Budgeting for Ireland

I have the same question!

Just returned from a 2 week trip to Ireland. Can give you some ideas on prices: (all in euros....x's 1.45=$) Latte 2.45, Pint of Guinness:Dublin 4.50 to 5.00, Pint of Guinness in rural Cork county: 3.65, Pub grub: $11.95-13.95/meal Early bird fine dining 2 course 20.00/meal 3 course 25.00/meal regular dining 30.00/meal B&B's: 35 to 40 Euros/person 4 AA batteries 3.99 tourist attractions entry fees: ave 5-6 Euros bus tickets range 1.65-1.80 (buy a 3 day pass instead) Buying Groc for meals self cater: 25% cost of eating out. Bank Exchange rate: US dollars for Euros 1.41 to 1.45
Zombie Hotels: good rates for consumer; check internet Of course you can run the gamut for gift items. We purchased about $250.00 worth in 2 weeks, and got 3 nice tweed hats, necklaces, ear rings, decks of cards, pint beer glasses, cap, t-shirt. No sweaters or crystal, or we would have spent a lot more. Hope this helps! Dan

Awesome, thanks Dan! That really helps! Hope you had a good time :)

If you are doing much in the way of sightseeing, the OPW card can be a money saver. You just about get your money back if you use it a Newgrange and Knowth. Check the website for the attractions you want to go to and whether they are covered. It was a "no brainer" for us in Ireland. This is in contrast to the Great Britain Heritage Pass and London Pass. The GBHP was worth buying but the LP forces you to cram all the LP covered sites into one or two days. Even then it is marginal. The one advantage of all passes is that you can skip any ticket lines. As far as Ireland costs, my wife and I spent about $5,000 for 11 days in Ireland last May. That covered air fare, car, B&Bs, sightseeing and food. B&Bs averaged about 80 euros/night. Pub grub dinners with a pint each ran 30 to 40 euros. We splurged in Dingle on an upscale restuarant but only paid about 50 euros because we got the early bird special that included a bottle of wine. I can't remember the place but it was just down the street from St James Episcopal Church (trad concert site).

My wife and I spent $4500 for a 15 day (2 days traveling). One advantage for us was that we traveled with another couple that we had been friends with for several years. Because of that, we were able to split expenses on the 11 days of rental car, and also share expenses on the self catering cottage that we had for 1 week. I figured we saved about $700 each couple by doing that and that doesn't include the food and laundry expense we would have incurred as a result of the self cater. I estimate that the cost of eating at the self cater was about 25 percent of what restaurant or pub meals would have cost. We did spend a little more on petrol, since we took day trips from the self cater. Was sure nice not to have to pack up and move during that week.
Dan

Thanks Dan ~ That is exactly what we are planning on doing, traveling with another couple, so good to hear!