Rachel planned a memorable trip for us recent...

Wales | May 13 - May 26, 2025

The Maldron Hotel Belfast City was located in a great location for restaurants and catching our day tour to the Giants Causeway. The bed was comfortable and the breakfast was good. We would stay here again.

This was probably the least liked hotel of our trip. Our room was toward the back of the hotel and was very small. It also had no ceiling fan or window that one could open wide so the room was uncomfortably warm. Thoughtfully the hotel provides a small fan (which should have been a clue) which helped a little, but not enough. There was a tiny space in which to put our small suit cases, with one being on the floor, The hotel was close to restaurants and the boardwalk. On the plus side, the breakfast was delicious and they had menu items you could order freshly made (i.e., avocado toast, Irish breakfast).

The Castle Hotel is set within nine elegantly restored Georgian townhouses with rooms full of period pieces. We had a fairly large room with a four poster bed and a nice sized bathroom. We had a choice between the full Irish breakfast or a ala carte selection.

Business class hotel with nice sized room and comfortable bed. Delicious breakfast!

One of our favorite hotels on our trip Comfortable quiet room with enough room for side chairs and small table. Breakfast was delicious with good selection. The location was central for walking around town, the Jaunting cars and good restaurants!

Business class hotel with attached restaurant (which was actually good) and typical ala carte breakfast. The room was comfortable but not outstanding. Location was walking distance from the train station and central shopping area.

Quirky hotel in the central part of Dublin. Room was mid-sized but comfortable. The breakfast was typical ala carte fare.

So nice to have a driver ready and on-time to take us from the hotel to the airport!

We weren't really sure what to expect on this tour, but came away with a much clearer picture of "The Troubles" from 1968-1998. We made several short stops around both the Protestant and Catholic sections of Belfast with our guide explaining the significance of each location - often with graphic photos. Our guide, Paul, was passionate about the conflict that is still going on today, and that I don't think people outside Belfast are aware.

This was a small group (~30) tour to the Giant's Causeway. The driver/guide was personable and pointed out many sights along the way!

We were so fortunate to have Peter Vale as our driver for our time in Wales! After stopping at Caernarfon Castle, Peter took us to see Plas Mawr - one of the finest examples of an Elizabethan town house from the late 1500. Along the way, Peter stopped at several sights we would never have know about unless we were shown!

Our driver/guide, Peter Vale, picked us up from the airport when we arrived in Liverpool. We made stops to see Penney Lane and the club where the Beatles played. On the way to Llandudno, we stopped at the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct which was impressive! The view was incredible and walking across the bridge gave us a chance to stretch our legs and enjoy the scenary! Peter also transported us back to the Liverpool airport.

We were picked up in Galway by a private driver, Patrick, to take us to Killarney via Cliffs of Moher. Patrick was very informative and told us a lot about the area we were traveling through. At the Cliff's of Moher, we spent a good hour hiking up to the different vantage points. Afterwards, Patrick dropped us off at our hotel in Killarney.

Caernarfon Castle is a very impressive structure to explore. It's worth a visit.

We've been on many food tours across Europe and we wanted to like this one, but it fell a bit short. Our first stop was a bar where we were served what the guide said was a dish that everyone eats in Galway - white bread with potato chips made into a sandwich. I could have done without this. None of the other stops to me really showcased the food of Galway.

We took a small group tour of Ring of Kerry. The countryside along the Ring is beautiful and our guide/driver was very knowledgeable.

Our guide/driver, Peter Vale, was fantastic! He has intimate knowledge of the Snowdonia area in Northern Wales, and took us to his favorite sights, some of which aren't even in the guide book!!

We took the Jaunting car from right outside our hotel to Ross Castle. We didn't realize, but each Jaunting car is for just your group (in our case, just the two of us!). The driver was knowledgeable about the route and pointed out deer in the fields. The boat part of the tour took us out around the lake where we could view a former monastery and enjoy the view of the countryside from the lake!

The Book of Kells is a one of a kind experience! We could easily have spent half a day just soaking up the information that was presented on the Book of Kells as well as the Trinity Library.

Nice to have free time to wander down the side streets of Dublin!