My wife and I are trying to plan a trip to Ireland. Pricing out our itinerary (using some of the suggested planning tips in Rick's book) we were comparing our prices to a site my wife found: Europe ASAP. While I don't know what taxes or fees might be included, the prices seemed almost comparable (especially since their price didn't include lunch or dinner). Has anyone used Europe ASAP? (This will be our first trip to Ireland, and I'm trying to gather as much info as possible.) Thanks for any input!
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9371 posts
Your itinerary looks good (though I did wonder why you'd leave Galway and plan a day trip BACK). I have never heard of Europe ASAP. You can get a B&B directory from the Irish Tourism Board and easily make reservations yourselves by email, or just find places as you go along. You don't say when you intend to travel, so knowing that would help.
Posted by
OP
Moorhead, MN, USA
6 posts
We would be traveling this July (2009), flying out of the US on the first of the month.
Thanks for all the suggestions so far. Other input welcome!
Posted by
Donegal/Jacksonville, Ireland
30 posts
Hi
How far along are you in the planning process? I have always found that when pricing services for itinerary's its always best to deal directly with the businesses at a local level if you can.
A perfect example, last year I thought I was saving a large amount of money on a self catering cottage for a week. I was booking it on line through a third party website. I had a question that I wanted answered so I rang up the owners. They beat the price by 100 euro.
Not familiar with Euro ASAP but if you can deal with the owner manager at a local level or on there website if you can.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32351 posts
Phil, how long were you planning to travel in Ireland? Were you planning on taking a tour or travelling on your own?
I'm not familiar with Europe ASAP but would highly recommend the RS Best of Ireland 14-day tour.
Posted by
OP
Moorhead, MN, USA
6 posts
We were looking at about a week in Ireland...
At this point, completely spit-balling, I was thinking about this...
Flying out on July 1st arriving in Shannon on the 2nd.
Drive to Dingle on July 2nd. Stay in Dingle on the 2nd and 3rd.
Drive to Galway on July 4th. Stay in Galway on the 4th and 5th.
Drop the car off on the 6th and take a train to Dublin on the 6th.
Stay in Dublin (with a day trip to Galway) until the 9th when we fly home.
Not the fourteen day trip, not this time... But we would like to go now (and maybe think about a longer trip sometime down the road)...
Does this sound at all reasonable?
ETA: Sorry, the day trip from Dublin would be to Belfast... Don't know how I screwed that up. :)
Posted by
Donegal/Jacksonville, Ireland
30 posts
Hi Phil
My very first trip to Ireland was 7 days long. The good think about going for a week is that it makes you WANT to come back for longer.
Your itinerary looks good and you will have a lot of fun.