Northern Ireland & Ireland Luxury Trip Review: Slea Head, Newgrange Monument, Villages, Music, Coastline, Castles & History

Ireland and Northern Ireland was fantastic...still amazed people think you go only if your have Irish roots.  1) lovely and as challenging as you would like walks/homes amidst gorgeous scenery of rolling hills, craggy wave swept cliffs, enticing pastures/farms, surprisingly wide beaches in spectacular settings(though water is Maine cold!) and charming towns 2) fascinating socio-cultural sites 3) lively and engaging music in open friendly pub settings 4) very good dining options throughout 5) and of course the people; warm, open and seem genuinely glad to have you there.  Yes, there is rain in June but had more sun than we expected. Driving often entails single car widths roads even though they are two-way and can be twisty. However, I thoroughly enjoyed driving and only had one real slowdown while a nervous driver tried to navigate past in Slea Head, but was entertaining 10 minutes as people got out to help guide and calm...always gracious.
This travel company was great in listening to our style, preferences, etc. and developing a custom tour for 4 of us with 4 driver/guide days and 8 self-drive days across 6 cities.  Great phone call that helped develop a perfect trip and open to changes/suggestions/additions throughout (even the day before during the trip). Dining suggestions were helpful and worked with my foodie son incorporating his own suggestions.  Gracious and eager to help throughout. Driver-guides were all excellent and a special shout out to our guide who took us on a highly personalized and deeply personal tour around Ring of Kerry.  All guides were willing to add in bits we wanted and used their knowledge to make most of our days even making suggestions for the next days when we are on our own. Even the airport transfers were done by their driver/guides so got a high level of professionalism and as well as their own perspectives/suggestions.  Loved the helpful presentation style booklet that had a slide for each day listed primary and time permitting suggested stops, logistics, etc. Appreciated the separate pages that show picture of hotel. Hotels were all very good/great and were well situated to provide easy drive in but central to sites/dining so could walk.  Had one miscommunication on a pick up but got a lovely and most considerate response from the company owner and it did not impact our trip at all.
Highly recommend this travel company.