We had an absolutely fabulous time. Claire l...
Ireland
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Oct 2 - Oct 15, 2025
We had an absolutely fabulous time. Claire listened to our wants and wishes and fulfilled them well. From the first day we arrived in Dublin, to the last day in Dublin we enjoyed every minute.
We rented a car (best idea) and went counterclockwise around Ireland. We were traveling for 2 weeks.
Pros - The hotels, with the exception of one(in cons):
Iveagh Gardens Hotel - Dublin - Beautifully decorated, great buffet breakfast with lots choices, rooms were a good size, nothing too fancy but very comfortable.
Ten Square Hotel - Belfast - Very comfortable, good location to visit Belfast
Lough Eske Castle - Donegal Town - Beautiful rooms, wonderful staff, great bartender! - definitely worth the stay
Victorian Hotel -Killarney - Lovely hotel. Very cozy, meals were order only(but delish) with a wait staff to be commended.
Sites:
Belfast - Black Taxi Tour - outstanding tour of Belfast and the N. Irelands troubled times. We felt like we were in a history class only with wit and lots of wisdom. I believe our driver's name was Justin and he was wonderful. He picked us up at our hotel and we were off. We thought 3 hours was going to be too long, but we could have continued for another 2 and been very happy.
Kylemore Abbey (Clifden)- an active real abbey - just beautiful, the dining room was majestic, with plates set the table of famous visitors from many years.
The Cliffs of Mohr - There are no words to really describe the Cliffs of Mohr from the ocean. It transports you to another world -imagining everything that has happened to Ireland and how it was naturally protected in many ways.
Rock of Cashel - stunning building, lots of history, very interesting. Great stop between Killarney and Dublin
Book of Kells/Long library - A must for every person who visits Dublin. the book itself is unbelievably beautiful. the long library is under renovations but still a wonder to see. Normally ~ 200K books but down to ~17k. Our guide was earning his masters in history at the college(Trinity) and extremely knowledgeable. It was a wonderful day
Teeling distillery - great tour and great whiskey - what else can I say
Our trip went smoothly, exactly as planned - no problems or issues with reservations, or tours. KimKim gave us a perfect itinerary, complete with directions, sites to see (other that what we had planned), and suggestions on where to eat. I highly recommend Kim Kim and especially Claire, our main contact.
Cons
the only real con we have is the Galmont Hotel ( Galway) - it was a great location for the shopping district and getting in and out of the city. However, it was not cozy, the bathtub was inconvenient for older people, and the room were difficult to get to. I would not recommend this hotel.
We did rent a car and it was great. It gave us the freedom to go where and when we wanted to go. Most of the roads were wide and easy driving but when we took the narrow roads we saw parts of Ireland we would not have seen. We only got lost once and lucked in to seeing cows filling the road, being driven to another field. We were also privy to seeing free range sheep, eating grass outside the fence and a sheep do, corralling sheep in an open field, not on a tour.
Again - we had a flawless trip with the exception of storm Amy, which prevented us from seeing The Giants Causeway, but that was of not fault of KimKim.
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