SHAMROCKER ADVENTURES: ALL IRELAND ROCKER TOUR REVIEW
Spending a whole week travelling around Ireland and Northern Ireland is one of the most incredible trips that I have ever taken. Ireland is filled with beautiful natural wonders, historical places, friendly people and fantastic vibes. I saw so much during the week that I was in Ireland! I booked the Shamrocker Adventures All Ireland Rocker Tour through Tour Radar. The site is really easy to use and gives you so many tour options. I also booked my Haggis Adventures Coast to Coast Tour through Tour Radar.
If you are planning on going to Ireland, I recommend that you go on tour with Shamrocker Adventures. If you are interested in booking a tour through Tour Radar, click here to get 5% off.
WHY CHOOSE SHAMROCKER ADVENTURES?
Shamrocker Adventures are fantastic tours for people who want to see all around Ireland with a group of like-minded people. Shamrocker Adventures offer tours from 3-day tours to 8-day tours. There is so much to see in Ireland and Northern Ireland, Giant's Causeway, Cliffs of Moher and Games of Thrones Filming Locations! The Irish tour guide makes the tour even better, with historical info, fun facts and good banter. The tour guides organise group dinners and a pub crawl, which is fantastic for solo travellers.
WHO IS THE GUIDE?
Shamrocker tour guides are Irish born Guides! They only recruit the best storytellers who are 100% Irish with green blood flowing through their veins and more facts and tall tales about their land than you could imagine. My guide was Daithi (Davo), he is an amazing guide and he made the tour really fun. Playing music throughout the bus, going to the pub, providing us with interesting facts and handy tips about Ireland. Having a great guide can make a tour even better then you expected and more memorable!
WHAT IS INCLUDED?
The tour includes all accommodation at Irish hostels and 6 breakfasts included. All transport around Ireland with an amazing Irish guide, plus ferry transfers to the Aran Islands. It also includes all entries into tour highlights and entry into the Cliffs of Moher and the Giant’s Causeway.
There are also optional activities that are not included in the price. Entry to the Blarney Castle, Award-Winning Derry City Walking Tour and the Black Cab Tour in Belfast. When extra stops are made, they are not included in the price (normally only a few pounds/euros extra).
WHO WILL YOU TRAVEL WITH?
Shamrocker Adventures tours are for people of any age! The majority of the tourists are aged between 18-35. Each tour consists of small groups of around 20-25 people. Shamrocker Adventures offer tours from 3-day tours to 9-day tours, therefore different tours connect together.
I started with a group and we met up with another group for 2 days in Galway. The group then split, as some people were on a shorter tour and others continued to finish the 7-day tour. I met so many people and had a really great time travelling through Ireland and Northern Ireland.
HOW WILL YOU TRAVEL?
Shamrocker Adventures use air-conditioned buses to travel around Ireland. I travelled during the summer and the air-con came in handy as the weather was in the mid to low 20's. Most days were sunny with blue skies and we didn't get any rain while in Ireland, this made the tour even better!
All transport is included in the price, this includes the bus and ferry to Inis Mór. There is so much to see in Ireland and Northern Ireland, so the bus is always stopping at different locations. You won't be on the bus for more than a few hours a day.
WHERE WILL YOU STAY?
Shamrocker Adventures provide budget focused tours for backpackers, this means that the accommodation will be at Hostels. The hostels that I stayed in were really nice and clean! You share the room with other people, but most likely it's with the other people on tour. All the hostels have bunk beds, except for the Travelodge we stayed at in Derry (Londonderry). The rooms are normally either a 4-bed or 6-bed room, but just depends on the hostel. The hostels that Shamrocker Adventures tours stay in are:
Sheep Island View Hostel - Ballintoy
Kinlay House Eyre Square Hostel - Galway
The All Ireland Rocker Tour is a great length as you get to see all of Ireland and Northern Ireland! The tour includes 6 nights of accommodation at the hostels above. Staying 1 night at each hostel, except for the 2 nights in Galway.
Each hostel has something different and new things to see. Ballintoy is a cute little town with a very small population of 165 people, whereas Galway is a lively city full of music and pubs.
WHAT WILL YOU EAT?
Breakfast is included in the tour price, I always love a good free breakfast when on holidays! Most of the day will be spent on and off the bus, it is a good idea to pack some snacks. The bus that I was on had a small fridge, which came in handy! There is a stop for lunch every day and there are lots of local restaurants to choose from. Dinner is not included in the price, but this gives you the option to try Irish food.
WHAT WILL YOU DO?
Ireland is filled with natural beauty, history, friendly people and fantastic vibes. I saw so much in the week that I was in Ireland! There is a lot packed into the tour, every day gives you something new and more amazing experiences. The tour starts in Dublin and straight away we all hopped on the bus to Belfast. The first 2 days were spent travelling around Northern Ireland, exploring Belfast, Derry and Ballintoy. I took a Black Cab tour around Belfast, learning about the history and conflict in Northern Ireland.
Lived out my Game of Thrones dreams and visited the Iron Islands (Ballintoy Harbour). Walked under the Dark Hedges, the trees are massive and the whole street is full of them. Saw the Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge, but it was closed when I got there, so I couldn't walk across it. Walked on the Giant's Causeway, it is made up of giant hexagonal volcanic rocks. It is really breathtaking when you are standing on the rocks, I have never seen anything like it!
We stayed in Ballintoy for the first night at the Sheep Island View Hostel, it is a really cute seaside town with a population of only 165 people. We had a group dinner and met everybody and I saw an amazing sunset that night! The second night was spent at the Travelodge in Derry. The Travelodge was a nice break from the hostels, it had 2 double beds and a single bed in each room.
After leaving Northern Ireland, the rest of the trip was spent travelling around Ireland. We visited more cute towns, Dingle, Killarney, Ennis and Cashel. Took a ferry to the Aran islands and rode bikes around Inis Mór. Stood on the edge of the Bothar nA hAillite cliffs and explored the magnificent Cliffs of Moher. Petted some cute baby lambs and saw so many cows.
We stopped at the beautiful Slea Head Beach on the Dingle Peninsula.The road to get there is the skinniest road I have ever been on, the wheels of the bus where so close to the edge! The last stop of the tour was the Blarney Castle, where I kissed the Blarney Stone and got the gift of the gab (great eloquence or skill at flattery).
We stayed in Galway for 2 nights at the Kinlay House Eyre Square Hostel. The tour guides organised a potato pub crawl, where you start with 1 potato each and the person with the most at the end of the night wins!
It was a really fun night filled with Irish pubs, shots, potatoes and dancing in the best Irish Pub. The second night was more of a chilled night, as we were exhausted from the night before and the day spent riding bikes around the Inis Mór.
The second last night was spent at the Rowan Tree Hostel in Ennis. We had a group dinner at the restaurant at the hostel and went to the pub for some drinks. There was a local Irish band playing and an old man got up and started singing a song, he was so captivating and it was a moment I will remember when I think of Ireland.
We stayed at Neptune's Hostel in Killarney for the last night. Our guide told us about this thing that guys do in the pubs, called the Killarney Step. haha! it was so funny when it actually happened, cause we didn't think it was real. The guys start backing up and when they are in front of you they quickly turn around and start dancing with you haha.
WOULD I RECOMMEND IT?
Yes, 100% I would recommend Shamrocker Adventures Tours!!! The tour was amazing and I saw so many new places and met some really great people. It's the perfect mix between exploring the beauty and history of Ireland and Northern Ireland, meeting new people, having fun and going to local Irish Pubs.
ANY DOWNSIDES?
There are no downsides to travelling with Shamrocker Adventures. However, the downsides are common for travelling with a group. You lose a bit of independence when travelling with a group, there is no time to stay longer somewhere. Sometimes time is restricted and this means that everybody has to be back on the bus to ensure there is enough time to get to the next destination. However, some days there is time for extra stops, this is great cause you can see more of Ireland.
IF YOU WANT TO EXPERIENCE ALL THIS AND MORE, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND CHECKING OUT THE 7 DAY TOUR I DID IN IRELAND WITH TOURRADAR.
HAGGIS ADVENTURES
I have also written a tour review about the Coast to Coast Tour with Haggis Adventures in Scotland. I saw so much during my 7-day tour around Scotland! Spotted Nessie at Loch Ness, went for a magical ride on the Hogwarts Express (Jacobite Steam Train) and took a ferry over to the Orkney Islands!!. If you want to read what I got up to in Scotland, check out the blog posts in the links below.