Behind every My Ireland Tour itinerary lies a careful process of selection. Which hotels offer the right balance of comfort, location, and value? Which attractions genuinely enhance a guest's experience? These aren't decisions made from a desk - we go and see for ourselves. In October 2025, I joined a familiarisation trip across Ireland, armed with my trusty Canon camera and ready to capture as many high-quality photos and videos as possible. Little did I know that besides being a working trip, I was about to have an incredible experience - and a real-world taste of exactly why My Ireland Tour is still Ireland's best-reviewed tour operator, with 96.5% five-star reviews.
Why We Do Familiarisation Trips
Before we include any hotel or attraction in one of our tour itineraries, we want to experience it first-hand. A website can tell you a lot, but it can't tell you how a room feels at the end of a long travel day, how the breakfast service flows for a group departure, or how it feels to be welcomed by the staff when you arrive.
Familiarisation trips - or FAM trips - are how we build that knowledge. Our team visits properties in person, meets the management, experiences the facilities, and sees things from a guest's perspective. The team took their time to get to know each person they met along the way, learning all about the food, the attractions, the route and more.
From the operations side, Shauni Braem, Tour Design and Operations Manager, emphasises the value of these trips for the office team who build the itineraries day-to-day. "It's always handy for us in the office to see those things," she explains. "Just to meet the people that we've been talking with through email - but we've never been able to put a face to them."
Experiencing properties first-hand, Shauni notes, transforms how the team works with suppliers and guests. "Seeing things is very different, and experiencing things is very different, and it makes us understand the hotels better and the visits better. It helps with answering questions from guests as well." Even the practical details matter - "just seeing the rooms, how big they are, what the bathroom is like..." - all of which helps the team give confident, informed answers to guest enquiries.
This particular trip ran from Tuesday 21 October to Friday 24 October 2025, covering a route from Cork through the Midlands, Sligo, Donegal, Derry, Fermanagh, and back down through Kilkenny. Our driver-guide for the journey was the wonderful Shirley Nagle - and honestly, having experienced how she looked after us, I left feeling truly emotional to say goodbye. She was so knowledgeable, looked after every one of us, and made sure we were totally informed at every step along the way.
Day 1 - Setting Off from Cork
Our base for the start of the trip was the Imperial Hotel Cork, a four-star boutique property right in the heart of Cork City. We checked in on Tuesday evening, giving us an early start for the days ahead. The Imperial is a property we know well - its central location on the South Mall puts guests within easy walking distance of Cork's best pubs, restaurants, and attractions.
Day 2 - Clonmacnoise, Athlone, and Drumcliffe
Wednesday morning saw us meet Shirley outside the Imperial at 8:30 AM and head north in a beautifully comfortable coach - and it struck me just how much that extra bit of space matters for our guests. This is why small group tours matter so much. Our first stop was Clonmacnoise, a 6th-century medieval monastery set on the banks of the River Shannon in County Offaly. At each attraction we visited, staff met with us and shared the history of each place, and we also learned from a tour perspective what amenities are available for visitors. This is the kind of detail gathering that makes all the difference when designing a My Ireland Tour itinerary.
After Clonmacnoise, we stopped for lunch at The Bailey Bar in Athlone. Lunch stops might seem like a minor detail, but they matter enormously on tour. The right stop offers good food, comfortable seating, efficient service, and ideally a bit of character - and The Bailey Bar was exactly that, a welcoming Irish pub that makes guests feel instantly at home.
Our afternoon destination was Drumcliffe in County Sligo, the final resting place of poet W.B. Yeats. For visitors with an interest in literature, or anyone who appreciates a stunning churchyard setting with views of Benbulben, Drumcliffe is a memorable stop. It's also conveniently positioned on the route north, making it a natural addition to itineraries heading toward Donegal.
We arrived at Lough Eske Castle in County Donegal at 7:00 PM for dinner and our overnight stay. If you've never seen Lough Eske Castle lit up at dusk, you're missing something special. This five-star luxury hotel sits in its own estate near Donegal Town, surrounded by forest and mountain views. Dinner that evening was superb, and a few of us couldn't resist an optional nightcap at the Gallery Bar before turning in.
Day 3 - Derry City and Behind the Scenes
Thursday was our busiest day. We started with a 10:30 AM walking tour of the historic walls of Derry/Londonderry City, led by a local guide named Theresa. A guided walking tour is one of the best ways to understand a city's character, and Theresa's knowledge brought the city's story to life in a way that stayed with me long after the tour ended. When we choose guided experiences for our tours, we look for guides who are not just knowledgeable, but engaging - the kind of person who makes history feel immediate and personal. Theresa was exactly that. Her personal stories, her passion for the city, and her ability to connect with our group made the tour unforgettable.
From the walls, we went straight into hotel site visits. We called first at the Maldron Hotel Derry for a show-around, then visited the Everglades Hotel where General Manager Sam Denning gave us a personal tour over what was more like afternoon tea - incredibly hospitable, super professional, and excellent service throughout. These in-person visits are where we get to see the partnership come to life - meeting the teams, understanding how they work, and seeing first-hand how they care for their guests.
In the afternoon, we returned to Donegal for a show-around of Lough Eske Castle with Stephen Bell. This was a deeper dive than our overnight stay - meeting the management team, learning how they look after group bookings, and seeing the behind-the-scenes operations that make a hotel run so smoothly. These relationships are so important. When we know the management personally, we can work together seamlessly and build lasting partnerships that benefit our guests. The team took time to get to know every single one of us - and you can see why that personal touch makes such a difference.
That evening, we had another dinner at Lough Eske Castle and settled in for our second night. For anyone considering whether a five-star property is right for their Ireland tour - the answer depends on the group. The key is knowing which properties suit which itineraries, and you can only learn that by experiencing them firsthand.
Day 4 - Enniskillen, Kilkenny, and Home
Our final day started with a 10:00 AM departure from Lough Eske. We visited the Westville Hotel just outside Enniskillen in County Fermanagh for another site show-around. The Westville is an excellent example of a property that balances modern comfort with local character - exactly the kind of hotel that works well for tours crossing between Ulster and the southern counties. Again the staff and management gave us a warm welcome, and we got to see the rooms, dining areas, and amenities that make it a great choice for our guests.
From there, we journeyed south toward Clomantagh in County Kilkenny. At 2:30 PM, we arrived at a family farm for a Traditional Farmhouse Lunch - and this, honestly, was one of the highlights of the entire trip. The hosts couldn't have made us more at home. There was a gorgeous farm dog called Maggie, horses on the land outside, and a hearty lunch waiting for us with the stove taking the chill away. It was homely, cosy, and authentically Irish in every way. Meeting the local hosts on their own farm, sharing a meal prepared with local ingredients, and hearing their stories - these are the authentic experiences that make a tour memorable. When we consider an attraction or experience for our itineraries, the "authentic local touch" is something we particularly value.
After lunch, we completed the return journey back to Cork City, unloaded our luggage, and bid farewell to Shirley. Four days, seven counties, countless conversations, and a much deeper understanding of what makes a great tour. Having seen how people felt about our driver-guides, I left feeling the same way they do - Shirley was incredible, and she embodies everything that makes My Ireland Tour special.
The Operations Perspective: Driver Guide Knowledge
For the operations team, meeting driver-guides in person is just as valuable as visiting hotels. Shauni explains that while the office team puts the routes together, they are not driving them every day. "Driver guides just have such big knowledge of routes.. sometimes there are things we may overlook, maybe spots where there would always be traffic - they just know so much better."
Those informal conversations over dinner or between stops reveal practical knowledge that rarely make it into an email. As Shauni notes, "Even just being on the road and seeing how far Galway is from Clonmacnoise, or even to see for yourself how long you would take at Clonmacnoise - those kind of things are very helpful." Our Tour Sales and Operations Manager Shannon O'Brien regularly calls drivers to fine-tune schedules, because "there might be slight refinements needed, that again, the drivers just deal with." Getting that knowledge back to the office helps the whole team build smarter, more realistic itineraries.
Conclusion
When I packed my camera for this trip, I thought I was signing up to get some great images and videos. What I didn't expect was to come away with such a deep appreciation for the care, relationships, and attention to detail that go into every single My Ireland Tour itinerary. From Shirley's warmth behind the wheel to Sam and Stephen's hospitality, from Theresa's stories on the Derry walls to Maggie the farm dog wagging her tail in Kilkenny - every person we met reminded me that this business is built on genuine human connection.
