Belfast Black Cab Tours

[Luv Cruising Land or Sea]

Hello

 

I am looking at two different tour operators - Paddy Campbells Famous Black Cab Tours or Black Taxi Tours.

 

The tours can be tailor made to suit our requests but there is a slight difference in cost for the 7 hour tour.

 

Has anyone who has used either of these companies got any advice?

 

thx

[zeppysky]

I am interested in a private tour from Belfast as well. There are four of us. Hope someone can recommend one of your options.

[cat4569]

I booked through Belfast city tours which so far have been great and reasonably priced requiring only small deposit. Another company Derry Blue Badge Guide, also seemed great and were reasonably priced, I don't think they required a deposit.

 

I emailed the Paddy Black Cab tour and they took a few days to respond and when they did it was a long ramble about how they only want you to go on tours with people you know because otherwise people start fighting about where they go and that upsets the guide, etc. I imagine that is true but it just seemed weird to go on and on about that in an initial email to a potential client or to even presume you would be bringing random people with you from the ship. Plus they never emailed back when I asked for further information about tours so I just booked with Belfast City Tours who do private tours catered to what you want to see. I also contacted some other Belfast private tour companies and they seemed annoyed by wanting only a half day tour.

[cat4569]

Black taxi tours was 320-350 pounds and would only do 7 hours. That was also significantly more than I am paying for Belfast City tours or what I would pay with Derry or even what Paddy tour was charging.

[dutchclogs]

Thank you for this feedback. How long is the tour you've booked with Belfast City tours?

[cat4569]

I booked a 4-5 hour tour out to see Antrum Coast (not Giant's Causeway). They are very flexible in what you want to see and how long you want to stay out plus they have good reviews on trip advisor. it is **************************. They offer a bunch of set tours plus you can ask to see specific things.

[cat4569]

I also recently came across another company value taxis or value cabs I think it is called that offers giant's causeway for 210 pounds, atrium coast for 150 pounds, etc. They had a lot of private hire taxis available plus an app if you want to be driven to a certain place and want to get a driver. I think the regular taxi tour around belfast is like 25 pounds an hour.

 

Like I mentioned, there were some companies that were trying to charge 300-400 pounds for an all day tour. You can definitely get it much less - probably the best is about 180-200 pounds for all day tour.

[Luv Cruising Land or Sea]

Thanks for the feedback. I was hoping to hear from someone who has already used one or both of the companies.

 

We did book with Paddy Campbell. I also received the email from him about traveling with people you know well and completely understand his point. We have in the past jumped into some "shared" situations and had one person in the group be very negative and wanting to do other things than what was originally agreed upon so what he is saying rings very true, so that didn't put me off. He has responded to all my questions typically within 24 hours which is also understandable since I am in the states and he is in Belfast (5 hour time difference). There are 6 of us (all family) so we will most likely be fine!

 

We are doing 7 hours because we want to go up the Antrim coast and see Giants causeway, the rope bridge, Dunluce Castle and then back to Belfast for a City tour before returning to the ship...all for 290 gbp. Seems like a good deal for us. Good luck with your tour!

[cat4569]

Paddy's offered me a quote of 260 GDP for 1-4 people for the 7 hour tour in June so they must charge more for more people.If they are giving you 2 cars that is a pretty good price but if only one car it may be really tight since the cars are designed for 4 people. Derry Blue quoted 240 GDP and Belfast City tours was I think 180 or 190, while Value Cabs is 170 GDP for the full day. We booked with Belfast City as they were cheaper, had good reviews on trip advisor and were willing to do a customizable half day tour instead of the full day since we have seen some of the sites before. I usually get a response a few hours after I email even though I am in US so so far they have been very responsive and willing to adjust trip to whatever we want to see. Paddys seemed very set in their iterniary and we wanted to customize it more since we have seen some of those things before; in any event I never heard back after I asked about customizing it. There are a bunch of tour companies that are part of a group -Paddy's is in that group - I am using their sister company in some of the other ports.

[Luv Cruising Land or Sea]

Paddy's offered me a quote of 260 GDP for 1-4 people for the 7 hour tour in June so they must charge more for more people.If they are giving you 2 cars that is a pretty good price but if only one car it may be really tight since the cars are designed for 4 people. Derry Blue quoted 240 GDP and Belfast City tours was I think 180 or 190, while Value Cabs is 170 GDP for the full day. We booked with Belfast City as they were cheaper, had good reviews on trip advisor and were willing to do a customizable half day tour instead of the full day since we have seen some of the sites before. I usually get a response a few hours after I email even though I am in US so so far they have been very responsive and willing to adjust trip to whatever we want to see. Paddys seemed very set in their iterniary and we wanted to customize it more since we have seen some of those things before; in any event I never heard back after I asked about customizing it. There are a bunch of tour companies that are part of a group -Paddy's is in that group - I am using their sister company in some of the other ports.

 

We will be in a larger (7 seater) vehicle so the price is just a bit more. I may still look at your suggestions but since you haven't actually used them I am still looking for feedback from people who have. Thanks for your input.

[cat4569]

Alot on the various tour companies have many reviews on trip advisor or on google reviews. I think all of them are generally really good so you can't really go wrong with any of them. there's not alot on here in general except if you search past postings for specific companies. Also some of the companies have Facebook pages. Companies also vary on deposits too, with some not requiring it while others requiring small deposit. I encountered some that want a full deposit which I would not be willing to do (but fortunately most do not require anything more than a small deposit if any).