Speaker 1: 0:02

Welcome to the Z Michelson Travel Podcast, where every journey is a story waiting to be told. I'm your host, z Michelson, and I'm so excited to take you on a ride through the world's most incredible destinations, hidden gems and unforgettable experiences. Whether you're a seasoned traveler or just starting to plan your next getaway, you're in the right place. Each episode, we'll be diving into everything from must-see landmarks to off-the-beaten-path treasures, speaking with locals and travel experts and sharing stories that will inspire your next adventure. So sit back, relax and let's wander the world together, one destination at a time. Are you ready? Let's get started. Hey, this is Zee Michelson, and you're not going to believe who I have with me today. I have Robert Eagles. He is from CIE Tours and we are going to learn all about Great Britain and Ireland with CIE Tours and everything over there. So, robert, welcome to the show. Tell me more about CIE Tours.

Speaker 2: 1:11

Hey Z, thanks so much for having me. First and foremost, I really appreciate the opportunity to get out here and get our name out there a little bit. So CIE Tours who we are? We are the premier destination specialist to Ireland and Britain. We are actually an Irish-owned company. Cie stands for Corus Impar Aeron, which means Irish Transportation System in the Irish language.

Speaker 2: 1:35

In 1932, the Irish government, through CIE, which is basically their Department of Transportation, decided they wanted to bring more tourism over to Ireland, so they opened up CIE Tours in the? U. They wanted to bring more tourism over to Ireland, so they opened up CIE Tours in the US to bring tourism over. And 94 years later we are still bringing tourism from the US and Canada over to Ireland, britain and now beyond as well. We do offer the largest choice and breadth of product in Ireland and Britain. In 2026, we will have, I think we're up to 38 unique itineraries that do Ireland, the different countries in Britain or a crossover and a mix-up of all of them, which is more than any other supplier by about twice as many. We also offer more departures than most of our suppliers On some of our more popular itineraries. In the summer months, when it's busier, you might see three or four departures in the same week. You're lucky to even get two with another supplier. So that volume of people that we bring over to Ireland really has led us to become the bigwigs over there.

Speaker 2: 2:36

Suppliers that work on the Ireland side love to work with us. Hoteliers know if CIE Tours is coming through for the year, that's less work that they have to do to market themselves to fill their rooms. Tour directors know that they're going to get more business and more tips when they have CIE Tours using them. And the same thing with step-off guides, who are really the experts in the small destinations we stop at. They know when CIE Tours is coming through. That's just more business for them. So we kind of get the red carpet rolled out for our customers and that really does show up.

Speaker 2: 3:06

All of our guests get a on their trip guest satisfaction survey on their last day that we asked them to fill out and give to the coach driver at the end of the tour. Based on those, year after year we were looking at 95% and higher on that one. So people love our tours and keep coming back for more. Well, eventually people came back so much they said we've seen Ireland, we've seen Britain. Where else can you take us? So in 2018, we started doing Italy and Iceland. We're up to three itineraries in Iceland and we're up to six in Italy, and then this year, in 2025, we started doing Spain as well. So we're slowly expanding, but we're never going to do the whole world, but the parts of it that we do do, we're going to do better than anybody else.

Speaker 1: 3:49

Well, I like that idea. You do it better than anybody else. But you know, I have listeners that are going to say, okay, we're going to be on a tour bus. What size is the tour bus? Is it air conditioned? Do you have Wi-Fi? These are some of the questions that they'll throw at me. So tell me more about these excursions in Ireland and in England.

Speaker 2: 4:09

You got it. Before I go on, I'm not allowed to say the B word. I must call it the coach, but our full-size luxury motor coaches are all manufactured by Mercedes-Benz Nice. They will seat up to 50 passengers. However, we capped all of our tours at 44 passengers.

Speaker 2: 4:28

Okay, so it's not too crowded, not too crowded, and even for those that say they don't even want to have the idea of 44 passengers, we do offer some small group departures as well, where it's that same full-size coach but we maxed out at only 26 passengers. You just get a little bit more room to spread out, and I really like the small group departures because it's just a little bit more of an intimate experience. You get to know the other guests a little bit better. You get a little bit more attention from your tour director and the step-off guides as we go from destination to destination as well. I just think it's a great way to feel even more of that cultural immersion that you get with our tours.

Speaker 1: 5:04

So I just think it's a great way to feel even more of that cultural immersion that you get with our tours. So now, when they're on the coach, do they have the same driver?

Speaker 2: 5:08

through the whole trip. It depends on the destination. So, yes, you're always going to have the same tour director for a trip. Your tour director is never going to change. In Ireland, the tour director is always the driver as well. However, in Britain so England, scotland and Wales there are laws over there that require there to be a separate driver and tour director, so you'll change. You may have a driver change, but your tour director will always be the same. Some of our itineraries that start in Britain and then move over to Ireland, actually the Britain tour director is just leading it and the driver's kind of driving along. Then when you ferry over to Ireland, the driver who was driving now becomes the tour director on a lot of those tours as well. So you still have some continuity with that which people really like.

Speaker 1: 5:55

Yeah, that's. A lot of people like to know that they're with the same person. It makes them feel a little bit more secure. What about Wi-Fi on these coaches? Do you have Wi-Fi on the coaches?

Speaker 2: 6:05

Always have Wi-Fi and it actually works pretty well.

Speaker 2: 6:09

I've done a few of our tours now and I've been able to stay connected and not have to use international data, and it's really helpful being on the coach. However, one thing about our tour that I think is phenomenal is you don't even want to use the Wi-Fi sometimes because when you go from destination to destination, your tour director or driver guide you're not just sitting around playing on your phone, staring out the window, chatting it up. They're regaling you with history, with lore, with stories, with personal information. I've even had a driver guide that was singing to us and he was a very good singer as well, but they keep you engaged the entire time.

Speaker 2: 6:44

I know some people's reservation is like, oh, I don't want to sit on a bus all day, but that's why we say it's a coach and you have a tour director that's really there to engage you and that really helps you out, feel that cultural immersion. You know you're not like I said, you're not staring out the window, you don't feel like you're just moving along looking at people and things in a zoo. It really you get a lot more out of it with the tour director.

Speaker 1: 7:05

They're getting a little bit more of a background. Now are they air-conditioned coaches?

Speaker 2: 7:10

Air-conditioned and heated, so depending on what time of year you're over there, you're always going to be comfortable on that coach Fabulous.

Speaker 1: 7:16

Okay, give me an example of some of the places that you will stay, like the hotels.

Speaker 2: 7:25

So a majority of our tours we all look at we're always going to be staying in four star and above hotels. Sometimes you're going to see some of your major change that you see over here in the US and Canada we have double trees, we have some Hilton properties, etc. But oftentimes and really this is what kind of sets us apart, especially in Ireland and Britain is because we offer so many itineraries, a lot of them. We're getting a little bit off the beaten path, so you get some more of the small boutique hotels, the manor homes, even some of our higher end tours. You're looking at castle stays occasionally, which people absolutely adore to do, so you're looking at four star and above. Now in Iceland it's commonplace to see three star hotels just because they don't quite have the offering of four star hotels, when Iceland can be very expensive when it comes to just about everything.

Speaker 1: 8:09

Let's talk mainly right now about Ireland and England or Great Britain let's talk about. You say hotels and you say castles, people. You know, as soon as people say, oh, we're going to Ireland or they're going to Scotland, they think, oh, I want to go to a castle. So when you're doing your tours, you have pre-packaged tours. Now how long are some of these tours?

Speaker 2: 8:32

Our tours are as short as five days and they go as long as I believe. 16 days is our longest scheduled itinerary.

Speaker 1: 8:39

Okay, yeah, when people go overseas, sometimes they don't want to go for just a short amount of time, they want to go a little bit longer. Now, I know there's a lot of things that are happening. You know, during Halloween time Ireland is like the land of Halloween, or Samhain as they call it, so I know there's a lot of that. Can CIE Tours create a package tour for clients that might want to do a whole family get-together and create a tour for them?

Speaker 2: 9:08

Absolutely. That is well within our wheelhouse and we actually really do shine brightest when we do those in Ireland and Britain. So we do do fully customizable tours and we do them two ways. One is custom groups, so groups with us are 10 passengers or more. But this is great for your large family reunion, maybe people that just love to travel together, golfers, whiskey enthusiasts, people that want to go and get something specific out of a trip over to Ireland and or Britain that we don't offer on our regular tours. We actually go ahead and do fully customizable planning to really hit exactly what you're looking for. So for 10 passengers or more, we'll do those as part of coach tours as well, but for very small groups so nine passengers or less, we do have our private car and driver program as well.

Speaker 1: 9:57

Oh wow, Private car and driver. That sounds nice.

Speaker 2: 10:00

It is nice, so this is great. So we consider, I would say, our tours. We call them four-star vacations based on the experience and the hotel level you're staying at. So private driver is great for that discerning four-star customer that does want to spend the extra money to have that custom personalized experience and have a driver and guide with them the entire time, all the way up to people that are looking for really high-end, ultra luxury. Like I mentioned, some of those manor homes and castle stays if you're looking to have that every night on your tour, our private driver department can do those as well. So a private driver, like I said, is great for your four-star customers all the way up to the high-end, ultra luxury people looking for that really special, unique experience.

Speaker 1: 10:41

That's wonderful. That's wonderful. Now, what else is included? Are any meals included? I know hotels are included. I know the excursions are included. Are any of the meals included?

Speaker 2: 10:50

So, yes, about half your meals are going to be included. Every day you're going to have a hot breakfast in your hotel and it's not, like you know, just a continent of breakfast, cereal, fruit. When I went to Ireland last time, I told myself you're not going to eat a full Irish breakfast every morning, and every morning I ate a full Irish breakfast.

Speaker 1: 11:07

Keeps you going, keeps you going.

Speaker 2: 11:09

It sure does. It sure does you know plus. So every day you get breakfast in the hotel, except for day one, you know. Usually day one people get in in the morning and don't check into the hotel until late morning, early afternoon, but then most days you'll get lunch or dinner. Some days you don't get either, some days you get both. But I think that's great. It's a great mix, so you can have a little bit of time to do some independent exploration and go out there and find some meals and find something to do on your own as well, as then just have the preset meals, because some days you've had a longer day than other days. You've seen a lot of sites, you've been on off the coach and you're just tired. You get back to the hotel, you want to eat dinner and go and cool your heels afterwards.

Speaker 1: 11:50

That's for sure.

Speaker 2: 11:50

Some days will be very busy and I think we do a great job of mixing up. But I love that you ask about inclusions, because this is something else that actually sets us apart from other tour operators. We call it our all-in advantage. So, like you just asked, it's not quite all-inclusive, but it is very inclusive. One thing is there's no optional additional excursions. Everything is included in the price of the tour. Other tour operators you have a list of included things.

Speaker 2: 12:19

Then at the end of the day of touring, the tour director takes off their tour director hat, becomes a salesperson and says for an additional 150 euros per person. We can also do this. We don't do that. We just include all those excursions in the price. Number one people don't want to be nickel and dimed or get FOMO if they're not going to experience it because they don't want to spend the extra money. And it's very expensive to go on tours. You know whether it's with us or another company, and we just want people to not have to worry about spending extra money. So all you really need to spend when you're on tours with us is any. You know, obviously your discretional spending, some of the meals that are not included and then, of course, gratuities for the, you know, the tour directors and some of the step-off guides.

Speaker 1: 13:04

What are the recommended gratuity amounts that you?

Speaker 2: 13:06

would suggest. So that depends If you have just a driver who does the driver and guide on a full-size departure, I believe it is about nine euros per person per day. If you have a separate driver and guide, I think they recommend each one gets six euros per person per day. If you have a separate driver and guide, I think they recommend each one gets six euros per person per day. Now, a good thing about tipping, and then with the step-off guys, usually it's one or two euros per person. Now, something that we do do to kind of keep everybody in the know is we actually send a backpack set out with everybody's travel documents. You get a CIA Tours branded backpack, water bottle, rain poncho, luggage tag, luggage straps, wall outlet converters and then an in-destination guide. That does cover some. You know just some. You know cultural things about going over to different countries, including what tipping culture and the recommended tipping guidelines are.

Speaker 1: 13:53

So this is all part of your package.

Speaker 2: 13:55

All part of our package. Whether it's your first time traveling with us or your 10th time traveling with us, whether there's only one person going in your group or there are four people going in your group, every single person gets that backpack every time they go, with their travel documents, with the extras and that indestination guide, depending on where you're heading.

Speaker 1: 14:13

Fabulous. I mean, these are all nice little things that people need to know about CIE Tours, and you've been in the business since 1932. So you've been around the block a few times, so to speak, and you go to these nice hotels that people are staying at. That's also part of the tour. That's part of the package or part of the layout plan that they choose. Can anybody go to the website and look to see what tours are available?

Speaker 2: 14:41

Yes, absolutely so. Cietourscom. Pretty easy to remember, but we have all of our tours sorted out by destination. So if you're looking to do Ireland, maybe you want to do Scotland and Ireland. Maybe you want to give our new itinerary in Spain a try. We've got it sorted all out by destination and all the dates are shown on the website.

Speaker 1: 15:01

Wonderful. Now, when somebody goes to England or Ireland and they want to do, say, the Irish tour, do you have people pick them up at the airport? Is that part of the package as well?

Speaker 2: 15:12

So we can. If you come in on the same day of your tour, we can do transfers. We also can do air as well. So if people really want to get that whole very inclusive package, our air department can book their air, we can do their transfers and then, of course, the very inclusive tour that we offer as well.

Speaker 1: 15:31

If a travel advisor decides to call because their clients are looking at something like this, you can guide the travel advisor to say okay, the transfers are an additional. If they're coming in a day early, Can you add on to a tour? Can they do a pre or post?

Speaker 2: 15:48

Absolutely. So we do try to get pre or post in the same hotel where the tour starts at. Occasionally, if we run out of space, we may have to put them in a different hotel. Or you know, sometimes a hotel will say we can include it, but there's going to be a surcharge because you're over your contracted allotment. But our team will kind of go over all that with you before they say, yes, book it. We'll make sure to communicate everything with you so you know what's going on.

Speaker 1: 16:12

Fabulous. Now, what airline do you currently utilize, or is it open based on price point?

Speaker 2: 16:18

Pretty open, we have contracts with most of the major carriers out there. Pretty open, we have contracts with most of the major carriers out there. Obviously, a big one for us is going to be Aer Lingus, but we have contracts with Delta, United, American, JetBlue, Air Canada, WestJet.

Speaker 1: 16:37

If you think of your major carriers, you likely will be able to do that and, again, probably coming from wherever they're coming from would indicate which airline you would be able to utilize.

Speaker 2: 16:43

Correct, and if you have a preferred airline, we can see about making that work for you as well. Oh, nice, nice. Wherever they're coming from would indicate which airline you would be able to utilize. Correct, Now. And if you have a preferred airline, we can see about making that work for you as well. Oh, nice, nice. Now. Sometimes, if you know there's not a lot of flights out of your closest gateway, you know you may have to have a layover, occasionally two, if you really want to, you know, but we'll give you options. Let's say, you got one on your preferred airlines, but it was going to have two layovers. Bring it back to us. We're not going to make you sit there and do what you don't want to do. We'll make it work for you, right?

Speaker 1: 17:08

And then, of course, you got the pre and posts and people can actually work with you for the pre and posts. So a travel advisor can contact you and say okay, I have eight clients that are looking to do this, this and this, but they want to come in a little bit earlier. You know to rest. You know because you know flying overseas. Usually you wind up with red-eye flights.

Speaker 2: 17:29

Almost always, and I definitely recommend coming in a day early because you know you want to get there and adjust. Now one thing now it doesn't always happen, but sometimes it happens. Remember when I said hotels like to roll out the red carpet for our guests. So when I went to Ireland it was in March my flight landed in Dublin before 5 o'clock in the morning. I was at my hotel at 6 am and they said Mr Eagles, your room is ready for you. Wow, and I was able to go in, have a nice little nap and feel refreshed before 2 o'clock when my tour started. So you know, does that always happen? No, so you know, does that always happen? No, but it happens. You know, a pretty fair amount.

Speaker 1: 18:07

So that's you know, something that really is a benefit of traveling with us as well. Now I know England and Ireland and Iceland can get a little nippy. Is it year round? Do you have year round tours?

Speaker 2: 18:15

Yes, in Iceland we are there year round. In Ireland, britain we're there year round. Now we don't have a lot of itineraries, especially like December, january, even early February. We do have a few that go around some of our evergreen itineraries, just because the weather's not great and people don't love to travel. But yeah, we do do tours year round in all of our destinations. I believe we may take a few. I know we take a few months off from Spain in the summer because it gets a little bit too hot. You know we take a few months off from Spain in the summer because it gets a little bit too hot, and same thing with our Sicily itinerary in Italy.

Speaker 1: 18:46

Yeah, I can get a little toasty there. I had a friend over in Italy not too long ago reporting on it's 110 degrees.

Speaker 2: 18:53

And you know Europe it's old, they don't all have, you know, everywhere isn't always air conditioned. Now, the hotels that we put your customers up at are always heated and air conditioned. That we put your customers up at are always heated and air conditioned. But you know, when you're going from place to place some restaurants and sightseeing, not everywhere may have air conditioning or the air conditioning that we come to expect in the States, so it can be a little bit toasty as well, and I always advise my listeners as well as other people that are thinking about going overseas.

Speaker 1: 19:19

there are a few things that you need to ask for. One is does the room have air conditioning? Two is does the room have air conditioning? Two is does the room have a bathroom? Sometimes they have to share bathrooms.

Speaker 2: 19:27

Oh no. So in our hotels you'll always have your own bathroom.

Speaker 1: 19:30

That's good too.

Speaker 2: 19:31

But I just had flashbacks to dorm living in college with the shared bathroom.

Speaker 1: 19:35

I know that can get a little choppy. So I always tell them find out if it has air conditioning, find out if you have your own bathroom. These are some of the things that they need to know and I always ask you know, like CIE Tours and other tour companies, do you accommodate for these things? And you just told me, yes, you have air conditioning and, yes, there are bathrooms, absolutely.

Speaker 2: 19:57

They may be small, but they're there.

Speaker 1: 19:59

Right as long as they're there. So that's very interesting. Now, before we close, because we've already been chatting already for over 20 minutes before we close, is there anything else that we should know about cie tours that maybe people don't know?

Speaker 2: 20:13

well, uh, you know I think I kind of covered most of it. Um, a couple of different things. Uh, something I didn't mention is, besides our coach tours, our custom groups, our private driver, we do have coming out in 2026, a couple of walking and hiking based itineraries that are really great for your light active traveler. Every day there's two different itineraries in Ireland and every day you'll do a two to six mile hike with a very small group. Plus then your culturally immersive experiences as well. And because the groups are so small only 16 passengers we're really getting off the beaten path and showing you some places you may not otherwise see. Going to Ireland and Britain. That's new for us next year and we're so excited to give that a try.

Speaker 2: 20:57

And then, one thing I didn't mention is our day tripper collection. So some people don't like the idea of a coach tour because you feel like I'm going to be living out of a suitcase going from place to place. So we have four day tripper itineraries where you unpack once, stay at the same hotel and then the coach and tour director pick you up. Every day they take you out to do your sightseeing, your culturally immersive experiences, and then have you back in time to stay at the same hotel. It really takes the sting and intensity out of a coach touring itinerary and it's just a great way to introduce folks into that world of guided vacations. We're confident that they're either going to want to do something a little bit more intensive next time or at least try the other day trippers that we offer as well, Right, Very nice.

Speaker 1: 21:38

A lot of people just like to unpack once. They don't like to keep messing with it. But I know, with CIE Tours you do have your coach driver and from what I understand is you know they take care of your luggage. You don't have to be schlepping it yourself. Is that correct?

Speaker 2: 21:53

Porterage for one bag per person is included, so that does make it easier on you.

Speaker 1: 22:06

And the gratuities for the porters is included as well. You don't need to worry about tipping your hotel staff, because we take care of all that for you. Wonderful, and I always tell people when you're going overseas pack lightly, because sometimes you will have to pick up your own suitcase every now and then.

Speaker 2: 22:13

But we, you know, really, it's just, you know, the airport's really the only place they might have to worry about picking up that luggage.

Speaker 1: 22:20

Well, again, it's cietourscom. In case anybody's interested in looking at the website and seeing what's available, if travel advisors want to do it, it's also cietourscom and I'm sure travel advisors, if they have any questions, can call directly. So it's been a pleasure speaking with you today and I'm hoping we can get you back on to talk more about individual tours. You know, hear about some of the places that you might have gone to and let people know how it was.

Speaker 2: 22:51

I would love to do that in the near future. We've got some really great itineraries that are great for your folks that have Ireland on the bucket list, want to go once and see it all.

Speaker 1: 22:59

Okay, thank you very much, robert. It's been a pleasure talking with you. Have a great day.

Speaker 2: 23:04

You too Z.

Speaker 1: 23:05

Well, that's it for today's episode of the Z Michelson Travel Podcast. I hope you enjoyed our journey and found some new inspiration for your next adventure. Remember, the world is full of stories and sometimes all it takes is a plane ticket to start your own adventure. If you loved today's episode, be sure to tune in every week and don't forget to share your favorite travel moments with me on social media. I'd really love to hear about where you're headed to next. So, until next time, keep exploring, keep discovering and, as always, keep traveling with your heart wide open. I'm Zee Michelson and I'll see you on the next adventure.