Ireland in late April early May - room availability

I have been to Ireland several times and after my first trip I have never prebooked places. I just find a place when I'm ready to stop for the night. Late April/early May is before the real tourist season, but even the seasonal B&Bs will be open by then, so you shouldn't have any trouble finding places.

Where exactly are you traveling in Eire? Many places have TI's that can find accommodations for you. B&B's are everywhere in Ireland. Just look for the brown signs, stop, knock on the door and see if a room is available.

we don't have a set trip yet. we plan to try and make the circle around Ireland. I was just wondering if anyone has traveled that time of year, and done it without reservations. Since it is shoulder season, my guess is rooms are readily available?

Hi

Were going at roughly the same time late April early may. I have booked my cottage already 17 days self catering cottage for 650 euro.

Two years ago I tried the not booking ahead of time and just went in October and had no trouble getting accommodations but that was in mid October.

Just a quick note May 1st through the 4th is a bank holiday weekend. I would make reservations somewhere ahead of time. The Irish love there Bank Holiday weekends. All though with the economy the way it is maybe more will be staying home.

If you will be in a popular tourist area during the May 1-4 bank holiday it might be a good idea to book a room ahead of time. Although you will probably be able to find someplace to stay it might not be what or where you want. I was in Dingle a couple of years ago at this time and talked to two different couples who spent two or three hours trying to find a place to stay. It was like 10 O'clock before they finally found something.

My husband and I traveled around Ireland at this exact same time last year. We didn't make reservations ahead of time--we just booked as we went (we called ahead to our next stop the night before. We had the B&B vouchers, so we had a book to look through. We had no problems at all except for our last night, a Saturday, in Limerick, since it was the Bank Holiday. I would recommend doing that one in advance, if possible.

thanks so much for the advice. We plan on making reservations for the beginning and end of our trip. Thanks for letting me know about the bank holiday weekend - i will definately book ahead for that.
the rest of the trip we are going to wing it and make them the day before.

April May won't be a problem, combined with the nasty economy, you can get some great deals