Ireland trip

We (two people) did it for a month for a tad less than six grand including car, gas, etc. Both the pound and euro were about where they are now.

Jeff - sounds like you need a real "travel guide". I would highly recommend that you get a copy of Rick Steve's Ireland guide book. We used it and saw lots of others using it. My wife and I did an 8 day self drive tour that we booked through an Ireland travel company. Our dilemma was narrowing down the "must see" list. With 3 weeks, you won't have quite the same issue. There are over 2,000 B&B's in Ireland. I would use TripAdvisor's reviews as a general rule of thumb. Here is a brief summary of our trip. Our least favorite place was Dublin. It is a good place to use as a base to see things outside of town. You have to see Newgrange & the Boyne River Valley. Just south of Dublin is Powerscourt. Rick highlights both of these in his Ireland video. I would say a couple of days in Dublin is sufficient. The real beauty of Ireland is the west coast. Dingle Peninsula is absolutely amazing. We stayed in the most incredible B&B there - 2 nights. Then the Cliffs of Moher is another amazing place. We stayed @ B&B just outside Doolin that overlooked the Atlantic ocean. Let me know if you'd like the names of these 2 B&Bs. I would say that for 2 people a good moderate B&B will be ~100 euros a night. I would say a decent pub meal will be ~40 euros. Depends on how many pints you have! :) All sites that you want to see cost money. Anywhere from as little as 2 euros to as much as 30 euros. But it is a little difficult to say in total how much you need. There is so much to see in and do. Let me know if you have any other questions

Yes, one hundred a night is just about right for good b&b. Don't remember what we spent for dinners, usually had pub food rather than restaurants. We also did not eat lunch much as the breakfasts were so filling. Do not have car for Dublin, not necessary. One site we thought was over priced and boring was Guiness Brewery. We loved Ireland, been there many times and would continue to go back. Enjoy.

If you're spending a hundred euro a night for a B&B you're doing something wrong - - maybe working out of a guidebook, looking only at something with an internet presence, I don't know what - - but we routinely spent fifty to sixty dollars per night with the odd jump a bit higher - - probably in Dublin. Don't fall for the voucher deals, just drive along and pick a place when you're ready to stop for the night. Most places will even give you a discount if you ask since the economy is in the tank and business is slow.

We have always used Ricks travel guide in Italy, and I will for Ireland as well. Sounds like My estimate of 7000-7500 should be more than sufficient. Any particular B&B's that you like, and would care to recommend? I have found that you meet some of your best people in these. In fact, one of my best friends, is a agriturismo owner in Montepulciano, whom we met on one of our trips to Italy. I really appreciate the input! This forum is such a great resource! Thanks again, and I look forward to more help.
Jeff

Jeff I would highly recommend the Lighthouse in Dingle. The view is spectacular and Denis and Mary are awesome hosts. Breakfast is incredible. www.lighthousedingle.com Rates per person are 35 - 43 Euros a night. So I was just a little high on the 100 euros. I would also recommend the Doonagore Farmhouse B&B in Doolin for a base. It's just a couple of miles from the Cliffs of Moher and not far from the Burren. For a couple they are ~68 Euros a night. http://www.doolin-accommodation.com/pic28.html My other recommendation would be the Ard Ri House in Cashel. Very new, large rooms AND the most incredible breakfast. Downtown Cashel has great restaurants and shops. http://ardrihouse.com/ Just a few recommendations. Hope this helps. Jerry

Jeff - Car rental should run $1,000(I always opt for the over priced insurance). You won't need a car in Dublin. Also keep in mind tolls, gas and parking costs. Lodging about $50-65 a night so say $1,100 - 1350. Food and pub bill let's say $40+ a day so $800-1,000. Food is the tough part. When you go on vacation what do you spend on food and bar tab? For me I load up at breakfast and find a Sainsbury and get sandwich stuff for lunch to keep the cost down. Dinner is always the expensive meal for me. As someone else mentioned entry into attractions can run anywhere from 5-30 euro. So let's say $400-500.

There are virtually no toll roads in Ireland, except around Dublin, so no need to factor in much for that. What I do with food is, as Joel said, load up on breakfast and then usually skip lunch all together. (I keep some little munchies in the car just in case.) I'm not a big drinker, either (you can nurse a Guinness for quite awhile). Dinner is expensive, though, no way around it. If you are planning on visiting a number of heritage sites, you might find it advantageous to buy a pass instead of paying individual admission. Passes are available at all heritage sites - just pick one up at the first place you visit. Of course, you would have to do the math to see if it would work out better for you.

I would suggest you have available via debit cards a significant amount over what you get for estimates. Your biggest cost will be for the car, then the B&Bs and then the food/beer. Ireland's OPW card is the best deal I've seen anywhere for getting into tourist sites. Two years ago it was about 30 euro and it was half covered by Newgrange/Knowth. It's a no brainer. Get Rick's guidebook and you'll get an idea of the cost of B&Bs. If you book in advance you'll know where you will be staying every night but you won't have the ability to negotiate or change your plans. 80 euros per night is about a decent average but you can do better by not going en suite or negotiating as you go. Beer was about 5 euro each. Wine was a little more. Food was all over the place. Lunches for two (sans beer) ran in the 20 euro range if the breakfast didn't fill you up until dinner. Dinners could be the same or higher. 60 euro buys a pretty good, up scale dinner in most places (again for 2 and sans wine/beer). You can really economize if you want by picnicing. As for suggestions, you really need to buy the Ireland 2012 book and read it a couple of times. Look at Rick's recommendations. Flip through some other guidebooks to see if anything pops up that catches your fancy. Come back with a starting itinerary. Personally, my wife and I really liked Clonmacnoise which Rick doesn't even cover. Visiting it only makes sense if you are driving between Galway and Dublin.