Traveling to Ireland. Can anyone help me with some questions?

Question

I'm considering traveling to Ireland next year with my boyfriend. I have a lot of questions, however (I apologize in advance), and want to be sure I'm prepared...

First, what do I do about money? I'm in Florida now, and I'm not sure of what I should do about my American money. Will it be excepted in Ireland? If not, what will I need to do?

What would be the best area to visit? I'm looking to avoid Dublin, as I've heard that it's more of a "party town" and I'm looking for something a little on the quiet, "classic" side but with a pub. My boyfriend and I have a large interest in nature and history...what places would be good for that? We're basically going for the scenery. We'd love to see a castle and a coastline.

Finally, we won't be renting a car. What will be the best method of transporatation? Walking? Buses? Are there many/any around the "quieter" areas. We love excercise, so if there's anything such as bicycle rentals available I'd be glad to know.

Thank you very much!

Answer 1

galway sounds perfect for u. u can take a ferry out to the Aran Islands which is full of history and beatiful and u should change ure money ireland has everything a city in the US has buses, merto, taxis, ect. outside of Galway city it is nice rural area and the people are friendly and it is the best place in the world (i dont live there by the way)

Answer 2

I toured southern Ireland in the last half of June.  All these suggestions are great.

Yes, fly into Shannon!! and Bunratty is worth a day.

I also enjoyed Cobh, Waterford, & Kilkenny.

I did the Dingle peninsula and it was wonderful.

I had no trouble at all using my American Express card to get euro's at banks & Tourist offices. And was only charged 1% on the card. Just be sure to tell the Card company in advance that you will be using it in Ireland.

To keep costs down I bought food for sandwiches & such at local grocers and farmers markets.

I suggest you check out used book stores for guidebooks and history books and read up about the areas before you go. Then just rip out and only take with you the pages about the parts of the country you will be visiting to save on weight. There is so much history in this Island Nation and I found the locals were very willing to explain.

Take along warmer clothing as we found June to be quite rainy and chilly. Needed sweaters, sweatshirts and rain gear.

Hope you go and have as wonderful an experience as I did.

Answer 3

You will have to change your money to Euros as Dollars are not accepted in Ireland. Go to your nearest bank or similar establishmint and exchange it their. You probably will lose out a little due to the exchange rate (and the fact that Ireland is very VERY expensive!).

Killarney is great for the scenery and right on the beautiful Ring of Kerry. It is a little busy during the tourist season because it is a tourist town but it's still lovely. Kenmare (a short distance from Killarney) is smaller and just as nice. Killarney has the recently renovated Ross Castle. It's also situated near a lake.

FYI all towns and villages in Ireland have a pub so you won't be stuck there!!!

Killarney has multiple bicycle hire shops so you'll be fine. The jaunting cars will take you on one or two hour trips around the National Park. These can be a bit expensive though. There are some lovely walks through the national park aswell.

Killarney is a good base as you are within a couple of hours bus journey of lots of beautiful sites. Have a look at www.corkkerrytourism.ie  and www.discoverireland.ie for more info.

Hope that helps a bit!

Answer 4

You don't say how long you will be there, but there are hostels that are pretty inexpensive, and you might try to find a coastal city on the northwest side of Ireland, It seems to have the least tourist traffic.  you might find a six day bus tour that you can use just for transport, then head off on your own to find your way away from the tourist pubs.  Don't discount Dublin! there are some surprising non tourist pubs and hideaways there, head over towards the ferry docks and poke around there.

Answer 5

Change your money at a bank when you get to Ireland the Airports rob you. Go to Kerry the "ring of kerry" near Killarney is one place that pops to mind the scenery will knock you off the bike you rent cheaply there; in amazment. Its on a par with lord of the rings. Get a bus to killarney from any airport, trains in Ireland arent worth the hassle. And there is a pub for every day in the week in every large kerry town.

Answer 6

If you're asking about changing money, then you need to start at the beginning. Check out a couple of guide books from the library. Lonely Planet and the Rough Guide series are great.

Given your description of how you'd like to travel, absolutely check out Rick Steves' guides and website. He's the best for tips on how to travel well, safely and cheaply. His mantra is that the more you pay, the farther away you are from the people.

Answer 7

Perfect, I just came back from a few weeks in Ireland.

Money- I would invest in a AAA membership. When you get to the airport in the US, AAA membership's get a discount off of the exchange fee. You will need to get Euro's.

I would start off in Shannon area and go to Bunratty and down to Kerry and Kilarney. I spent money on a bus pass and had an easy time getting around. You may want to think abuot doing a day tour or something like that. Sligo is also very pretty. Sligo is where the writer Yeates was from. If you want anymore information you can email me at [e-mail]

Answer 8

Hi there,

My boyfriend and I went to Ireland in 2005. We went in April to avoid the peak season for tourists and to get better prices on lodging. We flew into Shannon Airport from Philadelphia and rented a car. If you can drive stick, it's so much cheaper to do so, however, we could not, so we had to pay about $1000 for 2 weeks rental of an automatic. Fuel is not cheap, but overall we were much happier to have a car and be able to go where we wanted, when we wanted, as opposed to going by train or bus.

That said, there is public transportation, but it depends on where you stay. In Dublin you'd have no trouble getting around. Out in the countryside - you might. Where we stayed there was only one bus running per day. So, a car was the best option.

There are SO MANY hiking trails in Irealand. Honestly, you'll have no shortage of exercise when you go there! Everyone bikes as well and while the cottage we stayed at had bikes we could use, there are generally rental stores for bikes in most towns. See link below for activities in County Kerry.

We stayed in a cottage called Direen on the southwest coast in County Kerry outside of Dingle and Tralee. It was incredible! About $850 for 2 weeks ($60/night). I'll provide the link below. We could shop and cook our own meals (which saves money) or we could treat ourselves and go out to pubs for dinner on occassion. This area is on the coast, it's quiet, and beautiful. You can still drive to places like Killarney for nightlife (albeit, nothing like Dublin) and we were able in two weeks to see Galway, the Cliffs of Moher, and all other towns, castles, ancient ruins, old cathedrals and forts in the surrounding area.

As for money, I never change money in the US. I bring my debit card and credit cards. When I land in any foreign country I go straight to the ATM machine in the airport and withdraw directly from my US account. You'll be charged on your bank statement in dollars, but you'll get Euros out of the ATM. Your bank is most likely to give you the best exchange rate, and you get the rate for that day (because it's always fluctuating). I keep the Euros on me for cash only purchases/tolls, whatever, and then use my credit card for dinner out or for buying souveniers. I've never had an issue doing this (I've been to England, Ireland, France, Germany, and Italy). Just learn your exchange rates - know how much 1US$ equals in Euros. You'll need to know this in order to not overdraft from your bank, but you also want to know if you're paying too much for something. I will tell you that food and drinks are not cheap in Ireland compared to what we're used to paying in the states. Guinness costs the same here in the states out at a pub as it does there in Ireland! But, no you can't use US dollars there (maybe some stores might accept it, but that would be extremely rare - they use Euros and in some cases British pounds). Also, if you take credit cards with you, take general ones, like VISA and MasterCard (I wouldn't bring Discover, most places probably won't accept it).

Oh, one more thing, if you're a golfer, you're going to the right country.

Answer 9

Money most places will change it for euros. Your wise to avoid Dublin my advice is to fly into Shannon and travel up the west coast their is loads of places to stop and the scenery is amazing  you will go trough galway my favorite city bicycling is also a good option but defiantly the west coast