How much Spending Money

It is a little hard to say given the information you provided. Dublin (and other big cities) tend to be more expensive than villages etc. Also, what do you plan to do...... with a day in Dublin would you stroll around, visit the Guinness factory, go to a park and then call it a day or visit the Guinness factory, see the Book of Kells, visit St. Patricks, visit the Jamison Distillery, tour Dublin Castle, go to Kilmainham Jail etc etc? The cost of the days would be very different. It also depends on factors like how you eat (do you like local pub grub or looking for that 4 star restaurant?) It is helpful to keep in mind that costs are at least slightly different in Europe than America. For example, in most restaurants a cup of coffee is one cup of coffee. Ask for a refill and you will be charged for it. I have not been to Ireland for some time, so am not sure of costs at this point, but it is a delightful country with great people. I'm sure if you provide more information someone here can answer your question. Enjoy your trip.

This is always variable but I will give you my take, if breakfast is included with your hotel then your ahead of the game. I budget 100-150 Euros per day for meals and tickets for two people if your buying three meals a day. I recommend going to the Bunratty Medieval Banquet, great food and music, the Literary Pub Crawl in Dublin is awesome, if you make it to Dingle the "John O'Connor" tour is excellent, and last but the best, if near Ashford castle attend the Falconry class for a true back door experience!

Thanks for the tips and information!

We will fly into Dublin and be there two nights. We plan to eat at pubs vs. 4 star restaurants. In Dublin, we do plan to visit the Guinness factory, but literally that is all we have planned now. Still working through how we want to spend our time. Typically on vacations my husband and I prefer not to keep such a tight schedule.

After Dublin, we will pick up our rental car and head to Killarney area for 3 nights and then to Galway. We will end our trip at Dromoland Castle and fly out of Shannon. Hopefully that is more information :)

Order your tickets for Guinness online to avoid the lines and one less entrance fee to budget

Also, a lot of the national museums in Dublin are (or were) free. I found the HOHO bus a pretty good value for Dublin and got a 2 day (I think it was called) Dublin Pass. We got into many places with it and calculated it did save us money (and waiting in line.) There were also a couple of good day trips from Dublin, such as ones that go to Newgrange and Tara. Galway is also a blast.

Figure on $12-$16 Euro per person for lunch at a pub, and more like $20-25 Euro for dinner at a moderate restaurant.

The best bargain is a pub lunch. For about €5 you get a bowl of thick vegetable soup with brown soda bread and butter. That and a pint will fill you up. Hotels usually have a big breakfast spread.

Sarah, trying to figure out spending money can be confusing. I start with the Rick Steves guidelines from his book. Then we figure out what sites we want to see and look up the approx. cost. There is a vast amount of information on the web (along with Ricks book) regarding the prices. We will be in Ireland for almost 3 weeks in September and we will be purchasing the Ireland Heritage Card. Their website tells you what sites are included along with a suggested amount of time at each site. Good luck!

Thank you for all the help! I really appreciate it. We are really looking forward to this trip!!!