Private Tour Companies/guides

Looking for recommendations for private tour companies/guides for the following:

Cork, Ireland

Dublin, Ireland

Liverpool, England

Belfast, Northern Ireland

Glasgow, Scotland

Invergordon, Scotland

Edinburgh, Scotland

Would like to get away from the ship crowds in our own group up to 7 (we have four cabins with 7 pax traveling together). Any recommendations much appreciated. Traveling in July on Royal Princess. thanks!

Looking for recommendations for private tour companies/guides for the following:

Cork, Ireland Butler Tours

Dublin, Ireland

Liverpool, England

Belfast, Northern Ireland Odyssey Coach Tours

Glasgow, Scotland Discover Scotland Tours

Invergordon, Scotland Invergordon Shore Excursion

Edinburgh, Scotland Strachan Tours

 

Would like to get away from the ship crowds in our own group up to 7 (we have four cabins with 7 pax traveling together). Any recommendations much appreciated. Traveling in July on Royal Princess. thanks!

We used these tour companies and recommend every one of them.

Cole

We used these tour companies and recommend every one of them.

Cole

We also used some of your tour companies.

Cork, Ireland Butler Tours

Excellent tour and very inexpensive, but you do have to pay for your admission to Blarney Castle.

Dublin, Ireland

Highly recommmend the HoHo Bus

Liverpool, England

info@busybus.co.uk

Busybus has a great tour of North Wales

Belfast, Northern Ireland Odyssey Coach Tours

We also used Odyssey and they were super

Glasgow, Scotland Discover Scotland Tours

We used

Go Scotland Tours the last time were were there for a tour to St. Andrews and they were excellent.

Invergordon, Scotland Invergordon Shore Excursion

We did the ship's tour from Infinity that was super

Edinburgh, Scotland Strachan Tours

We did not dock there, but went to Edinburgh from Glasgow the first time.

Looking for recommendations for private tour companies/guides for the following:

Cork, Ireland

Dublin, Ireland

Liverpool, England

Belfast, Northern Ireland

Glasgow, Scotland

Invergordon, Scotland

Edinburgh, Scotland

 

Would like to get away from the ship crowds in our own group up to 7 (we have four cabins with 7 pax traveling together). Any recommendations much appreciated. Traveling in July on Royal Princess. thanks!

For glasgow and Edinburgh try http://www.Ultimatescottishtours.com, friends used them last year while on round UK cruise and said great experience

Thanks for the suggestions. I will check them out over the holidays when I have more free time.

Please keep adding to the list if you know of others. We're trying to get away from the big busses and looking for companies with vans that will tailor to our specific interests.

Love all the resources CC members provide. Such a help!

Can anyone recommend a Private tour company from Heathrow to Southampton.

We like to stop in Stonehedge and Bath.

Thanks for help!

Can anyone recommend a Private tour company from Heathrow to Southampton.

We like to stop in Stonehedge and Bath.

Thanks for help!

We rented a Thrify rent a car and drove to Salisbury, Stonehedge and Avebury, as well as Windsor Castle. You can buy the one-way rental.

Thrify's pickup is at the Heathrow Sheraton.

Can anyone recommend a Private tour company from Heathrow to Southampton.

We like to stop in Stonehedge and Bath.

Thanks for help!

We have used woodford chauffeurs twice.... the last time being a transfer from London central hotel to Southampton, with a 2 hour stop in Winchester for sightseeing.

Carol

We used these tour companies and recommend every one of them.

Cole

Sailed on Royal Princess - June 2, 2015

Private Tours used: all were great.

Cork - Butler Tours - private car - very reasonable - lovely day.

Dublin - Paddywagon Bus - ok.

Belfast - Paddywagon Bus - Giants Causeway. - ok

Liverpool - Busy Bus - fabulous bus tour. -we did Snowdenia mountains tour.

Glasgow - Paul Strachan Tour - private car - delightful day.

Invergordon - same (Strachan)

Edinburgh - same (Strachan)

We had a wonderful time. We were four people and it cost us almost the same amount as a Princess bus tour. Try them. You will enjoy your trip.

But, stay away from Cruising Excursions. They stranded us in Guernsey!

Sheila

We cruised on the Royal Princess out of Southampton, with a port day in Invergordon on July 12, 2015. Following the recommendation of others on these boards, we signed on for an excursion with WOW. The first bus had filled by the time we enrolled, but we were told that the company was arranging for a second bus and that we should check back. A couple of days later, the second bus was indeed available, and we signed up.

The two busses took opposite paths; our tour first visited Culloden Battlefield. Our tour guide, Sandy, presented a detailed explanation of what happened there, with context before and after. His narration was spellbinding, even for our teenaged daughter who usually shows little interest in military history. We then visited the Clava cairns, and Sandy explained their (much older) history, usage, astronomical alignment, and a bit about the general area. Following that we went to Cawdor Castle; part of the time, we overlapped with the first bus. In the castle's café we enjoyed a pleasant meal (not included in the tour price), followed by a thorough tour of the beautiful castle, which contains a secret dungeon (!). The lady of the manor spoke with a few of our group. The gardens are extensive and beautiful, including also a maze and wilderness paths (which we barely had time to explore).

The overlap was important because our next stop was to be Loch Ness. Unbeknownst to us, our guide retrieved a large model of a Loch Ness Monster head and neck from the first bus's trunk and hid it in our bus's. When we reached Dores (by the Loch) he placed it in the water and some of us took pictures with it. A photo of Sandy carrying the beast is attached to this post. After Dores we visited Inverness, had a pleasant walk around, and climbed to the top of the hill by the castle for some pleasing views.

We were back at our ship in plenty of time. Sandy was informative, personable, and energetic. Overall, a first-rate experience.

We traveled with WOW Scotland, and had Gordon, the company owner, as our guide. He met us dressed in a kilt (adorable) and was a fabulous tour guide. He was funny, informative, and engaging. You could tell he was making a genuine effort to make the day a great time for all. (He even had bottles of water in the bus ready for the tour participants and played Scottish music on the bus' PA...nice touch.)

Because it started to rain heavily that morning, Gordon said we would forgo our planned walking tour of Inverness and instead take a photo op at Urquhart Castle. It was lovely to see these ruins, but it also made me appreciate what a value our trip was. The cruise line excursion was to Urquhart Castle, Culloden Moor, and Loch Ness. (The cruise line charged 219.95/person for their excursion.) Given the driving rain we had that day, most of the people on that excursion were pretty wet and miserable, given the Urquhart ruins are open and exposed. Meanwhile, we got to see the ruins, had a great photo op and stayed dry.

The stop at Lock Ness was fun, especially when "Nessie" showed up. The kids got a kick out of that.

Cawdor Castle was interesting with its beautiful grounds and history.

We enjoyed an unexpected trip to the standing stones near Inverness (Outlander fans got a kick out of this.) My family especially appreciated the historical commentary at Culloden Moor.

All in all, this was a great day at an affordable price.

I booked online about 6 weeks out, and I appreciated that Gordon emailed 2 weeks before the trip to remind/welcome us.

Side note: My family is a group of seasoned cruisers, and we frequently purchase the cruise line excursions. This time the price for a family of four was ridiculously cost prohibitive, so we booked everything ourselves and had a great time. (To be fair, the WOW!Scotland tour did not include lunch, and I think the cruise line tour did.)

Gordon was very aware of making sure the group was back at the cruise ship in a timely manner and was really intent on making our day special.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend him to any friend.

We were on the Oceania Nautica this summer and used Colm McBrierty for a tour from Belfast. We wanted to see the Antrim coast and the Giants Causeway. He also added in some on the Game of Thrones sites. He scheduled where we went to avoid the crowds as much as possible. He was charming and a great driver. Best tour of our cruise and highly recommended.

Colm McBrierty

At Your Service Tours

colm.mcbrierty@sky.com

447711387782

They require payment in full upon booking but only refund 50% if tour is missed for any reason including if your ship does not dock. See other threads about Holyhead and Liverpool.

We very much enjoyed our tour with http://discoverscotlandtours.com and http://www.irelandchauffeurtravel.com

Both excellent experiences.

They require payment in full upon booking but only refund 50% if tour is missed for any reason including if your ship does not dock. See other threads about Holyhead and Liverpool.

So far BusyBus continues to have excellent ratings by most people on all other tours that I've been able to find ... trip advisors to other touring websites. They have won several national awards as well. Yes, there was a snafu for one tour out of holyhead when the captain decided not to stop at the port with less than 24 hour notice and people on both sides got quite bent out of shape about it. I wouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater. There are many people here on cruise critic that have had excellent experience and customer service with them.

If you read the policies of the shore excursion companies they all have the option of imposing penalties. It usually just doesn't make as big a splash as busybus did this time because of the number of people it affected and because the company chose to take it to the national media. Apparently the company has been shafted by the cruise lines in the past.

We have just come back from a cruise including Belfast and we used Kudos Executive Travel for our day trip from Belfast. http://www.kudosexecutivetransfer.com/

Although they advertise as a luxury transfer company they have incredibly comfy minivans and guides/drivers.

We had excellent guidance and communication from Fergus before the trip and the most fantastic driver/guide called Tom who made the day come alive for us. He took us along the coastal roads and all the routes where the big coaches can't go visiting castles, bridges and Game of Thrones locations all along the way to the Giant's Causeway. He has a perfect tea rooms to stop for lunch. On the way back we did a tour of Belfast city where Tom explained the history of the troubles and showed us both sides of the Peace Wall. It was very moving. Tom kept us amused and enthralled in turns and we would highly recommend this company.

We very much enjoyed our tour with http://discoverscotlandtours.com and http://www.irelandchauffeurtravel.com

 

Both excellent experiences.

We are considering the Discover Scotland Tours out of Greenock next year on our cruise. Does their vehicle (16 or 31 people) navigate well on those small twisty roads others have mentioned on the way to Stirling Castle etc?

Any information you care to share is appreciated.

Cheers,

Carol