I can't say enough wonderful things about this company! They have planned two trips to Ireland and one trip to Scotland for us. All of which have been amazing! We did the rent a car and drive ourselves trips, but they take care of everything! You will have your trip vouchers before leaving and they are always available if any problems along the way. They have planned outstanding trips for us and I will continue to use them. I'm sorry, but John B could not be more WRONG! read more

Booked with one travel agent and she verbally told me how important the travel insurance was and highly recommend it. Fast forward and that travel agent was let go due to the virus and I was given another agent to work with. At $509 it was expensive, but so was our trip to Ireland. Fast forward to Covid-19 and everything being shut down/cancelled and we reluctantly decided to cancel our trip. The insurance is a waste! We still had to pay a 20% cancellation fee plus lost the insurance. The insurance was marketed to protect us for any unforeseen emergencies to ensure we would get our money back. Find another travel company locally that you can walk into and build a relationship with. read more

Our trip planning has extended over 3 years due to Covid cancellations. During that entire time any question/problem I had that required a response needed a followup phone call or email from me, often several. I leave for my trip in 3 days and haven't received the trip booklet. Lonna, our travel agent, was aware of our schedule- this is not a one-time experience. If you can't contact your agent at their phone number you likely will not get through to their office unless you have an extension number. I have very little confidence that our trip itinerary will go smoothly read more

I don't even know where to begin how to describe our phenomenal experience in Ireland, thanks to Authentic Ireland. From the very beginning, we received prompt and friendly service from our agent, Emma. It's been a life long dream of mine to visit the Emerald Isle and thanks to Emma, it was a dream come true. Every detail was seen to, including a description of the customary tipping, what to expect, where we needed a car etc. I am BEYOND impressed with the flawless attention to detail and planning that must have been involved behind the scenes. Every accommodation was unique and each was better than the last. I I enjoyed EVERY moment. The people were the most kind, honest and helpful staff of anywhere in the world I've traveled as of yet. If you are considering a trip to Ireland, do it! And use authenticireland.com. You will not be disappointed. Thank you, Emma. You helped us to create the experience of a lifetime. I can't wait to come back! Erin go bragh! read more

Authentic Vacations - The Cliffs of Moher - Travel Agents Near Me - Scottsdale, Arizona

Based on reviews I contacted this company a week ago. Michelle promised me a quote a week ago. Nothing. Recontacted 4 days ago, Kelly said she would leave a message. Nothing. Enough said read more

If I can give them more than 5 stars, I would. What an excellent company. After doing some thorough research and comparing pricing, Authentic Ireland was our best choice for our honeymoon. Everything was done through email, Lauren answered all my questions within the day. After everything was explained thoroughly we booked our trip. A month before our honeymoon, we received all our vouchers and itinerary. It was such a stress reliever, I didn't do anything except tell her how long our trip would be and what we would be interested in seeing. We went in November for 11 days 10 nights and what an amazing trip it was. Lauren must have told the hotels that we were in our honeymoon because we were upgraded to suites, some of the hotels even delivered us sweet treats and champagne. The only issue we had was with Hertz after we got back from our honeymoon (over charge), but once I contacted Lauren, within a few days the issue was resolved. Ireland is a beautiful country and I'm so glad I chose Authentic Ireland to help us explore it. read more

Authentic Vacations - Travel Agents Near Me - Scottsdale, Arizona

I was in contact with Alaina about a 14 day escorted trip to Ireland. She simply stopped responding so I ended up booking the trip through another company. Wish I hadn't wasted the time :( read more

GO ELSEWHERE...ANYWHERE EXCEPT TO AUTHENTIC IRELAND TOURS!!! They are TOTALLY DISORGANIZED, they never follow through and make up stories!!!! I honestly do not know how John Waldron remains in business with the customer service he delivers. We are a family of ELEVEN, making arrangements to travel to Ireland for 11-12 days the end of July this year. When first calling, I reached the office in Ireland and spoke with Emma, the manager. She took down all of our information and PROMISED to have an itinerary to me by the end of the day!!! It was never received. I called the next day (Friday), and was told she was not in, however, would be working the weekend and would have the itinerary to me on Saturday. Monday came with no correspondence. I called on Monday and California picked up the phone. Michaela (manager) answered and spoke so fast and over me, I was unable to speak. I kept asking her to please allow me to speak...and SHE WOULD NEVER STOP SPEAKING...it was obnoxious and so totally unprofessional. In the interim, I received a message from their office in California (Maggie), stating the itinerary would be sent on Friday or the weekend. It was never received. I called Maggie today in California and was advised that Emma handed the info to her b/c Emma was unable to perform the task...and Emma is the MANAGER!!! I had spent approximately 20 minutes on the phone with Emma when i spoke with her and was so delighted at the end of the conversation. LITTLE DID I KNOW OF THEIR TOTAL INCOMPETENCE!!!! Upon calling and speaking with Maggie today, she wanted to know everything I had told Emma!!! I asked her how she had intended to send me a quote, IF she did not have all the information. She had no reply. PLEASE...STAY AWAY FROM AUTHENTIC IRELAND TOURS, AUTHENTIC TOURS...OR WHATEVER OTHER NAMES THEY CALL THEMSELVES!!!! THEY ARE BAD NEWS!!!!! read more

My parents stated that they would like to go to Ireland. Given the fact that they are a bit older now and they have never been to Ireland or really out of the country very much, I was adamant about wanting to go along to help/watch/organize/protect/whatever. Plus, Ireland! Usually I would just take a train or something around and I usually just like cities, but I knew we wanted to see all the countryside and they aren't going to want to do trains. In order to have this organized and avoid being on a huge tour bus full of other Americans and whatnot, I decided to look into private chauffeur tours. I evaluated three different ones and settled on Authentic Ireland. Before the trip they were very responsive with me and changed the itinerary as many times as I wanted to get it perfect for what we wanted to see. They scheduled the pickup from the airport, the hotels for the entire 10 days, and the driver to the airport. That, of course, along with your private chauffeur for the touring...we had the driver for 8 of the 10 days as Dublin is totally doable without having a driver. The hotels were a mix of modern hotels, B&Bs, and even a castle. They even responded immediately when I had a freakout learning about a bankruptcy last year. However, this company was bought by another company and are still operating it under this name. The car was a minivan type thing with plenty of room for our 3 big bags, 3 small bags, and 3 people to ride in comfort and look out the huge windows. Our chauffeur was named Lolo and she was awesome. She knew good spots that weren't even listed on the sheets we were sent, she suggested pubs and restaurants, and she definitely was fun to joke around with the entire time. Also I was impressed with how patiently she drove through very skinny roads by huge tour busses and crazy tourists that are just learning to drive on the "wrong" side of the road. I need to take a lesson, but alas, 1 day back and I've already honked at someone. Oh well. She was well versed on Irish history as they have to take a test before they can work as a guide. And yes, she was Irish, from the Dublin area. All of the hotels were well within the 3 and 4 star designations although each had their quirks. I did find that I am NOT a big fan of B&Bs but that is not their fault. They took the voucher from you and it was all already taken care of and paid for. We had 2 rooms at each hotel and even when a couple of places didn't have us down for 2 rooms they called the company and then things were ok. The tour itself definitely covered all the spots we wanted to see and our chauffeur suggested others and even skipping some things that were overrated (Blarney Stone...like I need to gab any more than I already do...). One of the locations we stayed I probably could have done without and stayed in Galway instead, but that isn't their fault...I didn't know I wouldn't like a B&B very much and that the town was verrrry small and full of Americans, Germans, Dutch, anyone except Irish people pretty much....heh. We covered from Dublin south and across the coast, up the west coast to Galway, then across to County Meath and Trim for the night before our departure out of Dublin. Castles, houses, Waterford Crystal, Ring of Kerry, Cliffs of Moher, pubs, adorable little cities, big shopping streets in Galway, Newgrange, even a perfumery, etc. We saw a TON of stuff and I definitely have a great grasp of the lay of the land of at least the West/South part of Ireland. And since this was my second trip to Dublin I feel like I really know that city well now. At the end of the day she dropped us off at the hotel and we set out on our own to walk around the town. If you are looking for a private tour with a few of your friends and don't want to deal with looking for hotels and driving on the left, then this company does a good job. Minor glitches may occur but they are easily rectified. And having the driver allows you to sit back and admire the fantastic scenery and not worry about getting lost or anything other than enjoying yourself. HIGHLY recommended. read more

I also had a bad experience with Maggie. After one phone conversation, I sent a detailed email outlining our plans, and then...nothing. No email acknowledgement or reply. Over the next week I left two phone messages that were neither returned nor acknowledged. You can't blame this on the Santa Rosa fire; it is just incompetent and rude. read more

We are near the end of an authentic Ireland tour. Everything has been perfect. Very attentive to details including train tickets, hotel pickups and airport club passes. Lovely hotels and Ireland is beautiful this time of year. You should stay at the Ashford Castle. My word! read more

Wow! A good wow! My greatest concern in booking a vacation with a company is what I read about people who try and change their arrangements once they are made, and the horrible experiences connected with that. Well, in booking with Authentic Ireland, with Lainie as our agent, I had to change the plane not once, but twice and the dates once. She accommodated every time! Yes, of course the airlines charged a fee for the change, but airlines do that. Our car rental, every hotel room, event reservations, everyone of them was done for us and only required that we walk up to a desk and give our names. My husband, adult daughter and I traveled from Dublin to Kinsale to Dingle to Cong and back to Dublin. Everything worked like clockwork. Every hotel was high end! Lainie answered my multiple inquires in the weeks before. Yes sometimes I had to wait a day or two (not usually) but she does get time off in the week. I have been to Ireland four times, using a different company the first three times, but since they could not get me into Ashford Castle, I tried Authentic Vacations and am so glad I did! I would use them again in a minute and refer any friends travelling to Ireland to use them. read more

Used them a couple of years ago and had a major health emergency...I called the lovely ladies at Authentic Ireland and they were nothing but helpful and fantastic! When I travel again to Ireland or Scotland I will definitely be using them. They have superior customer service and are very fantastic people!! Did I mention it was the trip of my dreams... read more

I cannot say enough great things about the company. They did such a great job for us with our trip. We did the Ireland and Scotland sampler and it was amazing. The suggested and enroute sightseeing was PERFECT and every single thing was great! David Rhys-Jones was great to work with and very helpful, if I go back to Ireland, I would definitely book through Authentic Ireland and with David again. :) It is an incredible value for what we got for the money and was so much more than we expected read more

Poor customer service all around. I phoned here to get a quote for a tour beginning in Dublin and ending in Belfast visiting B & B's for two weeks. The lady I spoke with was unprofessional, irresponsible, and unreliable. Its as though she had never been there and stumbled through the entire process giving me one price then adding things I did not want. I looked up the B & B's she quoted me and their prices were considerably higher. Very disappointing as some of the reviews here gave this company five stars. I just didn't see it. Authentic Ireland receives only one star for being unable to delver a good and fair product. read more

My wife and I were planning a trip to Ireland and we decided to phone this company. My wife was not born in the United States and has an accent. She spoke with a representative there who claimed she could not understand my wife and told her she would email her or phone her back when she had more time. More time? We couldn't believe this woman told her that. Moreover, we never received a phone call back not even one email, how rude. This company is unprofessional, irresponsible, and unreliable. I can't believe they would treat someone like this. Don't bother working with this company since they won't deal with people who are Not like them. Plan the trip yourself like we ended up doing. Many of the prices for the accommodations they offer are double than what we found doing the research ourselves. read more

Contacted them in hopes of planning a honeymoon to Scotland. Heard back from Maggie shortly after we filled out information on the website requesting a little more information. We responded promptly excited to hopefully get a honeymoon in the books. Weeks have passed and I've followed up twice with no further responses from Maggie or anyone else at the company. They just lost our business. read more

Contacted Authentic Ireland a year before my planned 50th birthday and Con was great to respond with back and forth, just to get an idea on what I wanted to do. When it was time we went ahead and booked it with him, knowing nothing about Ireland , even after reading as much as we could. We booked a self drive tour for the northern part of Ireland for 10 days. The trip in was flawless and the Brooks hotel was great. The tour they book was for 9:00am the next morning was a bit too early after some jet lag. (Suggestion: DO NOT BOOK ANY TOURS UNTIL YOU GET THERE) you can book them easy in Dublin, and don't have to worry about missing a time or tour!!! Con did book us a Food Folklore and Fairy dinner at the Brazen Head which was AWESOME! Next on to getting the car, yikes. Make sure you know if you put two people on the car there is an up charge! Make sure you inspect the car, and elect to do your own gas. They tell you it is cheaper if you pre pay but that is not true! Also bring a real map, don't only rely on the Navigation. We went driving up north , without incident, my hubby's a pro, and got to the first hotel, no issues. The next hotel was a B&B, not impressed and it was very noisy room, 4 flights of stairs, etc. The rest of the hotels were awesome! Con did an outstanding job, but once again, a lot of pre booked tours, so wait and do them yourself. Especially the hotel , Ballynahinch Castle !!! Awesome please stay if you can!!!! Recommendation drive to only drive no more than 2 hours a day, the stress of the left hand drive and VERY small roads will tire you out. All in all Authentic Ireland was good , if you haven't been to the country BUT I would not pre book any tours, do them on your own. Also we are going back and doing the south part of the Island, and I booked all out hotels myself, no issue, and saved some $$$. read more

would not recommend. hidden fees in the hundreds when canceling in cancel window. not responsive takes multiple attempts to get anyone to respond. they change their agreements without warning. would definitely avoid at all cost. do yourself a favor and avoid this scam. read more

Please read Melody's review. It sounds very similar to our experience. Their website says that they will customize any trip so I had them do so. I ended up doing all of the legwork. Picking the hotels, tours, etc. Their follow through was poor and their communication was worse. I had them reserve a rental car for me. When I got to the Hertz counter the agent showed me the car that was reserved. It was so small we couldn't get two average size bags along with the two of us in the car. Think smart car. it cost me an extra $125 to get a car that would fit the bags. It wasn't a good way to start the trip. Authentic Ireland also booked three rounds of golf for us. A week before the trip Authentic Ireland called us and told us that Ashford Castle's golf course was closed. Since we couldn't play Ashford I had them book another course for us to play. When we got to Ashford Castle we found out that they had set up FREE golf at a local course for everyone who stayed there. So we decided to play the local course for free. When I called to cancel the other golf reservation I was told that it was non-refundable. Authentic Ireland never informed me that ahead of time. The golf course charged $320 to my credit card. They probably should have known that Ashford was providing free golf. Aren't they supposed to be the experts. They definitely should have told me that the golf course reservation was non-refundable. I would never use Authentic Ireland again and you shouldn't either. read more

I unfortunately just used them for a trip in late September 2012 and I was highly unsatisfied and underwhelmed by their "customer service", or lack thereof. They were super nice when planning the trip, but I found out the hard way that they are somewhat disorganized, inconsistent and naive. They botched the car rental badly, leaving us without a GPS, which is absolutely essential when doing a driving tour of Ireland. They chose Thrifty Car Rental, the worst car rental I've ever known! They made unauthorized charges to our card, held an unnecessary amount for 6 days, the whole car thing was a nightmare that lasted til over a month after our return. Two of our accommodations were magnificent, Adare Manor and Ashford castle which I picked out myself but the other two they picked, Fairview boutique hotel in Killarney and Pembroke townhouse in Dublin were total duds and not up to par for the Irish "elegance" tour we booked and the money we paid. I think they try and save money by booking some great places and some cheap places, playing middle man to get paid by me and the businesses they book. Overall, I absolutely loved Ireland and will absolutely return, but I ran into some really condescending attitude from authentic ireland once I paid and needed help when I was there. I don't recommend Authentic Ireland, especially now that I see how much better I could've done and how much hassle they caused during and after the trip that could have been easily handled and even prevented with some much needed respect, understanding, proactive help vs (passive aggressive emails) and true hospitality on their part. Their itinerary was unrealistic and involved way too much unnecessary driving, which was compounded by the fact that they didnt provide GPS. Do it yourself and save time and money, it's not worth putting your faith in these people thinking you have some assurances against common travel pitfalls when the reality is, they don't care what happens once you've prepaid for their trip and you're on your own. Thanks to my own resourcefulness, and the kindness of the locals we met, I was able to assuage some of the fallout of their failures so that my trip wasn't ruined. It's too bad, for if they had even tried to be nice and offered to resolve issues competently as they arose, I wouldn't be so harsh on them, but they preferred blaming me, the customer, instead of taking responsibility as the booking agent and their attitude and customer service needs much improvement, especially the one called Aisling. read more

My rep was misleading to me and assured me cancellation was possible with no penalty. I just tried to cancel a trip that is 6 months away and they are keeping 20%! They are liars and thieves. DO NOT USE. Stay away! read more

I emailed some information to Authentic Ireland requesting a quote for 5 people for a 2 week vacation, I received a response right away from Maggie-letting me know she would be working on my quote and have something to me soon. I waited for a quote for 2 weeks and nothing came through. I then called to find out what was happening with my quote - I was assured by another agent Lonna that the travel agent working on it was very good and would get back to me. Well Maggie did get back to me with an apology and assured me she would get me something soon. Another week went by and nothing again. I called them again and asked for some help from someone else - Lonna apologized and said she would help me and get right on it after I emailed her my information. She replied on a Thursday that she would work on it the following day. By the following Tuesday I still did not have an estimate. I waited a month and never saw a quote. It really isn't the length of time but the fact that I was told I would see something soon and never got a call with an update or explanation of why there was a hold up. I emailed Lonna that I would be going elsewhere. I am sure someone else will appreciate my business. read more

I would caution you against booking a B & B tour with Authentic Ireland. You are given a tour book, but it is not explained clearly that you are supposed to be able to book the B&Bs online from the site provide. After hours and hours of fighting with the sight, which does not work at or, or sometimes barely works, I ended up contacted the B&Bs directly to get a reservation. I'm not sure what the purpose of the non-working site is read more

I planned a surprise honeymoon for my husband and I to travel to Ireland. Lonna Powers was our representative throughout the whole process. She was remarkable. Giving me a feel for the land, what to expect, how the weather was going to be, the works! She worked with the 7 day planning I had in my head and kept to 3 cities in 7 days. Exactly what I wanted. She took my suggestions and made them a reality. We stayed at 3 castles, had pre-booked tours, rental car and rooms. The hotels were nothing shy of perfection for our honeymoon. Laying out a romantic setting for our honeymoon. I was apprehensive at first since I had never heard of them, and I never met anyone in person, I'm all the way out in Los Angeles - so I could not walk into their office. But after talking with Lonna over the phone, emails back and forth - always available for any questions or concerns I had there was no doubt left in my mind. She was even able to get me a discount since we were going off season. Planned it 9 months in advance - was able to make it in 2 payments. Then she sent me all the vouchers and tickets via email. It was a great experience! The only down fall is that you have to get your flight plans yourself, but they have suggestions and you can always search for the best prices at your own leisure. read more

Absolutely AMAZING. From Columbus, OH (yes, we are real people), my husband and I booked our honeymoon through Authentic Ireland. I wanted to write a review out here because it seems like there is a lot of old information out and about (the original company appears to have gone bankrupt, but a second company came in, purchased it, and kept the name). I can truly say I was 'sucked' in by their website. I read all of the testimonials, but I was still a little worried after reading everything on the interwebz. I contacted them and asked them to plan a trip for me, and I was stunned. A real person had done this! How did I know this? Well, my 20 questions were answered within 24 hours each time a new one was answered. After I asked for a second possible itinerary, I know longer felt worried that this company was a scam. My husband and I had the most amazing honeymoon EVER! We did a self drive tour through Ireland and Scotland. The benefit of using Authentic Ireland is that they set up every night's stay for you, the car rental, but you do the rest! You truly get to adventure through these countries while knowing you have a safe place to rest your head at the end of the night, and an included breakfast every morning. We had amazing B&B and hotel stays except for one night (which I've already let A I know about), because although every B&B is supposed to be smoke free, I caught the owner smoking in the kitchen below my room when I came down one evening. My husband has a feather allergy, and our travel advisor also made sure all B&Bs and hotels were updated on that. We will recommend this company until our faces turn blue! read more

stay away from company. we landed in ireland august 7th 2013. - company went bancrupt on august 9th. all reservations cancelled. company sent me an email three days before wishing me a great trip!!! always book with american express. they screwed over hundreds of hotels and thousands of tourists. read more

Authentic Ireland only gets one star because there is no way to give them zero. BEWARE. My family of four booked an expensive 10-day tour to Ireland including pricey lodging, car, etc. We received travel vouchers that turned out to not be worth the paper they were printed on. Upon arrival at our first lodging, we were informed that Authentic Ireland had "gone out of business" and would not be standing behind our vouchers. We were left scrambling. We had to rebook 10 nights lodging, and pay again for all the lodging, car, etc. (thousands of dollars). The " new" company set up shop contemporaneous with the old company going out of business and changed absolutely nothing. They are using the same name, website, promotions, etc. but they pretend they are different so that they can avoid taking care of the vouchers for people who had already paid or those currently stuck in Ireland. They profess to be a different company, but they had my personal information, cell phone, itinerary, etc. that I never passed along to a new company. They clearly weren't too separate. Moreover, they had the nerve to send me a "welcome home" email referencing my fabulous vacation and asking me to positively review them online. It was sent on the same stationery by the same agent from the first company. Again, they took thousands of dollars from my family and many others and provided nothing in return. be advised that you can book directly with the lodgings for about 20% less if you avoid Authentic Ireland. read more