FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions About our Irish Tours

The good news is Ireland is now open for international travellers who are fully vaccinated or have the EU Digital Covid Certificate (DCC). Adult travellers who arrive in Ireland with proof of vaccination or the DCC will have no travel-related testing or quarantine requirement.

This means that, whether your trip originates in the USA, Canada or elsewhere in the world, you will be able to enter Ireland as long as you can prove you are fully vaccinated or have the EU Digital Covid Certificate.

When arriving into Ireland from Canada or the USA, you must carry proof that you are fully vaccinated with a full course of one of the approved vaccines.

If you don’t carry such valid proof of vaccination, or the EU Digital Covid Certificate for EU residents, you will need to enter some form of quarantine.

When you arrive in Ireland from a country to which the emergency brake hasn't been applied and don't carry proof of vaccination, you will need to:

• Present evidence of a negative PCR test result within 72 hours prior to arrival into the country;
• Self-quarantine at an address provided on the Passenger Locator Form (this will be subject to spot checks);
• Undergo post-arrival testing, provided by the Irish health service.

A mandatory 14 day hotel quarantine is only required if you arrive in Ireland without proof of vaccination from a country to which the emergency brake mechanism has been applied.

What’s the Emergency Brake?

The EU will apply an 'emergency brake' mechanism to countries where Covid-19 and/or variants of concern are becoming widespread.

If you arrive in Ireland from a country to which this mechanism has been applied, you will have to undergo some form of quarantine. This will be dependent on your vaccination status.

The emergency brake mechanism will be continually assessed by the EU based on the spread of variants. All relevant updates will be posted here. Confirmed 2021 guests will be notified directly of major changes.

Read the official Irish government advice on travelling to Ireland during the pandemic

Adult travellers who arrive in Ireland must show either a valid EU Digital Covid Certificate or valid proof that they are fully vaccinated (if not a resident of the EU or participating partner countries).

Because Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom (UK), entry requirements may differ from those in the Republic of Ireland.

⚠️ Guidelines for incoming travellers to Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK have recently changed (on August 2).

US, Canadian and other travellers face differing re-entry requirements when you return from Ireland, depending on your home destination.

All travellers arriving in Ireland must show proof of vaccination OR a valid EU Digital Covid Certificate (DCC) to avoid quarantine.

As a result, we expect the number of unvaccinated guests on our tours in the 2021 season to be negligible.

Testing centres offering various tests are available across Dublin city as well as in Dublin Airport.

Dingle is one of our absolute favourites from the dozens of quaint Irish towns and villages we visit.

Our guests and VagaGuides love Dingle so much that we decided to spend 2 nights there on most tours.

The welfare of our guests and staff, as well as that of the communities we visit, will always be paramount.

While Ireland may be fully reopened at the time of your tour — and the legendary Vagabond craic is guaranteed — we have put precautionary measures in place to keep everyone safe:

To qualify as 'fully vaccinated' under Irish government rules, incoming travellers must have received a full course of any one of the below list of approved vaccines.

In addition, you must have completed your full course a set amount of days before travelling.

You may have heard that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has changed its advice for travelling to Ireland.

Although travel is not currently recommended to Ireland (or the UK) from the USA, we believe that this is mainly due to a cyber hack on our health system here in Ireland which has meant that our infection figures cannot be 100% verified at the moment.

EU residents can avail of an EU Digital Covid Certificate (DCC) when they travel within the European Union (EU) and six other European countries (Iceland, Liechenstein, Norway, San Marino, Switzerland and the Vatican City).

A DCC is proof that the carrier has either:

If you're from the USA, Canada, Australia or New Zealand, travelling for the sole purpose of tourism and staying less than 3 months in Ireland, you do not need a visa.

From a different country? Check the visa requirements on the official Irish government website.

If in doubt, please contact the Irish Immigration Service. Alternatively, contact the Irish embassy or consulate in your home country.

Vagabond Cultural Adventure Tours are centred around adventure activities. We think you'll enjoy them if you're an active person with at least a moderate level of fitness.

More detail on Vagabond adventure activities:

The minimum number for our tours is two people.

In normal times your departure is 100% guaranteed once you've booked your tour (as long as there is one other person booked). Prior to the pandemic we had never ever cancelled a tour.

The maximum group size is 13 for active Vagabond Tours.

The maximum group size is 15 for relaxed Driftwood Tours.

We welcome lots of solo travellers on tour. Take one of our small group tours for a hassle-free way to explore Ireland and meet new friends.

Read more about solo travel with us in Ireland

Anytime is a good time to visit Ireland!

All of our tours leave from our pick-up/drop-off point at the Grand Canal Hotel in Dublin.

Our pick-up times from the Grand Canal Hotel vary by tour:

We require a deposit of €100 per person of the tour price to secure your booking.

The remaining balance is due 30 days before departure. If there is less than 30 days until departure when you book, full payment is required.

Find out more on our Book A Tour page

All ages enjoy our tours.

However, there's a minimum age of 8 years old for a scheduled tour. Do you have younger children? Check out our private family tour page.

We have two types of tours: active Vagabond and relaxed Driftwood.

Our relaxed and easy-paced Driftwood Tours range in length from 6-11 days.

Our active and adventurous Vagabond Tours range in length from 5-12 days.