The Emerald Isle Express Tour

Just a short note to thank you for everything, the tour was everything I expected and more, a lot of great memories.

Had a really special experience on the Emerald Isle Express week long tour. Saw so much of this lovely country with the pleasure of travel on a proper heritage train and luxury overnight stays. All staff on the tour were fantastic and gave us a real Irish welcome. The added value of Jonathan and Norman's knowledge of railway and general Irish history was unexpected and helped to make the holiday. Quite a hectic schedule at times but the only way to pack everything in to the week. Thoroughly recommended!

Visited September 2016

We were attracted to the Tour by the prospect of seeing some of the main attractions of Ireland in a different way, having driven to most of them in the past. We were certainly not disappointed in any way.

You and your colleagues did so much to make the holiday special for us, particularly highlighting the rail aspects for me and giving us so much insight into Irish history and culture. A country we already loved was really brought into focus for us.

So many wonderful sights and superb hospitality. Lots of ideas for things to do when we return to Ireland. Cycling the Westway will certainly be on the list as well as another stay at Dromoland Castle. I would also like to do more travel on Irish Rail, having been favourably impressed with all I saw of it.

Many thanks again to all involved and our best wishes for continued success with your tours.

We truly enjoyed the Emerald Isle Express tour. It was a wonderful way to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary and my 70th birthday. We have recommended it to friends and family. No doubt we will return to Ireland in the future and book another tour with Railtours Ireland. Our knowledgeable and entertaining tour guides, Jonathan and Norman helped make the trip especially memorable. The volunteer train crew were delightful, as were the new friends we met as fellow tour participants. The many sights were wonderful. Looking back through our pictures, Waterford Crystal, Waterford Castle, Tipperary, Blarney Castle, the Ring of Kerry, the Lady’s View at the Lakes of Killarney, the Cliffs of Moher, Adare Manor, the traditional pub in Killarney, Ballinahinch Castle, and Kylemore Castle all stand out. However, the country side and the wonderful people were even more memorable.

"Wicklow town's Linda Saunders was able to experience the first departure from Dublin Connolly of a sparkling new 5 star tourism venture." Read more here

This is a very special tour, which includes travel in 1960s heritage train carriages, meals and various castles. The quality of the service, the meals and accommodation is impeccable.
The tour includes all the highlights of the Republic of Ireland, with private tours, sometimes outside opening hours, of museums and places of interest. All meals, including on occasions afternoon teas, are included in the tour and these were all of an exceptional standard.During the time the tour had exclusive use of both the train and a luxury tour coach. This meant that on occasions we travelled by train while our luggage was completely taken care of in the coach. All the Staff we encountered could not have done more to ensure all our needs were met. My husband organised this tour as a celebration of a milestone birthday for me. I couldn't have wished for anything more as I thoroughly enjoyed everything about it while feeling special and privileged. The tour we were on was the first one of this type run by Railtours. Following the success of our tour these are set to have permanent availability. I wish our guides Jonathan, Shane and Jim plus all the staff at Railtours, the Railway Preservation Society and Tom and Ray our drivers, all the best for the future and well deserved success.

We just completed an 8 Day Rail Tour of Ireland on a Heritage, 1960s train with lounge, dining, and bar cars and an electro-diesel engine. The train is owned and operated by the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland (RPSI) and implemented by Rail Tours of Ireland. The service, by RPSI volunteers and Rail Tours of Ireland guides, and meals on the train were outstanding. Once the train reached a destination, all Five-Star Hotels, several of which were Castles, we and our luggage were transferred to a coach. Additionally, to tour things like the Ring of Kerry or Cliffs of Mohr, we again transferred to a touring coach, whose driver was able to "thread a needle" with the huge coach several times. The coach also took us to several pubs for lunch and tours of Connemara and Waterford Crystal factory. Dinner and breakfast were usually at the hotel except for dinner on the trip back to Dublin from Westport on the last day of the tour, which also included live entertainment of Irish folk songs. We also had a Medieval Banquet one evening in Bunratty Castle. It's easy to see why Ireland is tagged as the Emerald Isle as we saw something green on just about every square foot of soil. The guides were Irish and very knowledgeable of not only the history of things we saw but of the spirit of the Irish people.

We thoroughly enjoyed this experience. Our guides Jonathan and Norman were THE BEST.....so attentive, personable, and knowledgeable! A big thank you to them for taking such great care of us and for being so much fun to hang out with. The vintage train experience was unique for us and we really liked it. Excellent staff on the train. The hotels were so lovely and well chosen. We had a very congenial group of travelers which added to the overall positive experience. In our opinion Railtours Ireland did a great job in planning and conduction this trip. Perfect weather too.....we were fortunate in all regards!