Looking for chauffeurdrive service in South of Ireland

 I took this picture the other morning, as i took an early morning stroll near my home. This little harbour is just about a half of a mile distance from my house, and i just could not resist going home again for my camera to catch this lovely scene for my Blog. 
What a lovely spell of weather we are having, and what a shame we do not get more credit for all the nice weather we do get in Ireland.
People come to me looking for information about my service, and then then begin to try to make up their minds maybe about when might be the best time for them to come. 
One of the main difficulties here is that it is very hard to predict. We do get our share of rain, but many of the days, when we do get rain, have long spells of sunshine also. Our weather is rarely extreme. We do not get hurricanes, we do not get tornadoes, we do not get earthquakes or Tsunamis, we do not get blizzards. Our highest temperatures are high seventies or low eighties, our lowest just three or four below.  I love my Irish weather. If we did not have the rain we have, Ireland would no longer have the beautiful green landscape, nor the beautiful flowers and shrubs we have. It also makes traveling so much more comfortable.

The West of Ireland is famous for its stone walls, and i took this picture also on my early morning walk. All of these stones are loosely packed on top of one another, without any mortar being used. If you think that that is easy, forget it. It takes years to learn the art of stone wall building, and there is nobody better than the Irish at doing it.
The cattle are not mine, but they do not know that, and they talk to me all the time. 
You need to come and see this for yourself.
When to come?
I always say, anytime, but best sometime between the begining of April and the end of October. Now i suppose March will be lovely this year. Murphy's law. I had a really nice tour last year in November. Such is Irish weather.
Most of all, remember, there is a lot more to Ireland than the weather.
Drop me a line and we can take it from there.

Places to put on your list.
Connemara and Galway. The Aran Islands. The Cliffs of Moher and the Burren of County Clare. Killarney and the Ring of Kerry. The Dingle peninsula. Kinsale and the harbour port of Cove.
You can do all of that with me. I would love to be the one to take you around.

Chauffeurdriven holidays Ireland 2017

 Things to beware of when booking a chauffeurdrive service.

 Further to my previous Blog, i have had many queries with regard to the chauffeurdrive services available and how careful you need to be when booking such a service.
These are some very important things to check.

1) Are the company members of the Irish Chauffeurdrive association? If so , that is a very good start.

2) Have they the necessary insurances, and has the driver got a PSV licence (Public service vehicle licence.?)
 
3)  Is their service a touring service, or do they concentrate mainly on corporate work or transfers mainly. You need someone (like us) who do nothing other than touring.

4) I would always recommend that they are prepared to put you in touch with someone who has toured with them previously, and who can give you an honest opinion on the service being offered.

5 ) When receiving a quote, always make sure that you are being quoted for a "Like for Like " tour.
What kind of reputation have they? What is the accommodation that they are offering like compared to what may be available with someone else? I only use Tourist Board recommended accommodation, and that is all quality.

6) Are there hidden charges? Do they charge extra if they have to be available in the evenings?

7)What is their transport like?

These are just some of the things you need to watch out for.

If you have any more queries, just send me an e-mail.

Regards for now

Dave

Chauffeurdriven tours in Ireland west and southwest with Dave Hogan and Dove

 Entering the magical territory, known as the Dingle peninsula.

Planning on an Irish adventure, maybe a visit to your ancestral home? This, for many Americans is a life long dream, something they have always known that they must do, when the time was right.
Now that you can do it, what is the best way to do it, and what are the alternatives.
The three most popular ways are,
(1) A bus tour.

(2) Plan it yourself, and drive yourself.

(3) Get an expert to plan it for you, and who will drive, and guide you, around, and who will look after all of your accommodation arrangements, and just take care of you.  Now let us have a closer look at all of these options.

 (1) The bus tour
I have travelled this way, in various countries, and they were mostly fine, but they have their drawbacks. When you pick a bus tour, you must accept the itinerary presented to you. Some of it may be to your liking, but there will be parts of that tour which you may not like that much. You are stuck to a pretty regimental itinerary, and they can be pretty hectic tours. You cannot choose your company on that tour, and this can also be a drawback. If they include meals, you can be on limited menus, and that can also be a problem.Accommodation may not always be to your liking.

(2) Plan and drive yourself.
If you are coming from a country where you drive on the right hand side of the road, you have a problem straight away. The main roads in Ireland are fine, but you will still be on the wrong side. The rural roads, many in those remote areas where the real beauty is to be found, are narrow, winding, hilly, and roads i would not recommend to inexperienced drivers.
Finding your way around, even with sat navigation, is not going to be easy. You will get lost, and that means you will be losing time, and maybe lots of time.
You will have to organise all of your accommodation, and you can only rely on what you read, and where you read it. As we say, paper never refused ink.
Car hire may look like good value, but when you add on Insurance it can work out a lot more, and you better not think of getting the minimum amount of insurance, or you could end up having a very expensive vacation. More expensive than you think. My son was home from the USA at Christmas, and the insurance cost him more than the car hire. He got a bit of a shock.
God forbid that you might have an accident, then you really have problems.

(3) Get an expert to plan it for you and to take you around.

Straight away there are major advantages.
Now you will have a plan that you can rely on, and one you yourself will have had an input into. You will have flexibility.
Now you will have somebody who knows their way around without sat navigation, someone who will never get lost,who has all the insurances to cover you while you are traveling, who is a qualified chauffeur and who has the licenses to prove it,and who will be relating the historic detail, and a whole lot more for you as your travel.
Someone who has stayed many times in the places you will be staying in, and who is known and respected by the owners or the management. Someone who knows the best places to eat and to shop, who knows the best pubs, and where you will find the best entertainment. Someone who will look after you. Someone who can refer you to people on your side of the Atlantic who have toured with him, and who will be only glad to recommend him.
And finally, you may be pleasantly surprised by the cost of my chauffeurdriven tours. When you add it all up, you will agree that it is the way to go.

 Would you like to cuddle a lamb? I think i can find a smaller one than this guy for you if you do. This lady toured with me this past year, and i took this picture on the Dingle peninsula.

 Here we have the full party, sitting on a low wall with the famous Inch beach in the background, and the mountains of the Ring of Kerry in the distance.  Yes, that is yours truly in the middle. These ladies were a lovely group, and we had a wonderful time together.

 Slea Head, at the tip of the Dingle peninsula, is a really beautiful place. Here we have the ruins of an old house, once owned by farming and fishing people, the occupation of the vast majority of the people on these peninsulas.In the background, we have the famous Blasket Islands, now abandoned since the mid nineteen hundreds when many of them found life just too difficult, and followed their relatives, mainly to the USA, and to Springfield Mass, and Hungry Hill.
I could keep on writing, i have so much i could tell you, but maybe the best way to find out a lot more is to come and travel with me. I am sure that you will enjoy the experience, and i will enjoy being the one to help you to make your dreams come true.
Send me a message and we can take it from there.

Chauffeurdriven vacations Ireland West and South west of Ireland 2017 with the experts.

My lovely holly tree, pictured in the sunshine in my garden. It really does make it feel like Christmas here.

One of our lovely comfortable touring cars pictured on the harbour front in Kinvara with the ancient Dun Guaire castle in the background. This is a family sized vehicle , also suitable for a golfing group. We cater for groups of varying sizes, from singles and couples, to family and larger sized groups.
We concentrate out touring on the western seaboard mainly, all the way along the Wild Atlantic way, the area i grew up in and love most of all. Our tours always allow for a couple of days in Dublin, if required, and also special requested visits to areas of special interest to our clients, such as areas with an ancestral history.The west, and south west is, for me, the most beautiful part of Ireland. This is an area which was devastated by our terrible famine, the area from which hundreds of thousands of people fled, mainly to the USA, in order to escape disease and hunger, an area blessed by the wonderful rugged Atlantic coastline, offshore islands, magnificent mountain ranges, quaint small towns and villages, where you can still listen to people speak our native Irish language, listen to their songs and their traditional music, and enjoy their Irish dancing, and sit in an Irish pub and enjoy a pint of Guinness with native people who will always make you feel very much at home.
Come and enjoy it with us.

I spent a good deal of time in the Killarney area over the Christmas, and i took this cute picture of a decorated horse with his jaunting car.

 My son was at home for the Christmas from Chicago, and here we are pictured together in the main street of Killarney, waiting for Santa to turn up with a little something for us.

 Another one of our happy groups who toured with us this Summer, pictured in front of their bus.

 The Gap of Dunloe in county Kerry is one of my own favourite areas. Not an area to drive through yourself, eventhough some people do. The roads are extremely narrow and dangerous, and, if you do drive, you miss out on the part of the journey where you travel down through the lakes in the open boats. By driving yourself you also put the lives of people traveling in the jaunting cars, at risk, along with your own.
In this picture, the horse is begining the journey to the Gap, an opening between the mountain tops which was carved by an ancient glacier in the ice-age.

 One of the bridges you cross on your way to the top.

 This horse looks like he is very happy to have reached the summit. the views from here are just breath-taking.

 Now, at last, on the way down through the lakes in the open boats, and on the way back to Killarney and Ross castle on Lough Laune.

 All happy together in the boat, and wrapped up in their life jackets. Not to worry, it is a very safe journey indeed.

 I just had to add this picture of this little baby donkey, just a couple of weeks old, and being well watched by Mom.

 One of the views of the many small lakes you pass as you look  back down from the Gap,

 Finally for today, the awesome Cliffs of Moher.
What more do you need to make you come to Ireland?
Just send us a message and we will take it from there. When you have the right people working with you on your plan, you can rest assured that all is well.

irish chauffeurdriven tours with Dovechauffeurdrive and Dave Hogan

 Was there ever a better time to come to Ireland?  We are now on the road to recovery, and a country at peace. For anybody planning to come here from the USA, the dollar is now very strong against the Euro, and there is tremendous value to be had here. There is no certainty that it will remain this way, so maybe now is the time for you to make that move. Maybe, like my friends in the above picture, you can enjoy a jaunting car ride through the Kerry mountains, on an ancient road, which was carved through those mountains by a giant glacier during the ice age.

 Maybe you would like to cuddle a lamb on the Dingle peninsula, like these two young ladies.

 How about spending time enjoying the views at the awesome Cliffs of Moher? There is so much to see and do here in this magical country.

You can travel in style with me in one of my cars, such as the one above. No worries about having to drive yourself on the "wrong side of the road", and a narrow winding road maybe. The cost of a tour with me just might surprise you, if you take into account the cost of hiring a car yourself, plus the cost of insurance, a charge that is very expensive on top of your car costs, and which many people forget, much to their cost. If you damage your car in any way, and lose your deposit, then you are really on a loser.
This is the time of the year when i begin to get many enquiries from prospective customers from the USA, and i can only handle so much. If you are serious about coming, then now is the time to make that enquiry. As long as i know that you are serious, i can hold dates until you make that final decision. I work only on a "First come, first served"basis, so i would advise one and all to start planning now.
All you have to do is write to me and we can take it from there. It costs nothing to make that enquiry, but it may cost a lot if you leave it too late.

Connemara and Mayo with the O'Malley's

Julie and Mike on the Quiet Man bridge in Connemara.

Julie, pictured wearing her late grandfather's cap, something she wanted to bring back to Ireland in his memory, and pick a special place to wear it. How nice.

The happy couple pictured at the Quiet Man cottage at Maam Cross.

Another lovely picture inside the cottage.

Well, i did have to get in on the act with my pals at Kylemore Abbey.

The famine memorial in the Delphi valley.

Not the best picture you will ever see of Croagh Patrick, but the clouds were covering its peak.

Pictured together at Roonagh harbour, with Clare Island on the horizon in the background, one of the safe havens of the great Pirate Queen,Grace O'Malley. Can we say Mike's Granny?

Pictured at the bottom of Croagh Patrick, with the tiny white image of St Patrick in the distance.

Pictured here at the memorial of the famine shop, outside Westport.

You cannot go far in Westport without coming across the O'Malley's.

The memorial to St Patrick in the heart of Westport town.

Seated together inside the Basicila in Knock, and seated in front of the beautiful main altar.

Inside the Shrine chapel, with the statues of the Knock vision in the background.

A lovely picture at the grotto in Knock. Julie is really showing off her beautiful Irish red hair in the lovely sunshine.

It was not as warm when we got to the Cliffs of Moher, but this couple know how to keep warm.

Another nice picture at the cliffs.

One of our final pictures at Quin Abbey near Ennis in county Clare.

O'Malleys on Ring of Kerry tour Nov 2016

 The beginning of a really fabulous day as we began our tour of the famous Ring of Kerry. Our first stop off was at the Killarney Golf Club, which is situated on the shores of Lough Leane, and here we have Mike and Julie, happy and rested, after a great night's sleep in the Killarney Plaza hotel.

 Pictured together near Killorglin, hoping that their rainbow can been seen in the background.

 Killorglin is famous for it's annual ancient pagan festival, known as Puck fair. This statue of the male goat, on the outskirts of Killorglin, a puck is male goat,was erected here to commemorate this festival.

 Unfortunately we had a touch of mist when i took this photo on the Ring, with Dingle bay and the Dingle peninsula in the background.

 One of our most famous patriots, the great Daniel O' Connell, was born here in Cahersiveen, and here we have my pals, pictured with the ruins of his home in the background.

 Waterville was one of Charlie Chaplin's favourite holiday resorts, and the people of this town were grateful for that, and erected this memorial in his memory.

 One of the greatest exponents of our national game of Gaelic football, a game quiet different from ordinary football, or soccer, as you can use your hands as well as your feet, was the great Micko O'Dwyer, and this memorial was erected by the townspeople in memory of their greatest son.

 This view from Cumikista, at the head of the Ring of Kerry, is quiet spectacular. Once again, due to mist, this picture does not do justice to the view, but Mike and Julie still look very happy to be here.

 Pictured together at Carrol's Cove near Cumikista. This bar on the beach is located in a really beautiful location and a great place for a snack or a beer.

 Another break, and a beer, in a great pub in Sneem.

 This man relies on the generosity of tourists to keep his magnificent goat, a puck goat, well fed and happy. It looks like my pals are also very happy to meet puck.

 Mike and Julie, pictured together at the famous Ladies View in Killarney. It was getting a little chilly, as you can see here.

Well, that is one of the best ways to warm up.

We did have a great day, but we were all glad to get back to Killarney, and the warmth of a good pub.
Tomorrow we are off to Dingle, so come along and enjoy.