Relaxed pace, flexible guide, and a great “home base” setup This was my 9th trip with Dave Schrader, and traveling with friends I’ve made on his tours is always a highlight. Secret Ireland Tours made it even better. One thing I really liked was the hotel setup, three nights at the first two hotels and two at the last. On other tours I’ve usually gotten two nights in one place at most, so having a base to travel out from each day was great. Ruthin Castle Hotel and Spa was my favorite. I enjoyed exploring the halls and various sitting rooms, and the gorgeous grounds with peacocks. The quiet town is just a short walk outside the castle gate. Our guide, Adrian, handled changes well. When the group wanted more free time in Cardiff, he reworked the day’s schedule so we still made it to our “surprise” location that afternoon. When a planned activity fell through on our last day, he rescheduled it for the evening, which gave us extra time to explore. I’d happily recommend this tour.

Just got back from an incredible trip to Wales with Dave Schrader. The castles we toured were beautiful and interesting. I especially appreciated that we were given audio guides at the majority of our tours so we were able to pick our own speed to go through and take in the surroundings while learning the history of the buildings we were in and if people were more interested in just viewing and walking around, they were free to do that also. One of the highlights of the trip for me was getting to stay in Ruthin Castle for three nights - what a beautiful place full of so much history; I felt like a princess. I loved that we weren't constantly on the go, switching from hotel to hotel every night - we were able to relax and enjoy the cities that we were in. It was a perfect compromise. Adrian was our tour guide for this trip and I am so happy with everything he did for us. He was constantly running things behind the scenes while we were enjoying our time exploring and learning. He kept us all on track and happy. He truly went out of his way to make sure that this was one of the best trips we have ever experienced. Any problems that came along - lost luggage, bags, a tour guide who suddenly cancels at last minute - Adrian had it covered. He was fun and engaging and extremely knowledgeable in all the spooky and legendary topics we love. I have had the chance to tour many countries (most of them on trips with Dave Schrader) and I can honestly say that this was a trip that will stand out in my memory. Wales was a welcoming and beautiful country and Mai and her team gave us the best overview of the country and its many hidden gems. It was well-planned and they did their best to accommodate everyone's interests, whether it be shopping, late night pub fun, history, or haunted tales. We had the time of our lives!

I just came back from the Scotland Secret Ireland Tour with tour guide, Adrian O’Neill and Scottish Paranormal’s (SP) Ryan O’Neill.   It was wonderful! We started in beautiful Stirling where we reconnected with, and met new, tour participants. We also were able to reconnect with SP co-founder Greg Stewart and SP admin extraordinaire, Lisa Sproat. Ryan and Greg provided us with an in-depth digital companion that detailed everything on the itinerary, as well as provided the history and local stories. Lisa curated thoughtful goodie bags for us and made us delicious tablet.    Ryan’s expertise and contagious enthusiasm during our investigations at the Stirling Cemetery, Stirling Jail, Torwood Castle, Bannockburn House, Ruthven Barracks, the Edinburgh Vaults, and the incomparable Balgonie Castle, made the trip exciting. He was kind enough to collect audio recordings of our investigations (mini and full) at nearly all of our many locations along the way!  We were treated to Greg’s amazing storytelling during an unforgettable ghost walk around St Andrew’s. Ryan and Greg also arranged for us to visit SP headquarters, which included a walk along the West Wemyss shores, whereupon we saw playful baby seals.   Having been to the Highlands on previous tours, I expected our hotels to be limited as to amenities due to the age of the buildings and their remote locations. Quality control seemed to be lacking at a couple of those hotels for some of us (rude staff and cleanliness). Carrying luggage up a couple flights however, was all but forgotten once we started investigating in our respective rooms. We were fortunate to stay in some “active” places, including the Britannia Hotel. My friend and I were able to communicate with spirit during our entire stay there.    I had the pleasure of getting to know our guide, Adrian. He was informative and shared his historic expertise with great humor. Adrian was attentive and made sure he was several steps ahead by providing refreshments, checking on upcoming venue times, and locating restaurants for us.   This was my third overseas tour and each one of them had to deal with unexpected changes due to timing, logistics, or venue availability. Adrian and Ryan took those challenges on and gave us an unforgettable experience. Scotland is a beautiful country and the Scottish people were exceptionally kind and accommodating. I am so grateful to Mai and the team for providing us a fantastic slice of beautiful Scotland!

I was excited to support Ryan O’Neill my friend and his work so I signed up again with Secret Ireland Tours. I had an issue on my last booked trip to Ireland where I paid as a single traveler but somehow had very small beds to sleep in every single night on the tour. Anyway I figured with this big mistake that Mai would do the right thing and give me a better deal on this trip to Scotland. No such luck. This trip was more expensive than expected and airfare was alot more. There were really no emails prior to this trip which began Oct 1st leading up to it. Very disorganized and no real updates to prepare us for this trip. Too many websites to maintain etc. The tour itself was decent, the first 2 hotels were lovely but then they sadly went down hill rapidly. I am very allergic to black mold and recently had arm surgery so no lifts in these last few hotels really cost my arm a lot of pain. People were friendly enough to help me. The sites we saw were beautiful, however when I asked our Tour Guide Adrian if he could please get us undated with a little history prior to exiting the bus that would’ve been helpful but when I asked him he said “ I am NOT the Tour Guide, that is the Ambassadors responsibility “. This was quite a shock to me. Why was he there then? He did have a major drinking problem that was quickly noticed by most of the guests. He always disappeared once we offloaded the bus to see the sites. He would show back up smelling like alcohol and was really no assistance to anyone. He was there to support the owner of Secret Ireland Tours Mai, I certainly hope he gets the help he needs for his family and business. The last few sites were lovely , however the last few hotels were below standard I felt. I had a severe allergic reaction to Lovh Lochness Hotel as it had a lot of black mold everywhere and the conditions of this hotel again were very low. There were stains on the sheets and carpet. To me this hotel should be closed by Scotland Health Department. I had a friend on the tour and it was her Birthday. I secretly told Ryan the Ambassador and he went out and purchased a cake and card for her. I was so excited. But then somehow the bus got switched while we were out looking at a historical site and the cake and card were left in the other bus as well as a few personal items by other guests, these were never retrieved even after advising Adrian of this mistake. He could care less to be honest which broke my heart for my dear friend The sites were lovely to see, I wish we had an actual Tour Guide to have told us history and general info. The weather was great , and Ryan , Lisa and Greg with Haunted Scotland made sure to make us all feel very welcomed always. I personally will never use Secret Ireland Tours as when I did send my concerns to Mai it quickly became about her and her health concerns. I do hope she gets better but I did pay quite a bit for this tour and was left with no Tour Guide , no history and no lovely insights about Scotland. If you plan to go to Scotland which I highly recommend book with a local Scottish tour. Then you can know where you are going with a proper professional tour guide.

I had an amazing time on the Haunted Scotland tour! From the very beginning, being picked up and escorted in a beautiful luxury motor coach, our hosts Ryan and Greg along with our tour manager Adrian made sure our trip was exceptional. Ryan and Greg introduced me to the world of paranormal investigations as they shared their extensive knowledge of the history of haunting in Scotland and the technology that is used to communicate and contact those who lived and died there. The investigations took us to places after hours that few tourists get to experience. I really felt like they made us part of the investigations and even gave us hands on experiences with their equipment. Our tour manager Adrian did an incredible job working behind the scenes to secure all the logistics that go into a tour like this. Our tickets to all the areas we went were ready for us and all the communication for our hotels and dining were arranged. The amount of work required was not lost on me. His insights and stories of Scotland and his homeland of Ireland added to the many highlights of my trip. Even when issues arose, as they inevitably do on any trip, Ryan, Greg and Adrian worked tirelessly and went above and beyond to make sure we were heard and accommodated. Even going as far as paying out of their own pockets to make sure our trip was exceptional. I have so many incredible memories from this trip and wouldn’t hesitate to book again in the future.