Railtours Ireland First Class

🍀 A Fantastic Day Tour with Excellent Guides! We booked the Cork & Blarney Castle Day Tour, traveling south by train to Cork City, Blarney Castle, and Cóbh from Dublin. The journey begins with a smooth and easy train ride 🚆 from Dublin to Cork. It’s a relaxing trip, perfect for bringing a book 📖 or a card game to enjoy with friends! While there’s a small snack cart onboard, I’d recommend bringing your own breakfast 🥐 for convenience. Once we arrived in Cork, we took a bus 🚌 to Blarney Castle and Gardens. Visiting on December 30th meant the grounds were a bit barren, but we loved the opportunity to explore the historic castle 🏰 without crowds. We even kissed the Blarney Stone with zero wait! 💋🪨 Our tour guide was fantastic. He took us right to the castle steps and then gave us a few hours to explore on our own and grab lunch. The Woolen Mill shopping complex offers food options, and there are several other establishments within walking distance. Next, we enjoyed a driving tour 🚗 through Cork. Our guide was incredibly knowledgeable, sharing fascinating insights along the way. We then headed to Cóbh, where we stopped at a cemetery, a church ⛪, and finally, the heritage center to learn about Irish emmigration history. Once again, we had plenty of time to explore the museum, visit the town, and even pop into a pub 🍺 for a pint. For the return journey, we took a train 🚆 from Cóbh back to Cork and then another train into Dublin. Be sure to grab a sandwich 🥪 or snack before boarding, as the train has limited food options. We highly recommend this tour because of the outstanding guides. They are personable, honest, and full of information. It’s clear they truly love what they do and want you to enjoy and learn! We’d gladly book another trip with them when we return to Ireland. 🌟

Dublin to Ring of Kerry and Landmarks was wonderful! Our tour guide, Paul, took fantastic care of us. We really enjoyed this day! Very well organized and beautiful sights!

This is the way to see the best of Ireland. Our guides were accommodating and knowledgeable. John Todd and Andrew Roach, as our guides, created a memorable and enjoyable experience for our family. Other staff such as our drivers and hotel staff we also delightful. This tour was packed with bonus material and opportunities for photos not mentioned in and brochure or on the website. I'm so glad we chose to let then handle our trip.

We did two separate day trips. Fantastic tours and great service. Paddy and John were both fantastic. Ring of Kerry and the connamere were both lovely. Had we come at a more popular time of year we would have (and recommend) staying over in Galway or Killarney. Otherwise it is a lot of commuting back to Dublin.

I did a solo trip- I was terrified! Rail tours made everything so easy! From the easily seen yellow jackets at the train station to Brian, our tour guide, explaining what to expect or answering all of our questions - along with some witty Irish comments lol. He made the experience. I did the four day Atlantic. I loved hearing the history as we rode through the landscapes. We did meet up with another tour at one point, but I felt Brian did a great job preparing us for what to expect. Everyone on our trip did a good job of being considerate and getting back to the bus on time so we could hit the road to the next stop and I met some wonderful people along the way!! Will absolutely use them again! (Some of the hotels were a little older- but it’s old Irish cities you’re visiting. What else should you expect? I had a room to my self and , personally, I loved all of my accommodations. Very quaint and European esque!) my favorite was Killarney! Thank you Railtours and Brian for making my birthday trip a huge success!

A friend and I have just completed a week long tour and enjoyed it very much. This is my second time touring with them, as I went on a day tour to Blarney Castle with the company in 2018. My first experience was so lovely I knew I wanted to go on more of their tours when I was planning to explore Ireland with my friend in 2020 - we ended up choosing the 6-Day All Ireland tour for our trip. Our trip was initially cancelled due to Covid, but Railtours was very attentive and we had no trouble redeeming our vouchers for the same trip this year. We used our Hop On Hop Off bus tickets for Dublin the day before our tour started, which was a nice option to have. All of the hotel bookings were 4-star and beautiful accomodations. The tour guides were helpful, friendly and very knowledgeable (thanks especially to Brian and Ian who went above and beyond)! It was especially comforting to have an attendant for every transfer (this company leaves nothing to chance and has thought through every detail). Highly recommend booking with this company if you're interested in a wonderful extended VIP experience or even just a single day trip for a specific attraction! Thank you for all the great memories Railtours, we will remember adventures with you for our lifetimes :D

There was a lot of good, some bad, and some disappointing. First, this is not a rail tour. Extremely misleading. We did the 5 day Royal Atlantic Tour. The only train rides were day 1 and day 5. Day 1 was from Dublin to Cork and day 5 was Galway to Dublin. In between is all coach/bus and ferry rides. I understand utilizing the buses for the getting around to the sites. But going from town to town in bus and not utilizing the rail was very disappointing. Might as well had rented a car and drove it myself. Tour guides: all are very nice gentlemen. Very informational. I suggest balance. If we had a 2.5 hour bus ride, they’d talk for 98% of it. Less is more. Everyone began to tune it out. Way too much rambling. If they spoke for maybe an hour of the time it would have been way more enjoyable. There’s only so much you can hear about rocks and turf. If you want to do a tour and not have to worry about transportation or setting anything up, I’d recommend doing the 4 day tour and not the 5 day. Frankly, the last day is a waste. Nothing special about Connemara. Basically see some neat landscape and go to an Abbey. After the four days prior you are already on fumes and the long bus ride is just not ideal. To be fair, the Abbey is nice but to take up a whole day is not worth it. They make a random 15 minute stop in Clifden which just made no sense. Side note: if you are able to, May want to pack lunches. The stops they have set up the food is expensive and not really that great except for the Aran Islands. The cafe on the island is fantastic and you should eat there.

Excellent service, accommodations & superior tour guides. After several (COVID) postponements and a change in the number and names of people touring, Railtours Ireland was so genuinely helpful. From the office staff to Brian our tour guide, The "All Ireland" tour was just that - culture, coffee, pubs & all the top Bucket List attractions. Clear & concise historical information throughout. Number ONE tour company in Ireland? Probably. You won't be disappointed