Over The Top Tours

I went on a tour with Over The Top in October 2013 with my father and we had a wonderful time. We went on the Wicklow and Glendalough tour.
The views were incredible, our guide was very nice and informative, and the music in the tour bus was fantastic. I heard a song by The Dubliners today and it launched me back into my seat on that bus and inspired me to share my experience.
It’s a smaller bus, which allows it to go over the mountains where the larger tour buses can’t reach. I feel like it gave us a really unique experience and I enjoyed not feeling as though I was being herded around in a huge crowd.
We received an in-​depth and keen history lesson that felt really heartfelt and authentic. I felt like our guide gave me a better feeling for the Irish culture and persona during our tour than I could have fully comprehended and appreciated had I stayed in the country for a month.
We got to check out a hidden lake off the beaten path, stopped at a great pub for lunch, and had tons of opportunities for pictures. There was a lot of explanation as to what we were seeing and, it felt like, an equal amount of time to explore on our own and appreciate the environment.
We even got a quick hurling lesson and a refreshing break for tea!

I had the most amazing experience using these folks. While I initially had a bit of trouble getting in contact by email, when I called Olwyn was lovely and helped me book for the tours which were running. I did the Glendalough and Wicklow Tour which exceeded my expectations in every way.
Our tour guide Dennis was charming and lovely. His passion for his heritage and culture really shows and he was full of information. He really made the trip that much more special, and answered all our questions to the best of his knowledge and with a smile.
The tour itself goes over the top of the mountain and you see several different kinds of scenery, from peat bogs, hillsides covered in gorse and heather, and lakes and natural sights along the way to Glendalough, which was incredibly beautiful and breath taking.
There was plenty of time out of the van, and the small group really made the trip feel more personal and off the beaten track. I would hands down go back and do the trip again when the heather is in bloom. and I will be sure to ask for Dennis!

As a European I am often wary of this type of tours: I usually presume they are tacky rip-​offs for gullible Americans who don’t know their way around. The problem in Ireland is that public transport is quite bad so these tours are heaven-​sents for people who cannot afford to hire a car. The guide was a very nice fellow, friendly and very well-​informed on the history and details of the places he took us too. The bus was really small, which contributed to the nice atmosphere boosted by the Irish music that accompanied it.
We were taken also to the castle were Braveheart was filmed, and were guided around the castle (we were the only visitors so we didnt have annoying people in the way when we took pictures) by this nice fella who worked as an actor for Mel Gibson. Really enthusiastic and friendly.
Apart form this castle and the hill of Tara, we also stopped to visit nice cairns on some hilltop that pre-​date the pyramids, and various other sites.
There was a luncn break during which we were taking to a hidden rural inn in the heart of the countryside, away from tourists, and the increase in price that they carry with them.
I would highly recommend this tour to anyone.

This is the best way to see a great citty. Take the stop at the guinness brewery. It‘s fab.

I highly recommend this tour company and give it five stars. If you’re looking to see the natural beauty, take some great pictures, and have a fabulous time then this tour is for you. I took the Celtic tour and had the most awesome experience. I’m not normally fond of organized tours since some of them don’t give you a lot of freedom to explore the sites. However, Over the Top Tours was very good, and I’m glad I did it.
Our tour guide, Paul was a very funny Irish man who believed in ghosts and nature spirits. He seemed to have the gift of gab and told us many interesting tales, legends, superstitions, and folklore.
He played U2 and other Irish music while he drove us around the ancient and mystical monuments.
Ireland is filled with them, and I visited a few surviving structures from the Stone Age and medieval times. One of the most recognizable megalithic structures is grass-​covered mounds, which are 4000 to 5000 years old. Our first stop was the Valley of the Kings where the Fourknocks tomb is located. It’s a green covered mound that looks like a hobbit home with a short passage leading into a chamber with three smaller offset chambers with stone carvings. There are three grass-​covered mounds in this location, and only one is open to the public. Paul said the two represented the underworld and the present world, and the only one that was opened was four knocks, which represents the next world. Legends say that if you go to the mound and walk around clockwise, you could get a free pass to the next world. (So I did. hehe) He said it might not necessarily be heaven, but it could be the next dimension. Inside the passage, tombs are decorated with megalithic art such as concentric circles, spirals, zigzags, pyramids, and images. They have been interpreted as the moon, the, sun and the human face. Paul said that the Celts believed in reincarnation and the spirals symbolize the cycle of life. Most of their myths and legends deal with this journeying and movement through the experiences of life, death, and rebirth in the ever-​changing directional flow of the spiral. The tour lasts a full day, so be prepared to do a lot of walking and exploring. I learned so much from this tour and will do it again. (Checkout my pictures)

I’ve been on their ‘Celtic Experience Tour’ twice now and it’s been great fun. They specialise in small group tours so you don’t have more than 14 people and a small bus, which means you’ll go down small country roads as opposed to staying on the main roads. On the tour you get to see Fourknocks, which is an ancient hill-​grave– and it’s freezing cold there– along with the monastery of Monasterboice and the Hills of Tara and Slane. Paul, the driver and tour-​guide knows the history inside and out and he also always brings cookies for the free coffee during the tour. This is one of the best guided tours I’ve been on, informative and fun. There is lots of breaks during the tour and you can climb around in the ruins on the Hill of Slane– I wouldn’t recommend climbing up the tower though, it’s very hard to get back down.