What is Included on a Coach Tour? |
- Luxury coach transportation throughout
- Services of a CIE Tours tour director
- Prebooked hotel accommodations and fast check-ins
- All breakfasts and most dinners
- Sightseeing program and prepaid admissions
- Special evenings with entertainment and dinners
- Airport transfers
- Baggage handling and tips to hotels
- Travel bags and destination information
- Camaraderie of your fellow coach travelers
|
| Security & Reliability |
CIE Tours International has provided over a million travelers with the highest quality vacations to Ireland and Britain during the past 74 years. As a division of Ireland's National Transport Company, we have built up an enviable reputation for security and reliability with our satisfied clients and the travel industry throughout North America.
|
| Bonded Professionals |
CIE Tours International is a member of the United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA) and has lodged a million dollar irrevocable bond. We are also full members of the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA). These professional organizations ensure that their members meet stringent standards to protect the traveling public.
|
| Inclusive Coach Tours |
Our coach tours offer all the advantages of a luxury cruise - without the water. Programs encompass airport transfers, daily sightseeing program, full breakfasts, table d´hote dinners, medieval banquets, cabarets and visits to attractions. Our passengers pay in US dollars and know that almost everything has been covered. Our trained personnel take care of all the details. We urge you to compare the tour features to those of our competitors to understand why we have earned our excellent status for quality and value. If you are considering a self drive vacation, we suggest that you compare coach tour prices as they offer better value for money when overall daily costs are considered.
|
| No Hidden Extras |
CIE Tours does not believe in offering "optional" extras when you are on vacation. This policy allows your tour director to focus totally on your needs rather than selling optional tours. Check our "Tour Includes" panel for each vacation to see the exciting features that are included. Note that all of our tours in Scotland feature a Scottish evening with dinner and entertainment, all passengers staying in Edinburgh when the Tattoo is operating in August receive prime reserved seats for this exciting event. And in Ireland our tours include Irish cabaret dinner and show in Dublin and/or Medieval Banquet in Shannon. So check each itinerary to see what is covered. These features could add up to hundreds of dollars if purchased separately.
|
| Guaranteed Prices |
We guarantee that no increase in land costs will be charged to you, once you have paid the deposit for your tour. This is your protection against international currency fluctuations. When you have paid for your airfare in full, there will be no change in the cost of the ticket.
|
| Travel Protection Plan |
CIE Tours has put together a special travel protection plan to safeguard your vacation. The policy covers you if you have to cancel or change plans before departure and provides comprehensive protection against delays, illness and baggage loss while you are away. For 2005 our plan includes a great new trip cancellation waiver benefit, which means that you may cancel for reasons other than injury, sickness or death up until 3 days prior to departure and receive a full refund of the tour price paid with a combination of CIE Tours Travel Certificates and cash reimbursement. We strongly advise you to consider this coverage. Click on Travel Protection Plan for all the details.
|
| Travel Documents |
If you are a U.S. or Canadian citizen, you need to have a valid passport. Other nationalities should check with the British, Irish or Italian Embassy or Consulate. Passengers renting cars must carry a current driver's license, issued in their state or country of residence, without any endorsements and have a minimum driving experience of one year.
CIE Tours will supply the rest of the paperwork - airline tickets, tour vouchers, maps and information on your vacation. For coach tours we supply you with a convenient carry-on bag, luggage labels and strap. Use the labels and strap on your suitcase for easy identification throughout your vacation.
|
| Selection of Itineraries |
Touring by coach is a vacation with a capital "V"! CIE Tours International offers the widest range of itineraries throughout Ireland and Britain. Depending on your available time and budget, you can choose an ideal tour. All of our programs are carefully planned to permit you full enjoyment of your vacation.
|
| Your Tour Guides |
CIE Tours could not exist without our great tour guides! From the moment you set foot in Ireland or Britain, your tour director is there to welcome you, handle your luggage, drive and escort you from one place to another and give you a running commentary about your tour. With many years of training and experience, tour directors make history and culture come alive. Daily doses of humor, anecdotes, information, friendliness and assistance will ensure that you enjoy a superb vacation.
|
| Luxury Touring Coaches |
Sit back and relax in your comfortable seat while someone else does the driving! Travel in the height of style with CIE Tours. State-of-the-art coaches feature panoramic windows for optimum viewing of the countryside. Reclining seats, individual climate controls and public address system ensure your well being.
|
| Airport Transfers |
When you are a newcomer to a destination, it's great to have someone at the airport to meet you. We include group transfers on arrival and departure when you purchase air arrangements as well as a coach tour from us - however, times must be within the time frame specified on each itinerary. If you make your own air arrangements, we can offer you a complimentary transfer when your flight times correspond with our transfer times. If you extend your vacation so that you arrive or depart on a different date, you need to make your own transfer arrangements.
|
| Baggage Handling |
Once you meet your tour director, you don't have to handle your luggage! At every hotel your suitcase is delivered from the coach to your bedroom door and collected on departure. However, luggage is restricted to one suitcase and one piece of carry-on baggage per person.
|
| Your Hotels |
CIE Tours uses first class or superior first class properties on all tours, except for deluxe tours. First class hotels offer comfortable accommodations with many facilities including dining room, lounge and bar. Superior first class hotels feature the same amenities but to a higher standard and many have leisure facilities with swimming pools. We choose hotels so that you can benefit by being in a central location or scenic region. Throughout this brochure we name the hotels used on each tour.
|
| Live Like a Queen or King.... In a Castle! |
For a royal experience, choose one of our deluxe tours where you can stay in 5-star properties such as Dromoland and Ashford Castles, two of the premier hotels that Ireland has to offer. On other programs you can spend your last night in 4-star Kilkea or Cabra Castles. We visit Bunratty or Knappogue Castle for a medieval-style banquet on a number of tours and all of our itineraries visit plenty of castles throughout Ireland and Britain - so at least you can dream of what life must have been like as lord or lady in bygone days!
|
| Hotel Arrivals |
When you travel as a group you benefit from speedy check-in and check-out. On arrival your tour director will announce your room number and just pick up your room key from the front desk. On departure pay for your phone calls, drinks or other extras. Check-in time is usually after 1:00 pm so rooms may not be available before that time. As transatlantic flights usually arrive in Europe early in the morning, you may have to wait until check-in time to get your room.
|
| Meals |
Every morning breakfast is served in your hotel. London hotels provide a Continental breakfast, Italian hotels offer a cold buffet, and everywhere else, a full cooked breakfast is offered. A table d'hote dinner is a 4-course meal with 3 to 5 choices of appetizers, entrees and desserts followed by tea or coffee. Special requests for vegetarian or low fat meals should be made directly to the hotel on arrival. Lunch stops are at self-service restaurants so that you can choose what you like and save valuable time for sightseeing.
|
| Special Evenings |
All of our tours highlight a number of great evenings to enhance your vacation. These experiences enable you to sample local foods and enjoy special entertainment. You may have an opportunity to attend a medieval banquet in Shannonside, an Irish cabaret show in Dublin or a Scottish evening in Edinburgh. Experience a theater evening in London. And remember, these features are included in the cost of your tour.
|
| Sightseeing Visits |
Check each tour itinerary to see exactly which places you will be visiting. CIE Tours includes a variety of attractions on every tour for an interesting travel experience. Admission costs have been included in the tour price so that you don't have to waste time paying for each attraction.
|
| Add a London Stay or Combine Tours |
Many coach tours can be combined for a longer vacation or you can take an independent self drive vacation at the end of a coach tour. Some passengers choose to travel via London and can enjoy a London based stay at the conclusion of any coach tour. To see how this can be done follow our link to Irish Heritage & London Tour.
|
| Golf & Leisure Activities |
| Each itinerary offers a balanced sightseeing program with some free time for independent activities. When you are staying for two nights in any location on tour, you may prefer to take a day out to play a round of golf, go horse riding or simply relax in your hotel. There are plenty of leisure pursuits that can be arranged locally. |
