Private Excursions for British Isles

[Tedferg]

Any recommendations for private excursions on British Isles Tour.

Portland (Stonehenge), Guernsey, Cork, Dublin, Belfast, Invergordon, Edinburgh, Le Harve (Normandy)

[irisbax3]

We booked Giant's Causeway tour through Odessey Tours. Good tour at a good price. You can book through Trip advisor or directly through Odessey.

[Bob++]

We did a coach tour round Guernsey. It was on a day trip from Jersey not a cruise though.

 

I think this is the one: https://www.icw.gg/

[John Bull]

There are very few coach tours to Stonehenge (or Bath) from Portland / Weymouth, they 're for locals and hotel-based holiday-makers and its highly unlikely that your date or time would tie in.

A search of the web showed van tours from Weymouth offered by Viator (a booking agency, not a tour operator) at £99, but the start time of 9.30 is tricky because you'd need ship's shuttlebus to Weymouth, then a 15-minute walk from the shuttle drop point to the tour pick-up point - and it doesn't show a return time.  Additionally I've noticed that it doesn't include admission to Stonehenge - that's not just the cost, arriving without a timed ticket ticket can mean a seriously-delayed admission in order to avoid over-crowding.

If you're keen to visit Stonehenge I'd strongly advise ship's excursion - this avoids complications & delays in setting off, the return to the ship is geared to sailing-time (and, of course, the ship's responsibility), and Stonehenge tickets provided by coach operators guarantee Stonehenge admission on arrival at any time.

There are so many local attractions in the Portland area. Because the port is secure (no un-booked van tours etc) you do need to fix up a tour - places can include Corfe Castle, Durdle Door, the Jurassic coast, the Dorset downs & villages. 

Without a pre-booked tour you're limited to 

- the interesting but small D-Day museum plus diminutive Portland Castle, both close to the port, each worthy of a hour or so but no more

- or ship's shuttle to the Victorian seaside resort of Weymouth

- or ship's shuttle to Weymouth then train (10 minutes, fare £5 return) to the market town of Dorchester

- or ship's shuttle to Weymouth then train (25 mins, fare £10 return) then taxi (3 miles, £10?) to Bovington Tank Museum and/or Monkey World.

Suggestions and tour operators on these threads

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=Portland &quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=148

 

Broadly similar situation for Invergordon.

Like Portland, cruise ships aren't as frequent as in other UK ports so there are limited private offerings. Worse - the town itself has nothing of interest.

So again book a private or shared tour soonest. Places of interest include Loch Ness / Urquhart Castle, or Speyside whiskey distilleries / the Grampians or Inverness / Culloden (battle of)

A search of Invergordon show these threads

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=Invergordon&quick=1

 

JB 🙂

 

 

 

[Tedferg]

Thank you, John Bull, we will look at ship excursion. Stonehenge popped up as an obvious tourist site, perhaps we will look further.

[thia9233]

On 11/17/2022 at 12:23 PM, Tedferg said:

Any recommendations for private excursions on British Isles Tour.

Portland (Stonehenge), Guernsey, Cork, Dublin, Belfast, Invergordon, Edinburgh, Le Harve (Normandy)

When we went we used the following tours and they were great.

Guernsey- Mr. Steve Martin Private tour (Excellent Tour)

Dublin- beautifulmeath Tours and our guide was Derek (Great Tour)

Belfast- Belfast Tours  (Paddy Campbell) (Excellent Tour)

 

Invergordon- STRAVAIGIN-SCOTLAND.COM.

LeHarve- Overlord Tours  (they were excellent)