Connemara and Galway City Day Tour from Dublin

I have taken over 50 day tours in Europe and Asia and this was the most disappointing of all. There were just 2 stops: a 45 minute stop in cong and 2 hours in Galway. An underground mine tour was listed in the itinerary but was skipped and no explanation provided. The drive in connemara was good but only 2 give minute stops were given for photography. There could have been more stops for exploring connemara. Overall, it seemed a very expensive return bus ride to Galway.

To start I would like to say that if my tour was exclusively about my tour guide Michael, and my driver Carl it would be a glowing 5 star review. Michael was incredibly knowledgeable and fun. We enjoyed hearing everything he knew about our many stops. Carl was an excellent driver even as this tour goes through scenic routes with more winding roads than other tours. We really enjoyed our experiences with them. However, our day was seriously impacted by poor administrative decisions than affected Michael, Carl, and every other passenger on our day tour including my group. I booked this specific tour because we liked how long it gave the passengers in Galway. There was a lot we wanted to see and do here, but a day tour was all we could fit into our schedule for the week. However, we ultimately lost an hour of this promised time. At the beginning of the day, the importance of timeliness was rightfully emphasized to us. Dublin has very strict rules for bus/transit drivers about how far they can drive in a day, how many breaks they need based on distance/time travelled etc. it was made clear to us that any delays would ultimately impact the time we spend at each stop. Then, 20 minutes into our drive, our guide received a call that there were two passengers that the administrative team neglected to put on our guide’s passenger list that our van had to turn around and go pick up. This added nearly an hour of drive time, in addition to distance on our drivers monitor. I find it extremely hard to believe that our van turning around to get them was Paddywagons only option. It seems that this decision was made exclusively to save the company’s money, even knowing that it would DEFINITELY impact our schedule for the rest of the day. This time ended up being taken from the longest stop, Galway. The tour’s itinerary states and 2.5 hour stop here. We got 1.5 hours. Ultimately I find this decision unfair to myself, the other passengers, and to our driver and guide who were discussing if they could even make it to the bus garage with the remaining time and distance our driver had. This decision did not consider AT ALL the money that the passengers on the bus spent for the day, or the comfort of passengers. It is already a long day in the van and we had nearly an hour added to that time for no good reason. I did reach out to the company for some form of compensation, and all they offered was 10% off another tour. We were no longer even in the country by the time this offer was sent. If my review was down exclusively to the administrative actions of the company it would be 1 star. However, the incredible services Michael and Carl rendered despite the frustrating corner they were backed into by their employers saved one star.

Fantastique. Guide très enthousiaste et intéressant. Recommande vivement cette activité. Gshetsttdjetj