Just returned from the 7-day World Tour, which covers the southwest of Ireland. Our guide was Bayven, who was just incredible. She is very knowledgeable about Irish history, told great stories, was funny and in all ways wonderful. We also had Terence, who is a new guide and so was learning the ropes from Bayven - he is going to be a great guide as well. Our entire group felt that we were very lucky having the two of them. This was the first tour of the season, and we departed Dublin on March 10. We were a little worried about the weather going in as I could not find any reviews from others who had gone on tour in March, but this just proved not to be an issue. As others have noted, just wear layers. I generally had a T-shirt, shirt, a fleece and a waterproof shell, and once I also had a sweater. This was fine. Temperatures were typically in the high 40’s, and it was frequently windy. Blue jeans were fine for everything, though next time I will bring a pair of light-weight rain paints to wear over the jeans. The weather was highly variable – on our first day we started in the sun, then had some driving rain, when sun, then a bit of rain followed by hail and some snow (not heavy), then sun again, then a bit of rain, then sun, etc. We just rolled with it! The rain was never hard, and Bayven was a pro in making adjustments as needed. The advantage of an early tour is no crowds, and when you couple this with Vagabond’s propensity to go off the well-beaten track in their small vehicles, you have a great experience. The hotels were all wonderful, the food was great, spent a fair amount of time in pubs, and we thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of the trip. I would guess that most groups ‘gel’ rather well – in addition to our group of 3, there was another couple and then a family group of 4 who were on an all-girls trip. So, just 9 of us and the two guides. We all got along wonderfully – just great camaraderie, and this too made the trip special. In sum, a great trip in all ways – I have no suggestions for Vagabond save to keep doing what they are doing!

We had an incredible time. The Hotels we stayed in were great! One was a "castle" overlooking a beautiful beach, another was where former President Clinton stayed when helping with the trouble in Dublin, many were in villages that were an Irish experience and another was on the edge of a national park. The rooms were always clean and comfortable usually with a great view. We always had at least full size beds if not queen size. The staff always helped us with our luggage and pretty much anything else we needed. We saw and did so much it is too lengthy to list. Our guide was fantastic, knowledgeable, helpful, understanding, personable, and best of all he sang Irish ballads to us each day then explained the meaning of the ballad. Mark Doherty, our guide deserves most of the credit for making our trip so memorable.

My sister and I headed out with Vagabond for an 11 Day all the way around Ireland Adventure Tour and had a wonderful time with great travel companions and a lively guide. We hiked, kayaked, horseback and pub hopped! Highly recommend if you are in good physical shape at any age.