Traveling to Ireland: Group vs independant
Shary T. ([email protected])
Sun, 27 Sep 1998 15:45:14 -0700
HI! I'm a travel agent based in Boise and I'm posting this survey to
find out if any U2 fans in the internet community would be interested in
going with a GROUP TOUR to see Ireland (not just the U2 spots)? I am
also interested in pooling travel tips/info from all the fans who have
already been to Ireland. (Please jump to questionnaire BELOW if YOU have
been there or have Ireland travel stories at your site.)
As for the GROUP TOURS, obviously, this won't appeal to those of you
who prefer the do it yourself backpacking feel-the-asphalt-under-my-feet
type of budget traveling or for those just wanting to hit the U2 sites.
But for those of you working 20/30 somethings with very little vacation
time to spare who missed the boat on backpacking Europe in your college
days like ME, you might be interested in this alternative if you'd like
to see more of Ireland, but don't have the TIME to deal with all the
guesswork of traveling by yourself.
I'm bringing this up for several honest reasons.
#1: I want this to be a U2 fan community event in the tradition of A
Celebration and A Sort of Homecoming.
#2: I wanted to make sure everyone in internetland who wants to go to
Ireland knows about this alternative for traveling.
#3: If I end up being in charge of the group planning... I get your
money$$$! No, no, no. Yes, if *I* coordinate this, I would receive
commission, no bones about it. But,
I'm mainly interested in doing this as a liason, not a SHARK <|
As for the TOUR packages, there are a few ways to go about them:
I've been mainly looking at two companies CIE Tours or Contiki-(for
18-35 year olds).
-Irish based CIE Tours has a 4 night 5 day whirlwind sightseeing package
called a Taste of Ireland that STARTS at $525 (not including airfare).
It starts in Shannon but can end in either Shannon or Dublin (easy for
Dublin stay add-ons if you want to extend your stay there).
-Contiki Tours has a 8 night 9 day (London-Ireland) package that begins
and ends in London. The first two nights are spent in London. The 3rd
and last day of the tour are spent commuting to and from London to
Ireland. (ie.6 nights spent in Ireland.) Again , it IS a whirlwind tour
(don't blink or you'll miss type of thing). But it covers a lot and the
price STARTS at $745 (not including airfare).
**Because the prices don't necessarily have to include airfare, you
don't have to be from the US to join the group and we may be able to get
a GROUP rate for the land only portion.** However, for the N. Americans,
it may be advantageous to try and get a GROUP PRICE WITH AIRFARE to
really keep costs down.
This is as far into the details I will go until I get a better idea
of the amount of people who may be interested. So, if you're interested,
please let me know by emailing me directly with subject: Interested in
Group Eire.
***Been To Ireland Questionnaire***
I know it's long, but please take some time to fill out what you can
and re-mail to me. Thank you Thank you!
1) How much was the taxi/airport bus (transfers) to and from the airport
to Dublin City, roughly? Taxi: Bus:
2) Where did you stay in Dublin?
-Was it a Hostel/Hotel/Guest House?
3) How was the location in reference to these places? (Don't have to
answer all.)
(Near, Fairly Near, Not Near Enough, Far)
-Temple Bar District
-Grafton Street
-O'Connel Street
-Rail Station (RDS)
-Local Bus Station
-Long Distance Bus Station (If another station???)
-Phoenix Park
-St. Patrick's Cathedral
4) About how much was it per night?
5) Would you recommend it to others? Why? (Cheap? Near Temple Bar?)
6) How many people were staying in the room?
7) How much was an average bus ride in the city?
8) Did you go to any other cities/town?
9) How did you get there?
10) How much did it cost to go there? (one way/round trip)
11) Where did you stay in these other cities?
12) How much was your lodging there?
13) Would you recommend these places? Why?
14) Did you buy a rail pass? Bus pass? Combo rail and bus pass? How
much?
15) If you didn't buy any passes, can you estimate how much you spent on
all your
bus/train transportation put together?
16) When did you go? How was the weather while you were there?
17) In hindsight, if you could go back in time or do it over again, what
would you have CHANGED? Example: would you have stayed somewhere else?
Would you have gotten a rail/bus pass?
18) Anything you'd personally like to add like must see/must visit/must
eat at places. This can include some of the more known U2 spots, but
more so the lesser known ones. :)
Thanks Again! ~Shary
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b2
on Sun Sep 27 1998 - 14:47:39 PDT