Paddywagon Tours Reviews 98

The experience with Paddywagon, 2 day West tour - Galway, Cliffs of Moher and Connemara, on August 18-19, 2023, was very negative, particularly for what happened on the second day, conducted by Frank. I specify that both the first and the second day there was no accompanying guide, while other tour operators do as we verified during a subsequent day trip on August 20th.
The departure from Galway, scheduled for 10 am, on August 19, took place at 11.30. Afterwards there was no photo stop at the majestic Corcomroe Abbey. The arrival at Cliffs of Moher took place at 13.05, with the announcement by the driver to meet first at 14.45 and then at 14.30. 1 hour and 25 minutes is objectively too short a time for the importance of the place and for the fact that there were many people on the paths, in the receptive spaces and in the toilets. At 14.30 I was near the bus, so much so that the driver had seen me, but having to make a quick passage to the toilet, I got on the bus at 14.33. The driver, at 14.31 still left without me and only the intervention of my daughter, who was on the bus, convinced him to stop to let me get on board. In these two minutes, the driver gave out, after taking the microphone, shouting and insulting my daughter in front of the 36 passengers, humiliating her and forcing her to ask for a public apology. A decidedly outsized and aggressive attitude towards two foreign customers and as part of a tourist trip. After a few minutes the bus stopped for a lunch break at a self-service restaurant, not scheduled in the program, announced for 10 minutes and lasting 25 minutes. We had a packed lunch and waited on the bus. Afterwards the driver didn’t stop for photos at Bunratty Castle in County Clare, as scheduled, but on the contrary, another stop in a shopping center. The arrival and drop off took place in Dublin at 19.10, therefore 50 minutes earlier than the 20,00 expected. The driver did not comply with the announced and paid schedule, but, for long stretches and on narrow country roads, gesticulated while driving, often taking his left hand off the steering wheel, looking into the rear mirror to interact insistently with some guests and making monologues on personal, political and generic topics that had nothing to do with the context and places of the tour, but which, on the contrary, determined situations of distraction and insecurity in driving.

Bus was oversold so I had to sit in the guides seat at the steps. 20 minutes into the journey a passenger vomited all over me, when I notified the office of this they offered me a freely available 10% discount code to use on my next booking.....

This tour is not responsible, they don't care and respect people. They don't follow the plan. Drivers manage everything and paddy wagon won't support you at all. It's highly likely that they leave you behind within the tour. Not recommended, this tour is like a scam 👎

Put Jackie behind the wheel again. He was amazing, funny and made the whole trip to Glendalough and Wicklow so much funnier, if you have luck you get him as both driver and guide.

MOST disappointing Galaway tour!! Waited 45 min and left Dublin at 9am, reaching Galaway at 3pm.That left 90 minutes to see Galway. Six hours on the bus w 2 short stops. We did not go to the silver mine or see the sheep dog farm, instead took us to a little town for a short stop. Driver left the radio on and did limited talking during bus ride. He was rude to some passengers. Dropped us off in Galway w little directions. Told us to take all our belongings because a different driver would meet us in Galway. We preferred to take the train back to Dublin rather than endure another 4 hour unpleasant bus ride.When we rerurned, we canceled a Paddywagon tour we had booked for later in the week. Suggest...take the train to see Galaway from Dublin...easier, faster and cheaper!

AVOID! HORRIBLE! NO CUSTOMER SERVICE! NOT TO BE TRUSTED!
Wife and friends booked 2 day trip (Dublin-Cork-Dublin). 2nd day they were left at The Cliffs of Moher. Driver told them trip had changed without any explanation. Had to make it back to Dublin by other means. Driver (Kevin) offered no help. Head office asked them to send an email with their issues. Ireland is wonderful, but do yourself a favour and avoid this company as they will ruin the experience! AVOID!

We booked two tours with them and we wish we knew before... Absolutely awful

Drivers were late, forced us to eat to a restaurant we all did not want then instead of staying in Cork for 1h30 we stayed only 30 minutes

Please don't let this company ruin a day of your vacation! As you'll see from the other reviews, when things go right, they're fine. But when it goes wrong it goes VERY wrong. This was our experience:

After hurrying my family out of our hotel to arrive promptly at 8:10 AM for our tour of Glendalough, we arrived and were told that it was overbooked and that we couldn't go on our tour. The driver even said to us that "they do this all the time" hoping someone doesn't show, so this is their standard dishonest business practice. The tour manager offered us a full refund and an afternoon tour free of charge, which we mistakenly accepted.

After rearranging our entire day because Paddywagon intentionally overbooked the tour, the afternoon tour traveled to Glendalough in a 100 degree Fahrenheit bus without functioning air conditioning or a tour guide. When we arrived at Glendalough, very late, the replacement tour guide gave us no direction and told us to walk to the upper lake. This was not a tour, but an overpriced bus ride without A/C.

When we got back into Dublin, my wife and I attempted to visit the Paddywagon office near O'Connell Bridge and the two young men at the desk told us there was no one to call and pretended as if they couldn't send an email from their computer. We emailed customer service the same day request a refund of the tour (as well as cancelling a future tour we had scheduled) and never heard back. We are now filing a complaint with the tourism board and disputing the charges with our credit card company.

Don't make the same mistake we did! There are so many tour companies in Ireland, you don't need to roll the dice with a dishonest company like Paddywagon.

We took the Belfast tour to a Giants causeway and our driver was late. He was called in at the last moment. We knew this because he complained incessantly about it. He kept cursing and had these weird, repeated sighs in the microphone, He yelled at us for talking, had no idea where he was going, and chastised a couple who were five minutes late. He obviously had problems with England because he made it clear many times. At the end, he told us his old job was selling drugs to kids. What a crazy, uncomfortable tour. The part that was fun was the kinship the rest of the group had. Everyone was making jokes….it was straight out of a movie.

We had a day earlier and we were on Richard O’Brien’s Paddywagon Bus. He was so incredibly skilled driving and being our tour guide. We were on his chills of Moher Trip. We laughed and we met so many people from other countries. It was a long trip, but honestly wish it had been longer. Thank you Paddywagon for hiring Richard, I wish I could give him a 10 review but gave him 5 stars. Thank you paddywagon Richard for a wonderful fun filled day. Regards to all

We did the cliffs of moher tour, it was a good trip but the tour guide spoke for way too long about some depressing history of ireland aswell as the IRA, which went on for about an hour and was literally exhausted from it not to mention feeling depressed after it.

Absolute disgrace of a company. Driver did not turn up. Whole day wasted. Were left waiting for an hour withiut being informed. No refund. Have to try and get money returned. No apology. I am ashamed of this being Irish and seeing how this Irish company treats people. Do not book a tour with this company

This is so much more than just a sightseeing tour. Last week our group had the pleasure of being guided by Gerry. Not only is he an excellent busdriver, he is also a remarkable tourguide, historian and in fact a comedian. He took great care of everyone, went out of his way to make it an interesting and unique experience. Us four Dutchies had the BEST time, saw so many wonderful things and we learned so much. I usually get nauseous quite quickly during bus rides but I was completely comfortable the entire trip. I'm so glad we booked with Paddywagon. Do yourself a favor, book the Giant's Causeway tour from Dublin and -if you weren't already- prepare to fall deeply in love with the Emerald Isle!

We recently returned from Ireland, where we went on a few tours with your company (from Dublin).
We would like to point out one driver especially Gerry (though all have great knowledge).
His wit, driving skills and historical knowledge made our all day tours very enjoyable.

This tour easily under promised and over delivered!
We saw more sites than expected, a surprise dinner, a bus-on-ferry crossing of the Shannon River, and good accommodations.
Our driver/guide, Cash, kept us well-informed, in good spirits, with great recommendations for food, drink, and shopping. Optional additions included a boat trip to view the Cliffs of Moher and a horse & carriage ride in Killarney.
When the chef didn't turn up to cook breakfast the morning after Daylight Saving Time kicked in, our B&B host and Cash jumped in to cook all of us a full Irish, and it was delicious...and they kept us on schedule, bravo!
I would do another tour!

The Paddywaggon tour from Dublin to The Giants Causeway and Belfast was excellent. Beautiful sites were seen. The coach driver/tour guide, John, made the experience one to remember, he was hilarious, friendly, very knowledgeable and a fantastic singer. We would gladly sit on his coach for another 13 hours one day in the future.

The driver has been amazing making the drive enjoyable with songs and storytelling (he made us fall in love with Ireland). The Cliff of Moher is a must see (we have been also lucky with the weather).
The stops on the way (even if very short) help to cut a bit the long ride.
Very good experience!!
Stefano and Manon

My GF and I took a day tour on 10/24/22. Bryan was our tour bus driver. For the most part the tour was presented nicely however towards the end of the tour Bryan decided to start talking about his opinion about Irish politics. We sure didn't ask for his opinion to be broadcast on the Bus speaker system nor did anyone else on the bus. So instead of having a enjoyable trip we wound up having to listen to Bryan ramble on, VERY unprofessional.

Richard was our driver today and he was so much fun! We went to the Cliffs of Maher and his driving was excellent. His information was fantastic as we toured. Loved all the stops. If there were 10 stars available Paddywagon and Richard would get them!

I understand that some people may have had a bad experience, but my wife and I had a fine experience for our 40th wedding anniversary. Did the 6-day tour and loved it! Dan was a great driver, and everything worked out fine! - Jim