Best of Ireland Locations

tomh

I am thinking about going on Tauck's "Best of Ireland" tour in 2015. I have friends who have traveled and lived in Ireland. They looked at the "Full Itinerary" for this tour, but did not see "Newgrange" listed as one of stops on this tour (they thought all of the other stops pretty much covered a great tour of the country). However, both of them could not understand why Tauck did not/does not include Newgrange as Newgrange is one of the best locations to visit in the country.

Is there anyone (travelers or Tauck) know the reason why Newgrange is not included?

ndvb

I don't have a dog in Tauck's race, except to take their trips and pay them the freight. However, my experience is that no matter what trip they have, someone wants to stop somewhere that they don't, while others want not to stop someplace they do. I've been on three Tauck trips and haven't been disappointed on any of them, in the big picture. On each, there was a place I thought could be better and a place I wish we'd have stayed longer. In other words, you can't please everyone all of the time.

If you send them a note, they can probably explain why they do, or don't, stop somewhere. Their reasoning may not please you, but they do a nice job of explaining their itineraries. In essence, you have done that here and I hope they let you know why they don't stop where you want them to.

I've been on the Best of Ireland trip and it was great. I didn't care for the hotel in Shannon, but the rest of the trip was outstanding. I've also been on the England, Scotland, and Wales trip and was equally impressed. I would have loved to have spent a few more hours in Blenheim Palace, but the time that we had there was unbelievable. I will be surprised if you don't come away from the Ireland trip as a happy camper, overall. Have fun and:

"May your thoughts be as glad as the shamrocks,
May your heart be as light as a song,
May each day bring you bright, happy hours,
That stay with you all the year long."

tomh

I think I found the answer to my question re Newgrange. Apparently that location is very limited and can only take a very small group (15 people) at a time. So, it would not be possible for a Tauck tour group. According to what I learned about it on the web, it does look very interesting. :-)

lovestravel

We toured Ireland about 10 years ago with Globus. We did go to Newgrange, and it is fascinating. Because there were about 40 or so of us, we were broken into about 3 groups, each with a different designated time to tour the site.

lovestravel

I neglected to say that it was around lunchtime when we toured, so while some were visiting the site, others were having lunch in the onsite cafeteria. We did not stand around twiddling our thumbs in the interim!

Bluejay

NDVB - What hotel did you stay at in Shannon that you did not care for? We are staying soon in Shannon for the first time. Any tips would be appreciated.

ndvb

Old Ground Hotel