Vintage Tea Trips — Attraction in Dublin

Let's begin with the good. The people were nice and the sandwiches and desserts were good.

That's about where the good ends. We began the trip where only 2 seats were set for a group of 3, not a big deal, but not as welcoming, but they fixed it, grand. The tea is just bagged tea in a cup (not loose) but that makes sense since it's easier on a moving bus, sure.

We had ridden on the bus once before for an eco tour which was great, and they gave us a 5 min taster of the commentary which was dense, funny, and informative, so we were eager to attend the whole thing.

However, we were quite disappointed as during the recent full 60/70min tour, maybe 4-5 sentences were given total, and the guide even missed all the fun points yer man had discussed on the eco tour.

The scones were cold and dry; in the previous experience a year ago, you could smell them being cooked fresh on the bus and they were delicious, compared to what seemed like dry, old store bought scones. We asked for clotted cream and were told "there was an issue with the kitchen a month ago, so we don't have it sorry" but, really, it's been a month and it hasn't been fixed, and there are other cold things so presumably a refrigerator is available, so I don't understand this and felt lied to and they're just choosing to lower the standards on the bus.

At €55/pp you can get a lovely tea anywhere, with a variety of loose leaf tea, nice fresh scones and clotted cream (which they used to do on the bus but looks like not any more). The draw to this tour was being on the bus (lovely ambiance, the bus is beautiful) and hearing a good commentary. The commentary portion was severely lacking, and 4-5 sentences on an hour long tour isn't very informative. The eco tour had a much more in depth tour, and the "taster tea commentary" had more to say in the 5 minutes taster than the entire hour bus tour we took. Very disappointed as it seems that the quality standards have drastically dropped from what we experienced a year ago for both the commentary and the scones, while the price stays the same. For a very fun unique tea experience for the same cost, I'd instead recommend Victorian Tea Times in Arklow where they dress you up and the ambiance is incredible and the food is...

I came across this company via Instagram while I was preparing for a visit to Iceland. It sounded like fun so I thought I'd check it out. It was completely worth it! They're a small but mighty team and they've got everything nailed down a T. I've seen brick and mortar companies with larger staffs be less organized.

My only complaint is that the directions to find the bus are slightly unclear, but that could also very well be a me problem as someone who is unfamiliar with the city and Google Maps being absolutely useless with its walking directions.

But back to the tea bus. When we got there, they introduced themselves and asked everyone to wait to be called so that we're not all bum rushing the one tiny staircase/entrance at the rear of the bus.

Once onboard and underway, servers came to take our drink orders and tended to our table as needed. Daniel delighted the crowd with wonderful and humorous stories about Dublin and its history. I love that our route took us out of the city centre / main tourist drags and out towards Phoenix Park (which is an absolute must-visit if you have time). It's probably a bit lesser known by tourist standards but still worth seeing, even if you're only driving through.

As for the food itself, it was delicious, 5/5 stars. I went to a "fancy tea" back home where the cost was much higher and the food was only so-so. This was not the case. The clotted cream was a terrific addition to the fresh-from-the-oven scones and the myriad other items on the plate. There was so much food and it was so rich that our table, despite all of being very hungry when we arrived, couldn't finish it all. The sandwiches were light and refreshing while the desserts were deliciously sweet without being over-the-top.

I'd love to do this again on my next go-round to Ireland, except next time I'll skip breakfast so I'll be able to finish all the food on my plate.

A big thank you to Daniel, Paddy (driver), Dev, and, of course,...

10/10 star rating!! From the moment we approached the bus, the driver was so kind he offered to take our picture, he told us where to stand for the best shot. Then as our name wore called to get onto the bus as our seats wore pre assigned I thought that was as great touch as ther e was no scurrying or rushing into the bus. Literally from the moment we sat down until it was time to get off we enjoyed every single second, so much so we didn’t want the journey to end. The sandwich selection is amazing, the taste is even better and then come the freshly made hot scones delivered around the buss to you in a basket. The cakes wore beautiful too. Unlimited drinks is amazing especially for tea lovers like us…🤣🙈. There wasn’t enough all of the staff onboard could do for us, they wore so so welcoming and friendly, they checked up on us as the tour went along to make sure everything was okay for us, to see did we need anymore drinks. The small guided tour part was great too, even though I am from Dublin myself I still learned a lot on the tour which was great. I have to say most surprising and wonderful part was that we wore allowed to keep our little plastic portable cups home with us, I just thought that was a beautiful touch. Over all I couldn’t recommend this tour to anyone enough!! It is absolutely brilliant, you certainly won’t be disappointed. It’s a brilliant aftnoon out for anyone from couples to family’s to a mother and daughter it suits all even solo people. BRILLIANT, BRILLIANT, BRILLIANT. It’s a wonderful gift for someone, I will most certainly be going again!! Thank you so so much we had a...