Irish Tour with Chauffeur/Car and Driver

A beautiful scene from Dingle....a secluded beach all to yourself.

I find that many Americans are surprised to find that swimming is a most pleasant experience in Ireland, especially on the West Coast. Well, we do have the Gulf Stream here, and this keeps our waters nice and warm, so swimming is far nicer that on your West Coast. Also our waters are crystal clear, with no pollution, as we do not have any great Industrial waste or sewage from large cities entering our ocean on this side of the country. I do like to boast a little as this was where i was born and reared.
Driving in Ireland is something i am continually asked about, and i can only repeat, that if you can afford a professional like me, then it is the best thing to do. You can relax and enjoy the scenery..... and your partner will be happier also. Holiday expenses are high enough without having to face divorce proceedings when you get home.
If you do insist on driving remember that, if you have even a small accident, this is going to cost you....and maybe cost you a lot more than a private driver would have charged you in the first place. Even a small amount of damage can cost you dearly. Also be very sure that the price you see online for your car includes proper insurance....not just very basic cover which can leave you with a huge deficit to make up if you do have an accident. Some people arrive here and think that the car is great value...until they go through the details of what kind of insurance they want. Then they have to fork out a lot more money before they take the car. Make sure you know what you are getting....and that can be hard to calculate online. Also make sure that you are getting a decent car and not one that looks like it was driven by monkey. I have experience of this as my sons, who are in the USA and come home regularly, have arrived in cars that i would not have accepted without a battle. I am not saying that all cars are bad, but take it from me, thay are not all good. I would be more than interested in hearing from people who have had bad experiences in this regard. Write to me and tell me what you got.
Also remember the price of fuel here is now in the region of over nine dollars a gallon. Add that on to your price. There will be toll charges, ferry charges, parking fees, and maybe parking fines or other fines to pay and before you are finished it might have been cheaper to bring your own Caddillac with you. Do you think i am joking? Well i am not....i am just putting a slight humorous touch to a very serious issue. Take it from me....driving in Ireland ....even for me....is a very expensive hobby. Our cars are nearly twice the price of yours....our insurance is higher....our fuel is so high that half of the citizens in the USA would need to get part time jobs to run their cars if they paid the same for their fuel. We pay road tax annually on our cars, and that can cost anywhere from
$ 600-00 to over $2,000-00 a year. All of our maintainance charges are higher than yours, our Tyres are more expensive, our oil, our service charges, and if we want our wives to drive us, then sometimes we have to pay them as well.
Such is life......take my advice ....think about getting a driver.

That's it for now

Dave