Group Tours of Ireland

intimate minibus and guest houses or luxury bus and hotels

We can custom create a tour themed to the intent, interests, celebration or pilgrimage journey of your group. Size of group and how many days you wish to tour can be what you decide.

A good place to start for ideas is to check out our various itineraries under the “Our Journeys” heading on our navigation bar to the left of this page.

Then, inspired by places we visit on those itineraries you can suggest your own. Or, it may be that you would like to follow one of our published itineraries.

Through my own background and people I work closely with we can provide guidance and services with

• discovering and connecting to ancient sites
• ancient rituals and ceremonies
• traditional folk drama rituals
• fireside ceili traditions
• sacred well water traditions
• labyrinth rituals
• plants, herbs and trees in ritual, protection and healing 
• traditional set and circle dances
• straw crafts such as brigid’s crosses, love knots and costumes
• creative writing, journal writing and publishing
• harp music and traditions
• traditional fiddle, pipes, flutes and dance sessions
• storytelling
• wild food gathering and cooking

The theme of Celtic Ways is to connect with nature and harmoniously use its gifts, yields and resources in a balanced way that heals and protects us and the land around us simultaneously.

This can be done in a fun packed, joyous and harmless way through sharing traditions and truly having a restoring and rejuvinating vacation.

Add to all that, the spectacular hidden Ireland scenery we can take you too, much of it being where tour buses do not dare to go.

Pricing is customized based on what is available at the time and for the time you book

Minibus & Guest Houses Group Tour Rates:

Highly recommended for the best “off the tourist boardwalk” experience and best value for money.

Two motivations here.

First, minibuses can truly go where tour buses cannot go, plus with my guidance you’ll safely go where most self drive drivers do not dare to go as we do follow some dirt tracks and many very narrow country roads, many of which most modern sat-nav units still do not identify. I have lived most of my life beside and driving single track country roads and have, therefore, discovered many wonderful hidden and very sacred sites that they connect to, that you’ll rarely find in tour guide books.

Second, I like to support guest house house accommodation where I can. Lately, the Irish boom in hotel building for the huge expanding industry in weddings, parties, conferences, standardized bus tours, along with the networking of these hotels together, has stripped a lot of guest houses from their business.

Guest houses are generally between 30% to 70% lower in bed and breakfast costs than hotels. Locations, comforts, service and breakfasts are usually superior to many hotels too.

Very few of them provide dinner so we do end up paying around 50% more for dinner than with a hotel package, but this truly adds to your vacation experience. Use the savings from using guest houses rather than hotels to dine at superb Irish restaurants we recommend. Hotel restaurants usually have limited menus and do not provide the wonderful variety, quality and experience of Irish restuarants.

There is truly nothing like a good Irish restaurant experience to complete one of our adventure days, and these can be afforded when you follow our minibus and guest house group rates.   

How rates are calculated:

Here’s a average costing per day

• €60 per day for transport and Celtic Ways guide
• €45 per day per person sharing in the guest house
• €55 per evening meal per person per day
• admissions and events costs are included in the above
• together this totals approx €160 per day per person
• add €20 per person per day if I hire a driver
• add €20 per person per day single supplement

Let me explain these rates further …..

transport and Celtic Ways guide

I drive a 12 seater minibus as a longer minibus is not practical for the roads and turns we travel. I have also reduced this to 8 seats to alow space for luggage, bags, supplies etc. Therefore when a group is over 8 people we hire a second vehicle.

It can be an incredible advantage to your costing if one or more of your group drives or shares the driving.

The total cost of me, my minibus, my accommodation, my meals, renting a second vehicle and its fuel currently totals €480 a day, or €420 a day if your accommodation is within 50 km (31 miles) of where I live

If you kept to €60 per person for transport and Celtic Ways guide and booked 12 people your revenue will be €720 a day leaving you a profit of €240 a day, more than enough to pay for accommodation and meals for you the group leader and the driver. 

If your group did not supply a driver and I had to employ one this currently costs €240 a day for driver, including his or her accommodation and meals so you would have no profit. To cover your own accomodation and meal costs you would either sell 14 seats or, as I suggest add €20 a day to transport cost, ie. €80 euros per day per person instead of €60.

When leaders have special teaching skills I’ve had them increase to between €100 and €150 euros per person per day because of the value they create to a group tour.

guest house rates

I will only charge you rates quoted to me that I hope you’ll pass onto your group members too.

The general formula is that the earlier in advance you book the best best places at the best rates we can secure. 12 months advance booking can often secure wonderful guest houses for as little as €30 per person per night. With 3 months advance booking it starts getting tough and you may find rates in locations you seek are €50, €60 and even €70 per person per night, especially on Fridays and Saturdays in or near cities. For those who want single non-sharing rooms the supplement is usually €20 extra per night.

Also I suggest €5 tip per person per night. That’s included in the average costing above.      

evening meal rates

Several visitors are a little shocked at our restaurant prices in Ireland but once you experience the local food and quality of cooking and presentation in our wonderful restaurants it does not seem so bad. Also after a day in the country its a wonderful experience to freshen up, dress up a little and enjoy the evening out. Often we can combine this with traditional song, music and dance sessions.

€55 generally breaks down as €9 starter, €25 main course, €6 desert, €10 beverages, €5 tip 

pros and cons ……

cons

minibuses generally do not have the space and comfort of a luxury coach so this huddles a group closer together

guest houses generally do not like residents to hang about all day, prefering them to leave by 10:30 am and not return until about 5:00 pm, so its often not suitable if any group members wanting “time out” days at the hotel and grounds.

can rarely get discount dinner, bed and breakfast packages

often do not have own retreat/meeting rooms, though some also have good ones too

often have to split groups into 2 or more different guest houses in the same area.

pros

able to go to wonderful places where coach tours buses just cannot go

two vehicles can mean two choices of itineraries each day, which can be useful for those wanting slower or time out days

savings on accommodation costs allows budget to experience wonderful restaurants in the evening

if group supplies a driver or two, can cut down the vacation cost for others too

generally a lot more fun with more awesome experiences than by luxury coach travel despite being less comfortable 

small groups of 8 or less people ……

we would just use my own minibus with the same average costings as above but if the leader wants to have his or her own travel and accommodation paid for will need to add at least €20 per person per day on top of the the above rates to pay for this.

sample 8 day package pricing

8 days of transport, driver, guide, 
8 nights accommodation & breakfast, 
8 evening meals 
costs of activities,  
gratuities for accommodation and dining

€1300 approx per person sharing, if group supplies driver/s for second vehicle
single supplement €160
pricing subject to accommodation and dining costs, could go up or down
click here for converting to your currency
click here for extra airport transport, airfares and insurance costs

To Book or Inquire further:
please introduce yourself with the email utility at the end of this page and my response should help you to understand more of what I can do for you. 

Luxury Coach & Hotels Group Tour Rates:

This is for people who look for space and comfort for their tours.

For extra relaxation, convenience and ease on you budget we generally book dinner, bed and breakfast packages at hotels.

Most hotels will also include access to a meeting room for retreats and group gatherings.

We suggest staying in each hotel of the tour for at least two or three days to not only get the best rates but also enhance relaxation. We do find that along any tour some travellers like to have their own private “time out” days and it is rarely a problem with hotels if guests prefer to stay around the hotel for the day    

How rates are calculated:

Here’s a average costing per day

• €50 per day for transport and Celtic Ways guide
• €80 per day per person sharing in the hotel
• evening meal per person is included in the hotel rate
• €20 per day for site admissions and activities
• together this totals approx €150 per day per person
• add €25 per person per day single supplement

Let me explain these rates further …..

transport and Celtic Ways guide

To achieve this rate the group size needs to be 14 or more travellers.

There is a currently a flat rate of €700 per day for bus, bus fuel, driver, driver’s accommodation and meals and Celtic Ways guide for up to 14 people. Over 14 people, add €10 per person per day.

e.g. 20 people = €760 per day 

Split between 14 people this is €50 per day.  If a group leader books over 14 people he or she is in profit of €40 per person per day after 14 people are booked.

e.g. 20 people booked for 8 days each provides a group leader with about €1900 profit, and we can usually get at least 50% room and meal reduction for leaders of 20 people.

So around €1600 net profit could be earned by leaders of 20 people. 

hotel rates

Getting the best rates for groups in hotels is critically ruled by how far in advance groups are booked.

€80 per night for dinner, bed and breakfast at nice hotels is available if we can book 10 months in advance and with good advance booking we can find good €70 and even €60 a day package deals outside of late June, July and August.

By booking about 8 months in advance Friday and Saturday availability becomes scarce and these days can raise to about €100 per day though we can usually still find some good €80 per day deals and even the odd €70 a day deal.

By booking about 6 months in advance, hotels still available are about €90 per day with Friday and Saturday rates being up to €120 euros a day, and we can still find mid week €80 per day deals

By booking about 3 months in advance, anything left under €100 per day will probably be of quite a low standard.

I will only charge you rates quoted to me that I hope you’ll pass onto your group members too.

For those who want single non-sharing rooms the supplement is usually €20 extra per night.

Also I suggest €5 tip per person per night. That is included in the average costing above.      

evening meal rates

With hotel package deals we secure evening meals into the rates. This helps the tour budget, pricing and pacing considerably. Hotel meals tend to be traditional, fairly limited menus, but fresh and usually locally produced food. Menus usually include 4 main course choices, a red meat, poultry, fish and vegetarian.

Ireland does have wonderful top class restaurants independent of hotels and I highly recommend the experience, but this would increase the daily rate by about €30 to €40 per person. Often, we can combine a restaurant outing with traditional song, music and dance sessions.

Some group leaders suggest that our itineraries should include some “on your own” evening meals as a ruse to decrease the vacation package cost. In practice this does not work very well. Even when members of a group take a “time out” day away from a group they usually wish to rejoin the group for dinner. Whole group dinners are usually priced much better than individual dinners too.  

pros and cons ……

cons

luxury buses cannot get to many of the sites and destinations that we can visit by minibus, though for an extra €100 per day per group we can include minibus shuttle to the sites tour buses cannot get to.

hotel meals, included in the package, are not as adventurous as going to the wonderful independent Irish restaurants though they are almost always prepared from local meats and produce.

though hotels are more spacious than guest houses personal service and comforts may often be less

pros

coach touring is more comfortable than minibus travel

for those who want “time out days” hotels have no problem with guests staying around the hotel

most hotels provide spaces that are exclusive for groups to collectively meet for retreat and getherings 

small groups of under 14 travellers ……

as the luxury coach has a minimum basic rate the travel cost per person raises accordingly, e.g a 10 person group would need to pay €70 a day per person for luxury coach transport, driver and Celtic Ways guide.

sample 8 day package pricing,

8 days of transport, driver, guide, 
8 nights accommodation & breakfast, 
8 evening meals 
costs of activities,  
gratuities for accommodation and dining

€1300 approx per person sharing, if group is 14 or more travellers
€1500 approx per person sharing if group is between 9 to 13 travellers
single supplement €200
pricing subject to accommodation and dining costs, could go up or down
click here for converting to your currency
click here for extra airport transport, airfares and insurance costs

To Book or Inquire further:
please introduce yourself with the email utility at the end of this page and my response should help you to understand more of what I can do for you.