June 2010 Lynott Tours: Scotland and Ireland\r
We traveled from the Pacific West Coast to Scotland for the Scottish Clan Tour. We arrived in Scotland at 8:30 AM. We were exhausted. Since the hotel isn't ready for check in until 2PM, we did try to do the Edinburgh hop on hop off tour. I would never schedule it with that timeline again. \r
Our driver Tom Caskie is a fantastic guide. He is very knowledgeable on the geology and history of his country. He made our trip memorable.\r
The first hints of a problem came at the Thistle King James hotel dinner. The reservations had been made but no vouchers. This became an ongoing problem with Lynott. It became a joke with the group that a voucher issue came up almost daily. \r
The bed and breakfast in the Ft. William area refused to accept us until they received vouchers for the three nights. Also, the bed and breakfast had its own issues. Their breakfast came with runny eggs and a hair in the food. The manager was determined to show there was no hair. Happily, she finally saw it too. Next, the manager grabbed a yogurt from a fellow traveling companion's hand. It would have been better to ask for the yogurt. Finally, we arrived late our last night at the residence. We didn't get a menu sheet for breakfast under the door. Since it was late, we simply waited to tell the cook our food choices the next day. He refused to believe that a menu hadn't been placed until the door. I left with the feeling that I was being called a liar. My husband backed me up and we finally got breakfast. \r
Ryanair for the trip from Scotland to Ireland hadn't been booked under our visa. Therefore, it took quite awhile to get the required pre-check completed. Lynott Tours finally got us checked in. Again the flight was scheduled early morning and we were delayed checking in to the Ireland hotel. \r
The Ireland tour with a different driver, Dave, started poorly. He picked up new family members to join the group. Due to their late schedule, we were late arriving at Trinity College. He left us for one hour but the museum to the Book of Kells was only open for 20 more minutes. This wasn’t enough time to see the entire museum and the library. We missed seeing over half of the museum. He admitted that he knew the closing time. We were left waiting in the rain for our driver’s return.\r
The Kilkenny River Court has a small entrance. Therefore the driver dropped us off with luggage on a side street. \r
We were shorted on time in Cobh. There my husband had wanted to walk the docks that his ancestors had walked on their way to America. Instead, time for a quick lunch and 1/2 through the museum is all the time we had.\r
The hotel in Shannon was terrible. We woke up several times due to noise. The manager knocked on our door when we were asleep. By the time we woke, he opened our door and was walking into our room.\r
Pros: Our driver in Scotland Tom Caskie
Cons: Vouchers, bed and breakfast, schedule shorted time at desir
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