Britain & Ireland Discovery

The itinerary moves very fast and a moderate degree of fitness is required Not much chance to sleep in, be prepared to to have your suitcases out and for breakfast by 7a.m. Good quality hotels, the showers over the bath can present a challenge. The tour director is very organised and has a good knowledge of the areas. The Coach driver was very friendly and helpful. Itinerary had a lot of history as we expected, some local guides were also a treat. Castles were something different for us. Meals were a high standard and a good choice of food at the breakfasts. Some of the meals out were long distances to travel in the coach. Some of the optional tours were really good. The included evenings out were very good and some spectacular. Must be aware that the prepaid gratuities are only for the Tour director and the coach driver. so any local tour guides you will need cash for. You must make a choice for all the optional excursions very early into the tour so that they can be arranged. The ferries and loch rides created a good variance to the coach. The Orkney's were very interesting and also the Isle of Skye. all up a very interesting and enjoyable tour.

It moves very fast moving on most days. It is very good visiting a lot of places maybe not enough time to do your own thing, but this really depends on not doing all the optional tours (these are mainly meals) Do think the meal before the Tattoo should be included as no option so that the tour director can get you to the show on time. Would have liked to visit the cathedral at Wells. would like to stop in Queenstown where the Titanic museum is really great place and area,. rather than a long drive on an optional trip. Disappointed not to visit the Giant's Steps. unfortunately because of ferry schedules. Would like to include more of Northern Ireland. A very good coverage of Scotland. A good idea to get your fitness up as a lot of steps to climb narrow rock ones. Going to the Orkney's is really great, The Isle of Skye also. Three course meals at night are probably not necessary, but full breakfasts are really great. there could be some more interesting places and things in Wales. Do not think Stone Henge is necessary now that they have replica's all around the world. Maybe a stadium as most travellers are Australian or New Zealanders and they are sporting people, also of the land so like to see what cropping, and farming things are there, not just all history! Interested to see they cannot get rid of Gorse same as we can't . An advantage of a coach trip is that you can see over a lot of hedges, although the trees along the roads are getting very high now. You must be aware not many hotels have Air conditioning or windows that open very far. In most cases the shower is over the bath and you need to be agile enough to manage those. A very enjoyable itinerary.

Great tour and guide

Excellent itinerary it covered so much in the 22 days. You get to meet a great bunch of people, our Tour Director was a walking encyclopaedia and we knew we were in good hands with our driver at all times.

The itinerary is well thought out and covers most of the historic sites that you should see on a visit to the UK. Also plenty of free time so that you can visit sites not necessarily on the itinerary but worth visiting.

Too much driving and not enough time for exploring at stops. Maybe streamline some of the places visited to allow more free time. Less organised dinners because the food offered is very repetitive. Free time dinners to experience local pubs etc would allow more normal experiences instead of group feedings. Some experiences were outstanding like Military Tattoo, scenery in Scotland

Not all accommodation was 4-5 star and a lot of the food was repetitive and boring. I also thought there would be more personal time on the tour but due to so many destinations personal time was limited.

The optional extras are not always worth the cost. Some “optionals” should be included in the tour at no additional expense. Eg the coach tour of the Isle of Skye .. if that wasn’t done we would have seen nothing of Skye other than the hotel and nearby supermarket. Some options were removed by the tour director without consulting the customers. Dinner and entertainment options were overpriced and not selected by us.

Excellent itinerary that provides a taste of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Our tour director was superb and could not done any more to make our journey as fabulous as possible. Seeing the Edinburgh Tattoo was a highlight as was the Orkney Islands - simply stunning.

Itinerary was good but the accommodation advertised as 4/5 stars was not what we stayed in on tour and not very well located to the city centre. We chose Insight, thinking it was a higher end tour than your partner company Trafalgar but often found ourselves staying in the same hotels. The included dinners and optional dinners were well below standard. Some were inedible, which was very disappointing. This is the reason I would not recommend to family or friends. On a positive note our tour director was professional, knowledgeable, helpful and friendly.

This tour gives an excellent overview of Britain and Ireland. Some unique and personalized experiences

Traveling with Insight Vacations was a joy. We had an excellent coach driver and tour director

Varied itinerary. Lots to see. Good local guides. Many highlights. Fast pace and reasonable amount of walking. Some flights of steps. Excellent add ons

Amazing holiday packed with history and learning .it was an emotional uplifting experience that I will never forget

Covered many interesting places with a great tour guide but i think it would be nice to have a bit more time at some places. Disappointed we missed Orkney Islands due to weather.

Covered alot of history and alot of ground, much of which i did not know. I found that very interesting. I would like to see a bit more variety. We saw many many castles from ruins to those still in use, small, large and medieval but no stately homes. Im interested in pottery so a detour through Balastron (Stoke-on-Trent) or even Waterford would have been good. We did see Beleek briefly.

A wonderful way to see the UK. A heap of history Great way to see the country without the worry of driving in a busy new land

The itinerary is far too rushed. There is insufficient time for passengers to actually do anything other than get off the bus, get changed for dinner if there’s time, get back on the bus and drive again almost every night, for dinner. The TD organised all the dinners and they were NEVER in the city or town where we were staying. It was just ridiculous unless you didn’t do the optional dinners. The dinners were very ordinary with the exception of Bunratty Castle. Many of the hotels were too far out in a country area to allow us to do anything other than the group dinners. In Liverpool we arrived about 4pm, immediately had to go on an optional tour and had about 30 minutes to walk to the wharf area and then rush back for the dinner once again in the hotel when we could have had free time to go to a restaurant. We didn’t of course have to do all the optional activities but we never knew where we were going to be in relation to a city. In Cardiff, we didn’t even set eyes on the Main Street.. In Dublin, we didn’t even get to enjoy a visit to Temple Bar to hear some Irish music. We did get 4 hours free time one morning in Dublin and then had to get back on the bus to go on an optional Tor. I believe most passengers enjoyed the comradery on board the bus and a couple of the optional activities but were very disappointed that they spent so much time sitting on a bus driving from place to place and basically seeing nothing.. I believe the Orkney Islands should be taken off the itinerary or another couple of days added to allow more opportunity for free time to see something. Accommodation is very ordinary and the trip is Overall - disappointing.

More 2 day stays would be great.

The itinerary for this tour was very comprehensive. I especially enjoyed the optional activities. The Scottish Ceilidh, the Celtic Steps, the Three Rocks entertainment and the Spirit of Wales singers were all outstanding. Most of the optional dinners were fabulous, especially those with a personal flavour like the dinner at the Blue Boar, the Old Punch Bowl, the Skylark Pub and the Heskin Mill.

Itinerary included many interesting and scenic places but was too rushed with too much time on the coach and too many one night stays.

There were some long days which left little time to explore the daily destination. Reducing free time in the middle of the day could add extra st the destination.

Our driver() and tour director () were both very skilled in their roles, with patience, safety and courtesy uppermost in their dealings with the people on our tour. Our welfare was their concern. A busy itinerary but well paced, particularly in the second half of the tour.

We enjoy a wide variety of experiences and scenery. The two night stops were very welcome, to catch our breath and do some washing ! We would have liked a little more time in Cornwall. The only criticism I have is the confusion experienced on the morning of departure, with two similar Insight groups leaving within 15 minutes of each other.

The last stop in Cardiff was disapointing with low standard accomodation and the late advice of change on the actual day was poor.

Itinerary was action packed and when optional extras are added in it becomes a very busy itinerary with so much to see, do and experience. When I travel, I like to do as much as possible while I am there and this itinerary allowed me to do that.

The locations and attractions were superb. Some of the rural hotels need portable air conditioners for tours during the warmer months. Tour directors should be given authority to leave behind serial latecomers and enforce mask wearing for passengers with respiratory infections.

The room was arranged in a very bad location for 15 nights, next to the air conditioning vent, the parking lot or a loud place. The other friends were clearly in a better position It caused me to have poor sleep and made me sick for the last 7 days of the tour. I informed my agent in Thailand, Siam Express Travel Service, and discouraged them from promoting this tour to other customers.

Full on and can be quite tiring. Overall a good experience.

Don't expect 5 star accommodation but it fits with the location you are in. Lived the trip.

My wife and I both thoroughly enjoyed this tour and the itinerary was excellent with every place we visited full of great scenery. We enjoyed all of the optional excursions and evening events as they made the tour more exciting and memorable. The Tour Director Sarah Dunn was so organised, so full of information and stories and had a very friendly, polite manner that made the tour relaxed and very enjoyable.

It good we like and

very well worth the money great tour director who really knew his stuff

Great

Really good overview. The tour leader had so much knowledge that was delivered in a very gentle manner.

A very crowded and full itinerary but shown a great deal of the country. Excellent. I li

Very interesting places, sad to not get to Orkney Is because that was why we chose that tour, weather was too bad. I did not like having to visit the breweries as I don’t drink alcohol and those visits should be optional not included in the day activities.

Fantastic trip with care to detail

Found the dinners were almost the same every night. Meals far too big and when you receive 3 courses. Hotels were what we expected. Staff very professional everywhere we stayed. Incredible bus driver () Tour Director was amazing, well organised with so much knowledge. Made the trip memorable ()o

It was an interesting tour and covered many parts of the UK but unfortunately we were unable to get to the Orkney islands to see the Ring of Bognor and Skara Brae because of the bad weather. Other excursions and “treats” were given to us at various points to make up for the disappointment.

The trip we bought and the trip we did were unrecognisable. There were so many changes to the itinerary. Some admittedly were beyond insight control, but some were and not necessarily for the better. Considering the prices paid for extras, I can only say most were a rip off. If we ever do another Insight tour (and that is debatable) we probably would cut back on extras and pay for our own.

Some hotels are well below 4-5 stars. Get to hotels too late to explore the destination. Food options tend to be similar and bland.

I thought it was perfect. The one change I’d make is to do a tour of Sligo which would mean not going to Belleek Pottery. Sligo has some amazing history which I think is worthy of spending some time there.

It was a very comprehensive experience with extra regional touches throughout the tour. Nothing was really repeated with a variety of experiences and accommodation styles.

The tour covered an incredible amount of beautiful country. It had a great mix of free time (including evenings), and localised tours. Lots of optional tours to add on if we wished. All of these added to the experience; and a handful seemed like they were more ‘essential’ to the whole adventure rather than optional. Some days were long out of necessity to see so much.

Fantastic itinerary, with enough free time in various cities/towns to allow a bit of personal exploration, if desired. It's coverage was excellent, starting from London winding up to John O Grouts (then out to Ortney Islands), then west to magnificent Isle of Skye, then across the sea to Ireland, covering from Derry to Dublin with many cities/features in between. Then back thru Wales to Old Blighty. We were blessed with an excellent knowledgeable & friendly tour guide and excellent driver. Nightly outings immersed us with the locals, their culture & cuisine in each of the cities. By definition, it is a long tour! However is coverage makes this all worthwhile. The only improvement I would suggest to its itinerary would be if they could possibly squeeze in an extra 3-4 hours in Liverpool, after the overnight stay, to allow a bit more personal exploration.

There is a lot of time spent on the coach and not a great deal of time to explore without a guide. This is true of any tour like this which covers a great distance. Thankfully the coach was comfy and the driver was excellent.

Overall very good but not enough time in some places and too much in others. Disappointed with time in Skye all round - hotel 3 star and very small, tour too late in the day and didn't include enough. Missed out on Ring of Kerry coastline - one of the world’s most scenic journeys! Took the high road covered in cloud rather than lower roads. Not enough time in Liverpool. Glasgow a waste of time visiting. Loved York, Edinburgh, St Andrew’s, Loch Ness cruise, Orkney islands, Giants Causeway, Londonderry, Killarney town, Blarney Castle, Cobh harbour, Guinness Storehouse, Bath and Dartmoor National Park. Enjoyed the evening of Scot-Gaelic culture. Hotels well positioned but most standard quality, some 3-star - expected better with the price paid. Only a few were excellent. Tour director was amazing and the drivers lovely people.

Good tour and weather worked well for us. Drop off and pick up at marble arch. Very poor

Very comprehensive and informative historically without being too much and there was such variety. Saw more and offered more than was possible on an individual drive. Insight is fantastic having travelled with them over the past three decades!

Very comprehensive, but perhaps a little too much. On the go all the time and not enough to enjoy certain towns and too much time spent at others.

I thought it was a great itinerary covering a wide range of the country.

Too many castles. Stopped too long in some places, not long enough in others.

What I really liked about the Britain and Ireland Discovery is that we went to the Orkney Islands and the Isle of Skye. Our time in the bigger cities was limited however. I would have liked a bit more time to explore the cities

I have already completed survey on this trip… how many surveys do you expect people to complete.. A major rethink needs to happen in regard to gratuities & the way in which gratuities are requested.. The hard sell & guilt trip are unacceptable..They should be included at the beginning with complete &open transparency or not at all.. The tour director & drivers are already on a salary… If their salary is not enough then insight needs to pay them more.. we the customers have already paid a large sum of money for the trip.. The issue of gratuities & extra payments was a well discussed issue amongst co travellers..

Non stop entertainment & adventure. & were excellent.

An amazing experience. Tour guide, was great. Driver, was very skillful.

It was a fabulous trip! We covered a lot of miles but it's what you have to do when you want to cover so much territory in the time we had. Our guide and driver were excellent and the coach spacious. There were a few big days in the north of Scotland so an extra night maybe in Glasgow would have been nice. An extra day in Liverpool also would have been lovely.

Comprehensive, very well organised, rather busy , not relaxing!

Great trip spent with a wonderful team (tour Director and Coach Captain) and like minded individuals. Enjoyed all of the villages we stopped at and have a desire to return to the Highlands and Belfast that was not on this tour.

22 days gives you a 'taste' of lots of places throughout this tour of Great Britain & Ireland. A must do if time and funds are limited.

We covered a lot of the UK and Ireland. We would have liked more time in Bath and Glasgow. We thought it was a shame that the itinerary didn’t include Warwick Castle.

Too rushed. Not 5 star. Felt like a continual bus ride from toilet stop/souveniier stop to the next one. And the additional tours which we did all of, were not worth it. Felt more like a bus trip for a retirement village with attractions being pointed out the window. Very disappointed we chose this trip

Very disappointed tour advertised as better accommodation and food was found to be much less than previous tours with Trafalgar and Backroads

All over great tour. Saw places wouldn't have seen if not on an organised trip.

Excellent tour, but would like a few more hours free time in each place and maybe you should look at changing some if the two night stay over.

The itinerary was great due to seeing the highlands of Scotland/ Isle of Skye which a lot of other companies don’t visit. Another night in Liverpool would have been nice while I wouldn’t bother staying in Plymouth on the last night.

5 star hotels are different over in the UK

The itinery was so broad and appealed to many interests. We enjoyed learning so much about the history and culture of the places visited. The scenery was amazing throughout the tour. The accomodation was of a high standard as were the meals.

Great itinerary. Two days in Liverpool would be better as the city has so much to see including all the Beatles history.

It was excellent 👏 every bit of it . Thanks to the tour guide. He worked extremely hard to make sure that the tour went smoothly for us all. Thankyou .

A great journey. Just be aware that this is a 'taster' of Britain and Ireland. We visited so many beautiful sites and wished we had more time in each of them.

Good introductory tour to the UK.

Fantastic tour. Could not have wished for more in the time that we had.

If you are interested in seeing Scotland and Ireland, this is the trip for you, albeit at a reasonably hectic pace.

A really enjoyable tour of Great Britain and Ireland. I chose this trip because I wanted to visit all of these places, especially Scotland and Ireland and the fact that it was all organised and planned by someone else made it that even more appealing. Accommodation was varied depending on where we stayed but all were clean and very accommodating. The views and scenery from some were absolutely beautiful. Lastly, our tour director and coach driver made this trip even more special and really looked after us, they were amazing.

Lots of days on the bus but you wouldn't get to see so much any other way.

The tour is an overview of highlights of the UK and the Republic of Ireland. Due to the pace of the tour, there isn't the time to do justice to every place you visit. While a few hours / one night stay is sufficient for some places on the tour, it isn't always the case. I knew this beforehand so it wasn't really a problem. The most frustrating thing about the itinerary were the tours on the bus with a guide. For example, the Liverpool Beatles and Music Tour was pretty much a waste of time because it wasn't possible to see anything of significance. It's one thing for the guide to point things out she could see from the front windscreen that you have no hope of seeing from where you sit. By the time the tour was finished, most of the music related museums were closed for the day and we were leaving in the morning. I wonder why we bother with Dartmoor when visibility is 25 metres? On the other hand, the guided walking tours of Derry / Londonderry and Edinburgh were a highlight with exceptional places and tremendous guides.

We could not do a lot of the extra excursions due to non participation of the group. This was very disappointing, however, they were very overpriced for what we got. Insight would appear to be making a Significant profit on the cost of these extras. Too much time was spent on country towns and not enough on major attractions. For eg only a few hours free in Liverpool. It was was very rushed in many locations, and slow and boring in others.