Routescape

We had a great trip! All went smoothly from start to finish.

Guys,
The trip was great for the most part.
The driver that met us at the Dublin Airport was super, even though the plane was 2.5 hours late.
All the hotels were wonderful! Very high marks indeed!
Now some bad news:
The black taxi tour in Belfast was not in a black taxi but a giant van.
The tour guide, Tony was awesome, but in your itinerary, it was stated to be a three-hour tour. It was only 40 minutes and was rushed as Tony had another tour immediately after us.
Now the really bad part: I will NEVER EVER rent a car from Europcar again! I strongly hope you consider your relationship with them. First, the agent at the Dublin center at the pier, did not speak English very well, he was eastern European we believe, and would not let us talk to someone else. All he did from the moment we walked in the door, was try to upsell us to a luxury car. And the then through intimidation, he tried to upsell us on added insurance. (Had I fell for it the added insurance it would have added more than 1000 Euros to the bill.)
After that he would not help connect my iPhone to the on-board nav, I had to fine a Europcar maintenance guy to help us. (He was nice.) The car we ended up was fine, but we needed to stop EVERY day to fill the tires with air, all four were leaking. We stopped at the Europcar agency in LetterKenny (They were closed, everyone was out for lunch) and Sligo, at least they sent us to a local tire shop that was too busy to work on the car that day, so we took a chance and keep filling the tires. Frankly, Europcar service was totally unacceptable.
All and all a very good trip and we certainly will use Kimkim again.
Thank you so much for a great vacation.
Larry and Pam

As soon as we made the decision to visit Europe (Ireland, Wales and England), I realized there was no way we could plan the trip on our own, including transportation, lodging and all the event and site tickets. From the very first time I contacted Routescape, I knew I had found the right team to help us plan our dream trip. Throughout the process, they were responsive and completely focused on listened intently to our likes and dislikes. We love the fact that Routescape partners with historic and unique properties for accommodations. The Wilder Townhouse in Dublin, Bodysgallen Hall in Wales and 11 Cadogan Gardens in London were all charming and very comfortable. They also helped us navigate all the various forms of public transportation (trains, ferry, taxis and private drivers) so we got a true picture of life in Ireland and the United Kingdom. Many thanks go to Nic, Nathan, Kim, Tom and Sue for their excellent customer service as well as the other members of the Routescape team that we didn't talk to but were working behind the scenes. We 100% recommend Routescape to anyone who is considering a travel planning service. We truly could not have done this trip without them!

Hotel Reviews

Wilder Townhouse

Dublin

We loved our stay at the Wilder Townhouse. Our room was very comfortable and the staff was courteous and helpful. The daily breakfast was also delicious and convenient. Thanks so much for being a part of our stay in Dublin!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Bodysgallen Hall & Spa

Llandudno

This property is absolutely beautiful and is in such an amazing location. It's so nice and quiet, but a quick drive back into Conwy. It was an honor to have stayed in a National Trust property and to be able to enjoy the restoration and preservation that has been done.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

11 Cadogan Gardens Hotel & Apartments

London

We truly loved our stay at 11 Cadogan Gardens. It was nice to come back to a quieter area (Chelsea) at night after long hours of touring during the day. Being there during the Chelsea Flower Show was an unexpected bonus. Our room was comfortable and well appointed, as was the bathroom. The daily breakfast in Han's was delicious and convenient as well. Thanks so much for a wonderful stay!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Cliffs of Moher experience

Ireland

We were blessed with warm weather and clear skies so the Cliffs were absolutely stunning. It's a great way to spend a few hours.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tower of London

London

This was a much bigger site than we expected! There are three separate audio guides, but the Highlights guide is the best overall. There was so much to see and read about. One suggestion...get there very early as the lines to get into see the Crown Jewels got very long very quickly!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Half Day Driver Guide

Ireland

What an amazing tour! We not only went to the Cliffs of Moher, but we saw so much of the local countryside that we would have never discovered on our own.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Dublin Group Walking Tour

Dublin

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Guinness Storehouse Tour

Dublin

Quality of Experience

Trinity Trails & Book of Kells

Dublin

This was absolutely amazing. We're so glad we got to see it considering it will be closing later this year for restoration.

Quality of Experience

Conwy Castle

Ireland

Quality of Experience

The Churchill War Rooms

London

This should be on the list of every visitor to London. It's very well done with excellent displays and information. We spend two hours here and could have stayed longer.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Afternoon Tea at Fortnum & Mason

London

Shopping at Fortnum & Mason and having afternoon tea at the Diamond Jubilee Tea Room was a bucket list item for me and it did not disappoint. Be sure to get reservations for the tea and give yourself plenty of time to shop. F&M is truly a quintessential London experience!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Windsor Castle & Windsor by Train

Ireland

We spent the entire day at Windsor. Being able to take the train to Windsor and back to London at our convenience was very nice. The train service is quick and easy to navigate.

Quality of Experience

Transport

Group Tour of Blenheim Palace, Bampton, and the Cotswolds

London

We wanted a chance to see the Cotswolds and Blenheim Palace and, coming from London, this was the best option. The day was very long and included a lot of driving, but the guide was very informative and entertaining.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Portmeirion Village

Ireland

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Westminster Abbey with a Blue Badge Guide

London

Westminster Abbey is stunning and we enjoyed our time there. Our guide was very good and helped us navigate watching the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace and the Horse Guards at St. James Palace. He knew exactly where to watch from for the best view and explained the process to us.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Irish House Party (Traditional Evening)

Dublin

We did not enjoy this. The dinner service was painfully slow (more than an hour to get our simple meals) and the food was average at best. The staff seemed to be uninformed about basic requests. We actually left before the music even started. We would not recommend this activity.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Review and comments on trip to Scotland May 2025
From Donald Hamburg and Jan Prokop
May 28, 2025
Dear Kim and Alex:
From our very first correspondence and in all our contacts with you, we advised you that the principal purpose of this trip was landscape photography, generally in the Highlands. That goal was often repeated. As it turned out, the very first landscape photo was taken on day 7 on the Isle of Skye. Poor planning on your part and our inadequate review of the itinerary you proposed created unnecessary problems with our trip. Comments below:
Day 1 and Day 2 in Edinburgh were sufficient. Day 3 not necessary at all. The Bonham was very good.
Day 4 Allen, our driver/guide was very good. The tour of St Andrews golf course was very intersting and the guide was excellent. Pine Trees hotel in Pitlochry was very good. The manager was very helpful and a delight. He offered to drive us to the restaurant, but said it would be a hike to walk back to the hotel. Had to cancel the dinner reservation as there was no transportation from the restaurant. We dined at the hotel. What was your reasoning for us to stay in Pitlochry? We could have taken the train from St. Andrews straight to Kyle.
Day 5 the train to Inverness was ok but the first-class tickets and reserved seats were not honored. The conductor told us our seats were taken and that there were no seats in Coach A. We managed to get seats in Coach C. We will send you the reserved seat tickets if you need them to get a refund for the first-class seats.
The two nights in Inverness were totally wasted. No need to go there at all. The Lock Ness cruise and visit to Urquhart Castle were an unnecessary diversion. We could have travelled from St Andrews straight through to Kyle. The Kitchen restaurant was very good in Inverness, tho service was very slow.
Day 7 the train to Skye was fine. The Marmalade Hotel was too far from town and there were NO taxis. We could not keep the dinner reservation because there was no transportation.
Days 8 and 9 were basically the whole trip. The guide, Neil MacLeod, was fabulous. The Talisker tour was a waste of time. It was all about getting us into the gift shop. The trip through Trossachs National Park became redundant. Neil tried to make it as interesting as he could, but mile after mile of barren hills with not much to photograph was a disappointment. Day 9 should not have ended in Loch Lomond. Another 32 miles and we would have been in Glasgow. Why did you make a dinner reservation the Cameron Grill 17 miles away from the hotel when there was no transportation and after we had spent 8 hours in a car with Neil? Neil could have taken us to Glasgow or he could have left us off in the village of Luss and a new driver could have taken us to Glasgow. No need to stay at the Loch Lomond Arms hotel. We dined at the hotel – again.
Day 10. The Kimpton hotel was fine. We spent the day on a sightseeing bus and got to see a lot of Glasgow.
Since we knew very little about the geography of the Scottish Highlands, we had no knowledge of the distance between towns or the distance between our hotels, the restaurants, and the towns. In all, much too much down time and the purpose of the trip (landscape photography of Scotland’s fabulous scenery) was not fulfilled.
Donald and Jan

Our trip to Dublin and Northern Ireland
was a trip of a lifetime. This was our first time using a travel agency and we loved it. The trip was more than we could have planned for ourselves. Castle Eske has beautiful accommodations, amazing staff, calming location in the countryside, and delicious food. We just wish we made more time for their relaxing spa. The historic Bushmills Inn had a perfect location on the coast. The food and service were top notch. Our guides Barry and Paula showed us the Causeway Coast and Belfast. They were personable, flexible, and very knowledgeable. We would recommend them to anyone planning a trip to the North of Ireland.
In Dublin, Diane was our guide for a walking tour of the city. She was so knowledgeable! Her historic anecdote were entertaining and informative. The Irish people, food and culture were so warm and inviting, Even our teenage children can’t wait to revisit.

Glen was amazing for our London tour. He was very knowable on all the sites. He was able to work in some stops we requested. Our accommodations at the Henri were great. Our second guide Tanya was great. We drove a lot to different sites. She was also knowledgeable of the places we visited. We didn’t like The Pig. Our room was four flights of stairs and very dark. The room was very small and also dark. We changed hotels to the Falstaff it was great. Our last 2 nights were at hotel The Star. It was very nice most of the restaurants were good. We would of liked a little time to site see shops were we stopped. As it was time change it dark at 4ish we didn’t like going out after dark. Transportation to and from the airport was fine.

The support I received from Eleanor and other people I spoke with at off hours time was great! Overall the package was excellent and well done and it provided us with nearly everything we needed. There are a couple of suggestions I have that may make travel for others coming to the UK a bit easier. I am open to having this discussion by phone so that we can more easily go over things. I am usually available around 10:00 AM Central Standard Time (Chicago) so if this is something that would be of value to you I would love to do that.

Hotel Reviews

Henrietta Hotel

Covent Garden

We stayed at the Henrietta Hotel in London and it was wonderful. It felt like a cozy bed and breakfast with excellent service and very nice facilities. The location was perfect, right in Covent Garden, allowing us to walk to many places and easily access public transportation. We were very happy with our stay there.

The Relais Henley

Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire

The Relais Henley was the most luxurious accommodation during our trip, with a spacious room and lovely bathroom. However, parking was quite challenging as the hotel had limited spaces, and we had to park several blocks away. Despite the inconvenience, the hotel itself was fantastic with excellent service.

Tuddenham Mill

Bury St Edumnds

Tuddenham Mill in Bury St Edmunds was a beautiful place to stay. The rooms were large and impressive, and it had a unique character being a renovated old mill. The apple juice from a local apple farm was fantastic. The only real drawback was the challenging walk with our luggage due to steps and stairs. But overall, it was a lovely experience with excellent service.

Activity Reviews

Visit The Victoria and Albert Museum

London

The Victoria and Albert Museum was a delightful surprise. Initially added as an afterthought, I found it more enjoyable than the British Museum with its impressive and beautifully laid-out exhibits. I'd love to return and spend more time there in the future.

Hampton Court Palace

London

Our visit to Hampton Court Palace was really enjoyable and impressive. We loved exploring the historical aspects of the palace and the entire experience was worthwhile.

We so enjoyed our 13 day trip to Ireland. It was important for us that our trip be flexible, that we could drive ourselves around, include a visit to a family castle and several other tourist stops. So we had a plan that detailed each of these with the addition of various other possibilities on route. We could choose to do these or not. One of our favorite things were the hotels we stayed in- very luxurious that included a daily amazing breakfast. They supplied addresses, tickets to events we wanted to see/ some we found were sold out if not pre-purchased. They provided a zippered notebook that we took everywhere with us with our printed tickets, itenary and directions. They even helped us with what clothes to bring for the weather. They checked in with us during the trip.

It was very customized, very professional and all in all, a hit! We would 100% recommend this amazing team to help you plan your Ireland trip.

Hotel Review

Sheen Falls Lodge

Kenmare

On our recent 13 day trip to Ireland, we stayed in 8 different hotels and I say without a doubt that this place was the best. The lounge, the restaurant, the room- amazing. The staff cleaned mud off my shoes for me overnight. The golf course discount was much appreciated and it was a remarkable course. The grounds were lovely and Kenmare is so quaint. I even had a great conversation with one of the grounds keepers about their lovely plants. The best thing also happened … shows their commitment to customer service. We took a free shuttle from the hotel to the golf course and had a great chat with the driver. So impressed. While at the golf course we mentioned that “our driver” told us to do this outing, and the golf course manager smiled and said, “your driver” was the General Manager of the whole place. He drives the shuttle often just to stay in touch with the guests and keep his hands on the pulse. Being in the service industry myself, it doesn’t get any better than that. So if you’re planning on staying here for a couple of days, make your visit longer!

Authenticity & Character

Loved the local Paintings on the wall. Piano player in reataurant. Library books about Ireland available.

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

100%

Activity Reviews

Trinity College Old Library and Book of Kells

Dublin

100% worthwhile.

Celtic Nights Traditional Irish Show

Dublin

It was OK. Did not compare to the Irish dance we saw later during our trip. Venue was questionable- in a low ceiling basement.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Jameson Distillery Midleton

Cork

100% worth a trip