Paddywagon Tours Reviews 98

A group of 17, comprising myself and 16 Au pair students, booked a jam-packed 2-day Wild Atlantic Way tour to Dingle town and peninsula from Dublin. As it was a private tour, we had the great fortune to be spoiled with a wonderful, charming and engaging driver and guide, Stevie, and felt very looked after and a huge welcome support to me, as the person responsible for my group. So, it was great to have Stevie happy to chat with us at the front of the bus, as well as take our wide variety of musical requests on his Spotify jam. Some of the phone chargers weren't working on the bus, but Stevie provided a fully charged large power bank to help us. Nice touch.
Stevie kept us informed along the way of the many sites and before our stops. The spectacular scenery of the Dingle peninsula and Slea Head drive, overlooking the glorious Blaskets and the dramatically beautiful Cliffs of Moher blew us away, whilst the unique Irish towns of Dingle (fabulous) and Killarney speak for themselves.
To sum up, if you want a private tour with a small group, in a short time, this is the way to go. Our only regret was not being able to stay another day/night, due to our personal schedules.
But with this private tour experience, our driver Stevie was the icing on the cake.

A group of 17, comprising myself and 16 Au pair students, booked a jam-packed 2-day Wild Atlantic Way tour to Dingle town and peninsula from Dublin. As it was a private tour, we had the great fortune to be spoiled with a wonderful, charming and engaging driver and guide, Stevie, and felt very looked after and a huge welcome support to me, as the person responsible for my group. So, it was great to have Stevie happy to chat with us at the front of the bus, as well as take our wide variety of musical requests on his Spotify jam. Some of the phone chargers weren't working on the bus, but Stevie provided a fully charged large power bank to help us. Nice touch.
Stevie kept us informed along the way of the many sites and before our stops. The spectacular scenery of the Dingle peninsula and Slea Head drive, overlooking the glorious Blaskets and the dramatically beautiful Cliffs of Moher blew us away, whilst the unique Irish towns of Dingle (fabulous) and Killarney speak for themselves.
To sum up, if you want a private tour with a small group, in a short time, this is the way to go. Our only regret was not being able to stay another day/night, due to our personal schedules.
But with this private tour experience, our driver Stevie was the icing on the cake.

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to express my deep dissatisfaction with the tour we booked for Saturday, December 7th, which included visits to Dunluce Castle, the Giant’s Causeway, and Belfast. Unfortunately, the experience was extremely disappointing due to several issues, which I will outline below:

1. Unprofessional behavior of the driver: From the very start, the driver was impolite, repeatedly telling passengers to "shut up," even though no one was talking or interrupting him. This created an uncomfortable and unpleasant atmosphere for everyone on board.

2. Cancellation of Dunluce Castle: We were informed as early as 8 a.m. that the visit to Dunluce Castle had been canceled. However, no alternative solution was offered, either by the driver or by your company, despite the driver being in contact with Paddywagon Tours.

3. Dangerous weather conditions: While I understand that the weather is beyond your control, the extreme wind that day made the tour unsafe and unenjoyable. For example:

First stop: Due to the monstrous wind, we only spent 20 minutes struggling to walk through the area, and no one was able to enjoy the visit.

The Giant’s Causeway: A serious incident occurred when a woman fell and injured her head, causing her to bleed. Despite the unsafe conditions, the driver left us there for 90 minutes. It was nearly impossible to walk or take in the site properly. I was surprised we were even allowed to leave the bus under such circumstances.

4. Lunch arrangements: We were forced to pre-order meals in the morning, with the cheapest options starting at €14. Those of us who had brought our own food were not allowed to enter the restaurant and had to remain outside in the cold and wind. The driver also refused to let us stay on the bus, which was particularly frustrating. Additionally, considering we were ahead of schedule, lunch in Belfast would have been a much more suitable and enjoyable option.

5. Inadequate time in Belfast: We were only given 1 hour to visit Belfast, which was far too short. Given the cancellation of Dunluce Castle and the rushed first stop, we could have spent more time exploring the city. Instead, we returned to Dublin at 6 p.m., despite the itinerary stating that we would return around 8 p.m.

6. Lack of comfort on the return journey: There was no restroom stop on the way back, which caused further discomfort for the passengers.

Given the numerous issues encountered during this tour, including safety concerns, poor planning, and the lack of professionalism, I kindly request a full refund for this excursion. I trust you will consider this matter with the seriousness it deserves and look forward to a prompt response.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,
Morgane

Did a tour of Giants Causeway and a black taxi tour, and it was great. We did the small group tour with Patrick and he’s fantastic! He made it a 5 star experience.

We took a 2 days tour to Connemara, Galway and Cliffs of Moher and were disappointed about several things:
1) Give advice when and where to have meals. This was not clear
2) We were not always given enough time to visit, especially for elderly people who walk slowly...
3) The last visit was totally pointless: the castle closed at 4.00 pm and all we got was a long walk in the rain to arrive at a closed gate and back in the rain.
4) We were told the pick up and drop off place would be the same so we booked a hotel near by that point. But instead we were dropped off, in the dark and in the pouring rain at a place far from that point...
For this contract breach we demand a refund!
5) By disembarking the bus remained unlighted and I could not see a small purse with iPhone charger and adaptor that remained in the net of the seat in front.
6) The drivers were fine! We especially enjoyed Stephen's wit and jollyness

Stay away ! Bus broke down, we waited for mechanic to fix it, broke down again and so they took us back to the ship without seeing anything! They told everyone they will reimbursed just to keep us quiet and a week later they emails saying no sorry we won’t. Spent over 200 eur to stay in a broken bus without seeing anything. Shame on them !!

Was just on a tour from Cork to Cliffs of Moher yesterday. The driver, Brian, acted more like a prison guard than a tour guide. He shushed passengers for talking quietly, went over his bus rules at every stop, was rude to passengers, and bragged about how many times he lad left behind passengers if they were a minute late. He barely told us about any of the sites and said nothing in between. He was also a terrible driver; ran red lights and backed into something at one point. I think it was another bus. He said he had been working for Paddywagon for 10 years so they must not care.
The tour itself drove past most sites that they advertised. We stopped 1 time for restrooms for which we had 9 minutes for a full sized bus. We stopped at the cliffs. We had 40 minutes for lunch at a cafe where another full sized bus was just arriving as well, we stopped at some other place for 20 minutes, and that was it for all day. There was too little time at every single stop. We heard other tour buses arriving at the same time we did and their guides were giving them 20 to 30 minutes longer than we had.
It was a nightmare and I will never book anything with this company again.

Michael was a great guide!! The driver was super!!!
Great company👍
Jan

I booked a tour to Galway and the Cliffs of Mohr from Dublin. It was a 2 day tour with an overnight. I expected a small group on a small van staying at the hotel together. Instead, when I showed up, they said I booked a tour to Cork and the Cliffs of Mohr. That would be impossible because I've been to Cork before and had no desire to spend such a large amount of money to go to a place I didn't find that interesting. Somehow a switch took place and I was left holding the bag. I wasn't going to do something that I didn't choose. I was expected to get on an 80 seater bus for both days of tours and to be left on my own in Cork at some hotel. It was all considered my fault. But I know the truth, because I would never have even looked at a tour to Cork. Lost a pile of money. Tour companies just don't care about the customer anymore.

Purchased tickets for the small bus tour to the Cliff of Moher for August 26, 2024. When we arrived the small bus was out of service and therefore had to take the regular bus tour. The cost of the small bus tour was $129.00 and the regular tour was $75.00. The difference is $54.00 for 6 people and our refund should be $324.00. I have sent 2 emails and of course Paddywagon Tours has not responded. So be mindful that Paddywagon Tours are dishonest, sketchy at best and not a good value for your money in that they can't issue a refund when it was clearly an issue with their company. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY.

Did the Ring of Kerry tour yesterday from Cork. Booked in person at their
office. Price on brochure was 49 Euro but was charged 59 Euro by two. I wonder when the price changed? Arrive at meeting point only to find that our names weren’t on the list. Back to office, who told the guide to let us on. The bus was ten years old and didn’t have the advertised 4g WiFi or air conditioning. The guide was like an overbearing school teacher. Apart from that, the places visited were excellent and we had a good time.

I’ve done the Northern Ireland tour, to the Giant’s Causeway. The reason why I’m giving a 3 stars review it’s not because of the guide or the beautiful places we saw. But about the company itself, all explained below.
At first I was a little bit disappointed by not having a local irish guide, being a tour guide myself in my birth city in Portugal. It happened to have a portuguese guide in this tour, and while you’re traveling, and paying a lot for this experience, having a guide from my own country, made like half of the experience to go away.
He was a great guide and storyteller, giving a lot of historical information, and some personal hints about his life in Ireland. But he was also driving a big bus for at least 12h, almost 600km and talking while driving, being able to rest in our stops inside the bus. I found this very abusive, as it should be at least two people driving and guiding. Also some food or local tasting should be provided by free, as we needed to pay for our lunch.
This company was recommended by a former client I had in a tour, but would not use it again.

Aaron our driver was great! Very interactive and allowed us enough time at Blarney Castle! Commentary and Music made the day better!

The 'tour' began in Cork City where we were lead onto a black rental bus which was not very comfortable, instead of the expected green Paddywagon bus, and informed they were short tour guides so one would meet us in Limerick.

The driver of this rental bus had never done this route before.

When we arrived in Limerick a 'tour guide' got on the bus after his smoke and read what felt like a lecture off a piece of paper, this was the only thing he said until we arrived at the Cliffs.

Once we arrived we were not given enough time to explore the area, instead were shuttled to a cafeteria style 'restaurant' for 45 minutes, clearly Paddywagon is getting a kickback commission for this and there is no alternatives at this location.

Next we stopped at Bunratty castle for 45 minutes, we asked can we go look at the castle or grounds, the tour guide said no we don't have enough time it would take 90 minutes, and we should go have a pint.

When we asked how much the entrance fee for the castle was the 'tour guide' said he didn't know.

There was several food outlets at Bunratty castle, we could have spent 90 minutes here and everyone on the tour could have decided if they wanted to see the castle or eat, but no - commission seemed more important then a good experience.

Next we arrived at Limerick where the 'tour guide' departed, on the way back to Cork City the bus driver got lost several times and missed his exit, leading us down a narrow country road unsuitable for heavy vehicles causing us to arrive back in Cork 15-20 minutes late.

Most of the 'tour' is just sat in silence on a bus, you might as well take public transport to visit these places and leave at a time that suits you.

Booked half day tour to Glendalough & Wicklow mountains. Our driver André and tour guide Michael were fantastic, funny, informative and genuinely great together. The 2 lochs absolutely stunning. A great half day out well worth it!
Thank you so much Michael & André 🌟🌟🌟🌟

This is surely the worst “tour” I’ve ever been on. It was nowhere near what was described on your website. We originally booked through PaddyWagon Tours but it was fulfilled by Luxury Irish Tours. Shame on you PaddyWagon.
See comments below:

1. The information states we would be taken in style by a van with no more than 25 passengers. There were 8 of us stuffed into a taxi which smelled like smoke. The only air circulation was from windows. But when they were open they blew in the face of the passengers in the last seat. I personally don’t consider this being “taken in style”. Do you?
2. We were supposed to enjoy a panoramic view of Cork while our guide points out highlights. We did not have a tour guide. After we were driving for 20 minutes or so I finally asked where we were. Not at any time prior to that did he speak about anything we were passing. At that point I knew something was up. When we stopped I asked about this. Our driver admittedly stated he was not a guide and would try the best he can. He was called the night before to take us. He pointed out nothing stated in your description of the tour. Even if he would have said anything those of us stuck in the back couldn’t hear him.
3. We were dropped off in Cork for a few minutes, but really had no understanding as to why. We didn’t have time for lunch. He dropped us off in front of Carrolls gift shop.

I want a refund for this tour. You should have contacted us the day before saying you don’t have a driver. We could have chosen to go, but the company decided to stick us in a taxi with someone who has no knowledge of history or interesting points. Or maybe we could have been added to another tour? But no - we sat uncomfortably for hours. It’s really despicable.

Pretty terrible really! You are taken to a "restaurant" which is actually a community centre where you have a limited choice of overcooked, expensive food. A large detour passing through a small town which means an hour in traffic jams. Cliffs of Mother are of course marvellous, but do yourself a favour and hire a car and do it yourself!

I had a terrible experience choosing this provider for a daily tour to Blarney Castle/Cork.
The tour guide Sean was a totally incompetent, on the bus he was not giving useful information but just talking about his personal life story. When we arrived in Cashel Rock he just let the group by the entrance and disappear, without giving an explanation about what the site we were visiting! Moreover he gave us appointment by the bus at 11:45 but the bus was leaving at 11:25 and I had to arrange me for a way to come back to Dublin! Thanks to a council employee and the women at the info point that helped me, that also told that Paddywagon Tours gave a lot of problems and often let tourists on the street!

This review is a beware of Paddywagon tours. I booked 15 tickets with them and had to cancel two tickets due to illness 2 months before the tour. They said they would issue a refund no problem. We are going on 3 months and no refund. I have emailed and called several times and been told they are having problems with their credit card company. Things happen and cancellation can occur due to illness or weather. If a company will not honor their cancellation policy BEWARE!!!

We were nervous about choosing PaddyWagon after reading the bad reviews here on trustpilot. After the trip from Dublin to the Cliffs of Moher, we have only good experiences. The driver Edaurdo was helpful,witty and a good story teller. We can only warmly recommend this company.