Heading to Ireland in about a week, just on my own, and don't have anything booked. Should I worry about accommodation in places like Galway, Kilkenney, etc?
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9369 posts
I only booked ahead on my first (of four, now) trips to Ireland. B&Bs are plentiful, and even the ones that close for the winter will still be open. You shouldn't have any problem.
Posted by
Pantego, NC, USA
1014 posts
I would prebook first night and last night. After that, book as you arrive.
Posted by
Spring, Texas
635 posts
Book ahead if you don't want the hassle of driving around or calling ahead looking for a place when you arrive in a new area. That could take a couple of stops during the tourist season but wouldn't be a problem the rest of the year. Don't book ahead if you want to maintain a flexible schedule. Some people here claim better rates by doing last minute bookings but I've not heard any numbers based on comparing to booking B&Bs listed in Rick's book. The advantage of not booking ahead is you actually get to see where the B&B is before committing. We stayed in one of Rick's recommended B&Bs in Kilkenny that was a further walk from the castle/downtown area than we liked. Otherwise it was a great B&B with great people running it.
Posted by
Wilmington, DE, USA
712 posts
Philip, it really depends on the way you like to travel. In my younger days I flew into Paris and had a place for the first night and then "winged it". Now days part of the fun is planning ahead and picking the areas and bed and breakfasts to stay at. The internet makes it so much easier to plan and email ahead to see if they have room. On our last trip a lot of places we would have liked to stay at would have been filled if we just drove up to the door, but we would not have know what we were missing without our prior research. I noticed alot of bed and breakfast signs all over Ireland and you will be traveling when kids are at school, so hopefully that will make it even more easier to find places you would like to stay. Since you are leaving in a week and know the areas you want to see, I would at this point just "wing it". When I was little my dad on vacations would just drive and then stop around 3:30 PM to look for a place to stay. I could see doing that in Ireland, if you are not to fussy about the place. I still remember one of the places my dad found in Canada when I was 13 and would love to go there again if it still exists.
Posted by
Westport, Ireland
80 posts
In Galway, the Oyster Festival is running the 22-26th of September. We were lucky last year and found a room.