Our tours are small enough that they feel more like we are showing a group of friends around Ireland. Tom leads every tour, some that we have shaped in advance, and some that we create just for you or your group. But even for the pre-arranged journeys, we contact all of the travelers in advance, getting to know them so that we can shape the tour to fit the interests of the group.
So, you’ll notice that we don’t post written-in-stone itineraries for our pre-planned routes like the big-bus companies. Of course, we know where we are sleeping and eating, and, of course, where to find the music. And we have several tried and true options lined up at all times. But Ireland moves at its own pace, and if you follow it, wonderful things happen. This style of travel is not for everyone – but for those who are open to it, the rewards are many.
If you are going to be travelling with friends or family, we can create a tour just for your group. Tom can just scoop you up and show you the real meaning of "back roads" and "behind the scenes"! And since we know the west of Ireland ridiculously well, we can help you plan the best trip of your life if you just want to get ready to travel on your own.
Package Tours
A lot of people who would never have been caught dead on a tour give us a try and are more than pleasantly surprised. Here’s why:
- Small groups. Guide to traveller ratio of no more than 1:7. No name badges… we know your name from the moment we meet you!
- No big buses. Our deluxe 25 seat coaches are just roomy enough to be comfortable, but small enough to fit on the narrowest back roads and to let you listen to recordings of last night’s music sessions or chat with the drivers, who, by the way, are your tour guides, not a hired driver!
Tradition and culture. Our tours focus on the traditional arts and culture of Ireland, especially the music. We know where the best gigs, ceili’s (Irish dance events) and back-room seisiúns (Irish music gatherings) are, along with anything you would like to know about the history or evolution of the traditions. We even offer or can arrange tutoring or lessons in traditional singing, dancing, or musical instruments. - Flexibility. Our size and the way we plan our tours allows us maximum flexibility. Want to go for a walk, stop at a store, take a nap, get a snack, take a detour? Prefer to take a solo trek? With our tours, this is all possible. We can modify our plan based on the weather, local events, and group interest.
- Time. No rushing from place to place, jumping on and off of the bus. We go at Ireland ’s pace – fast enough to pack in a lot of incredible experiences, but slow enough so that those experiences are meaningful.
- Experience. Personable, easy-going, organized guides who have a genuine love of the country and its traditions, and who know Ireland inside and out.
- Adventure. We provide a steady stream of possibilities for those who are in the mood to try something new and different, to take a risk, or to explore the unknown.
Comfort. After a day of adventure, come home to excellent accommodation with full Irish breakfasts. This is a vacation, after all! - Memories and Connections. Your time with us doesn’t end on the last day of the tour. Come back to the website to share photos and videos of your trip, download recordings of the music you heard, and to share memories with your fellow travellers on the message boards.
Personalized Tours
Are you coming to Ireland with friends or family? Organizing a family reunion or a genealogy search? Do you have a special interest in a particular area or in art, literature, traditional music or dance, history, storytelling, or another aspect of Irish culture? Do you have a specific activity in mind like a pub/music tour, or a castle tour, or a good place to buy traditional instruments or wool sweaters? Contact us for sample itineraries, or to plan your perfect trip.
Travel Planning
Our brains are full of the best places to get mussels and Guinness, the most gorgeous route from town A to town B, the most intimate music sessions that you wouldn’t know about unless you went through that door in the back of the store, the perfect walk if you want to see wild mountain goats or the best view of the water, the
name of the guy who might show you his glacial rock collection and tell you everything you ever wanted to know about the local landscape, the cheapest accommodations that you would never guess were so cheap, and the places where you can windsurf, hike, watch a traditional boat race, or buy a used book of poems in Gaelic.
In short, tell us your travel fantasies for the west of Ireland and we will tell you how to make them into reality.
Tom: I’ve been meaning to write and tell you what a fabulous time Colleen and I had on the Johnsmith tour of Counties Cork, Kerry and Clare last month. We haven’t stopped talking about it to our friends here in Ohio. In fact, we are interested in using your company for a similar tour in 2009. The six members of my band, the Klatt Brothers, our wives, and perhaps a few other couples would be the tour group. We’d bring several acoustic instruments with us and hope to perform a few of our songs in the pubs along the way. If that’s something you could do for us, please let me know and we’ll begin making arrangements. Colleen sends her best. Kind regards, Peter Pavarini
October 24th, 2007 | #
I am interested in the April 15 tour.
November 8th, 2007 | #
As I think back on all the things I did in 2007, what tops the list was the wonderful tour of Ireland I took with my friends the Rowan Brothers, five other of my friends, and some new friends I met on the trip. I loved singing with Pauline Scanlon, discovering John Spillane, all of Tom’s history, the scenary, the wonderful bus driving of Paddy Downes and everything about it. I hope I will be able to go back before too long!
January 9th, 2008 | #
I did the Johnsmith version of the tour with my wife and 10 new friends in 2006. I created a Web site to remember it and trade comments etc., http://www.fairplaytometour.com.
Tom and John did a great job, and we had an awesome time. We were fortunate that the group really gelled together and stayed up past late each night in various hotels rooms after the pubs had closed. My comment would be don’t give Tom maps in Italian… he can’t read them especially up in County Donegal where those roads are so skinny.
Next time we’ll meet the king of Tory Island for a real visit.
Great trip!! So Far, So Good!
Slainte!
Paul
April 4th, 2008 | #
Tom,
I just wanted to thank you Anne and Paddy for the wonderful tour. I loved learning about the history of Ireland. Thanks for being so flexible and taking extra time out to run us around an extra day! I’m sure I’ll be back again for one of the other tours. I’ll be posting blogs on the tour over the next couple of weeks along with many of the pictures. You can view it at http://www.myspace.com/zahller
Peace, Love and Vegetable Rights!
Guy Zahller
Aptos, CA
June 10-19, 2008
June 30th, 2008 | #
Hello Tom!!
Still basking in the joy from our June tour of Kerry, Clare and Galway. Time to post those 2009 dates – May 19-28 (Kerry, Clare and Galway); June 30-July 9 (Donegal/Derry); August 25 – September 3 (Cork, Kerry and Clare). I’m looking forward to all three trips! Here’s the link http://www.flickr.com/photos/annefeeney/sets/72157605809447284/ to the photos from the first tour!
All the best,
Anne Feeney
July 3rd, 2008 | #
Hello Tom, Paddy and John
We have some great photos of the trip but nothing replaces the experience of actually being there. Ireland is rich in history and beauty but you guys make this tour the best! We know you all work very hard behind the scenes to make this trip truly enchanting. We will recommend this tour to all of our friends who love to travel off the beaten path away from the tourists to really have a travel experience of a lifetime. Thanks for everything…SLAINTE!
peace and love to all,
Mary and Dan (July tour- 2008)
July 30th, 2008 | #
Hi Tom – Had trouble sending this email direct to you, so thought I’d send it to your website. Most of the gang from our “Close as Cousins” trip got together in LaCrosse this weekend to see John and Dan play. It was a great time and was really fantastic to see everyone again. We all dearly missed you though, and you were certainly there in our hearts and minds. It just wasn’t the same with someone else singing “Good Night Irene” at the end of the night. But it also reminded me that I’ve been meaning to drop you a note.
I’d like to thank you again for making the extra effort to get our family to our B&B and giving us the million dollar tour of Limerick too. We are so glad that you dropped us at that music store so we could pick up a copy of that John Spillane cd/dvd. We just love it and must have listened a hundred times to that and the great cd you made for us. I’d especially like to thank you for the kindness and friendship that you extended to my kids – it really helped them to feel more comfortable with all the adults. They just thoroughly enjoyed your companionship, gentle nature and humor and and love ya to death. They (and Linda a me too) hope we can meet again sometime in all our travels, and hope you don’t mind if we try to stay in touch a bit. Am sure in your tour business you have to have lots of new friends come and go, but we all really did feel a special bond with you and will think of you as a life long friend. Ben and Caitlin have been wanting to email you also, but we saw how busy you are and don’t want to impose on your privacy – would you mind if they drop a note to say Slainte??
I still have a ticket to Lambeau Field with your name on it if you can find a way to make it fit your schedule Dec 7. If it just won’t work for you this year, I’ll let you know when the schedule comes out next year and maybe you can plan your US meetings around a game. I would absolutely love to treat you to a Packer game sometime and play tour guide for YOU in Green Bay! I’ll be there next Sunday nite to see the Cowboy game – that’ll be a load of fun because the Cowboys are dearly hated in Green Bay. If you watch the game you can feel that a little bit of you is actually there with us at the Frozen Tundra!
Oh yea, thanks also for not blowing my cover and letting me finish my dramatic rendering of St Bridgets prayer without correcting my historical innacuracy! When we got back I googled up some history of St Bridget and OOPS, I see that she was a nun and didn’t marry, so in fact she liked to give away her Fathers wealth, and not her husbands. Well, like John Spillane says, if there’s any lies in my story, let them stay there.
Let us know what your plans are for your trip to visit the Cherokee in Oklahoma – we;ll try to see if there’s a way for us to make it down for that. God bless you my friend! Go Munster!!
Regards,
Larry Walbrun
715-381-1808
715-220-1616 cell
September 15th, 2008 | #
My friend Dorothy and I went on Johnsmith and Tom’s July 14 tour beginning at Shannon AP and finishing in Ennis. The tour is certainly different from the usual “big bus” experience. We toured back roads on a comfortable small bus driven by Paddy Downs, a great driver. We walked on small beaches, listened to Irish music in real Irish Pubs and stayed in small, off the beaten path B & B’s. Wonderful trip for the descerning traveler who wants a unique experience.
August 8th, 2009 | #
We returned from our Johnsmith tour with Tom and Paddy 5 days ago, but I still haven’t returned to Earth. It was unquestionably the best vacation in my life: folkloric, musical, social, historical, beautiful, relaxing (we even had steam baths in two of our hotels!), and fulfilling. We’ll be back!
August 10th, 2009 | #