Cashel, the Jameson Distillery tour in Midleton, the Titanic museum in Cobh and the Cliffs of Moher. Dingle Peninsula is a must-see and thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the Emlagh House with delightful and helpful staff, delicious breakfasts and great location. Doyle's restaurant in Dingle is a MUST.

The most challenging part for us was notably the driving, which can only be described as harrowing and stressful. We did not get much chance to enjoy scenery enroute to the locales as one was driving and one was navigating - very narrow roads, a lot of traffic circles and plenty of traffic. We missed stopping off at many sights just because it was too
tense getting back on the road and pressure to get to the next overnight. Also we were very disappointed outside Dublin that pretty much every pub we went in in Kinsale and Galway were not what we expected in terms of warm welcomes and jovial conversations. In some we were virtually ignored while locals chatted with the bartenders and made merry. We were also disappointed with our hotel in Galway - located on the ocean, which was beautiful, but waaaaaaayyyy out at the end of town with a commercial district that was overrun with casino-type buildings, fast food restaurants and convenience stores.

Hotel Reviews

The Galmont Hotel & Spa

Galway

We did not stay at the Galmont House - we stayed at Salt Hill Hotel. Overall rating - 3 stars

Authenticity & Character

Location

situated in very commercial district, too far from town

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

worst bathroom ever

Greenmount House Luxury B&B

We did not stay at the Greenmount House - We stayed at the Emlagh House which was five stars all around! Lovely, helpful staff, wonderful breakfasts, cozy accommodations, wonderful location to walk to beach or to town.

Authenticity & Character

Note this rating is for Emlagh House

Location

Note this rating is for Emlagh House

Staff

Note this rating is for Emlagh House

Cleanliness & Comfort

Note this rating is for Emlagh House

Actons Hotel

Cork

Beautiful hotel, spacious and comfy rooms, great location.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Beautiful views, easy walking to all parts of town.

Staff

Ian (front desk manager) When we arrived, after a long day of driving on the LEFT side of the road on narrow streets and much traffic, there was NO parking. The person who greeted us at the hotel basically said "too bad." Ian was extremely helpful and found a way to keep my car safe until a spot opened up, so I could get settled in. If Ian wasn't working at the front desk that day, my rating would've been poor. The person who greeted us didn't even offer to help us find parking.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Ashling Hotel Dublin

Dublin

Great location, great (friendly and helpful) front desk staff, great breakfast selection and wonderfully big, fluffy towels in the bath. There is a huge and beautiful park nearby, a free museum, a light rail that will take you directly to the Temple Bar area.

Authenticity & Character

Location

see above

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Jameson Distillery and Blarney Castle

Cork

I will start by saying our time in and around Westport with our guide Jim Henry was one of the best parts of our trip. He’s friendly, knowledgeable, extremely accommodating, empathetic and an overall pleasure to spend time with. We learned a great deal from him.
We really enjoyed having multiple choices of places to stop along our routes. Most routes we accomplished 1-3 stops. On the causeway coast we did 6 of 7. We were exhausted after but it was worth every step. If we get the opportunity we will be in touch for another trip in the south of the island.
Thank you to all who were involved!!

We loved all the accomodations that Joe found for us. He reserved the perfect car for us and made several reservations for outings that was so helpful. The links to maps was so helpful, and the suggested activities and restaurants were very useful.

Overall, we were very pleased with our trip. The itinerary was excellent. All of the accomodations, with the exception of Gabriel House in Cork, were wonderful as were the restaurant and pub recommendations. The main issue we had with Gabriel House was the location, being quite a distance from Cork city centre. Plus, we were assigned a room on the top floor (not KImKim's fault, just something for you to be aware of) which made it impossible for us to haul our full suitcases up 4 flights of stairs. We transferred a few essentials into a duffle bag and carried that. up. The room was spartan; felt like a dormitory room and the bathroom was barely big enough for one person to maneuver in. Concerning Cork, I know we asked to include that location in the itinerary, but we chose to instead drive down to Kinsale after finding Cork rather dirty and uninviting.

We were pleased to find all the reservations confirmed, including the taxi to/from the Dingle Way hike. We were especially pleased with the hike. We didn't particularly care for the 2.5 km part on the road leading to the Blasket Centre, but we understand why the Blasket Centre was chosen for a pick up location.

Lastly, I was pleasantly surprised to receive a daily check-in text message at the beginning of our trip. I know we had ways to reach out to KimKim had we had any problems, but we liked the check-ins as it felt like KimKim was keeping track of where/what we were doing. Then, the day before we were to go on the Dingle Way hike, I reached out with a question. My phone indicated that KimKim received and read the message, but we heard nothing back for 4 days. We were surprised and taken aback at the sudden lack of communication. I know I could have called, but we assumed all would work out with taxi pick up which it did.

Hotel Reviews

Fernroyd House B and B

Cork

We stayed at the Gabriel House. See my comments in the general section.

Authenticity & Character

Location

way too far from city centre.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Tower View

Dingle

Another nice, small inn located close to city centre

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Killeen House Hotel

killarney

A quaint inn a nice distance out of Killarney. We really appreciated being away from the more touristy and busy city of Killarney.

Authenticity & Character

Location

it was on the edge of Killarney National Park with great access to the Ring of Kerry and without being in the heavily populated city of Killarney. We ate both our dinners in the bar there and found the food to be excellent.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Fiddle & Bow

Doolin

We actually stayed at the Doolin Inn which was delightful. We loved the small, unique character of this inn and it was in a great location

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

The Galmont Hotel & Spa

Galway

A modern, functional hotel in a great location

Location

within walking distance to city centre

Cleanliness & Comfort

Ashling Hotel Dublin

Dublin

Great location, very nice hotel.

Authenticity & Character

it is just a nice hotel; much like we would stay in anywhere

Location

within walking distance of most of the sights in the city, or a short walk to public transportation

Staff

very friendly reception and restaurant staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Cliffs of Moher Cruise

Ireland

We took a combo cruise to Inishmore then to the Cliffs of Moher. We enjoyed seeing the Cliffs from the water more than from the top.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff