Hey everyone. The lady and I want to travel in Ireland this summer and do the whole backpacking / hostel experience. Our budget is limited but we are aiming to save up $5000 for a month's worth of travel in Ireland. This will be the price we're going to pay for flights, lodging, and food for the entire month.

(1) Flights - When is the best time to get flights? Looking now for flights in the summer and they are $1000 roundtrip! Is there any chance these will go down or should we look at a later time?

(2) Lodging - We are trying to keep it affordable by staying in hostels, cheap inns / hotels, etc. Maybe even couch surfing? The lady isn't too comfortable with couch surfing but I LOVE the idea. Any other suggestions?

(3) Work - We both want to take part in WWOOF Ireland and that should cover a significant part of our costs. Thoughts on that? Will we miss out on sightseeing if we are working?

(4) Places to Visit - We know little about Ireland but want to hit some of the nice places. These include the big cities and common tourist locations but especially the lesser known, "gems" in the country.

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. We're over halfway to our monetary goal and we have about three more months to save up for it. Is $5000 enough for two people for a month (including flights)? Thanks.

Quoting tbar220 (Thread starter): (3) Work - We both want to take part in WWOOF Ireland and that should cover a significant part of our costs. Thoughts on that? Will we miss out on sightseeing if we are working?

What you may miss in sights will be more than made up for in experience I should imagine. This scheme is something I'd like to take part in too.

Quoting tbar220 (Thread starter): Is $5000 enough for two people for a month (including flights)?

Take away $2000 for flights, that leaves a decent whack for travel and accommodation. You don't find hostels everywhere which is one problem, but these sites should help you budget more accurately if you've not already heard of/used them:

http://www.hostelbookers.com/
http://www.hostelworld.com/

The latter is generally not as good as the former, and more expensive, but occasionally they have places the other one doesn't.


Dan  

For lodging, consider bed-and-breakfasts in addition to hostels etc. Irish B&B's tend to be relatively inexpensive and good value. They are usually (but not always!) much less expensive than traditional hotels.

As to places to visit, you can hardly go wrong. Do NOT miss Glendalough or Clonmacnoise. There's lots of great scenery all over, but the Wicklow Mountains just south of Dublin is a good place to start. In the southwest, the Ring of Kerry is overrun by tour buses in summer, try the Beara peninsula instead. I understand that DIngle is good too, that's one area I've missed. Blarney Castle will also be overrun, by Americans in green trousers, but it's probably worth it anyway. In Clare, you have the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren, the latter especially is fascinating. Further north, the road past Tawnyard Lough (a bit north of Leenane) is spectacular, and you can hardly set foot in County Donegal without some fine scenery. As far as city life, central Dublin of course, and Cork is nice. I also liked Waterford and Galway City. (I never had a chance to see much of Wexford.)

Limerick is best passed through quickly -- it will be raining hard anyway   -- and try to avoid the jaunting-cart drivers in Killarney. (You probably can't, but try.) The parts of Sligo I saw were pretty bleak, but I didn't spend much time there and may well have missed the nice parts, assuming there are some. Except for Phoenix Park, most of Dublin north of the Liffey holds little for the tourist. I can't really think of any other places that I'd actively avoid.

Edited to add: the WWOOF thing sounds like a great idea to me. If you can find a host offering a couple weeks, you can use the other two for sightseeing. You might have to plan a little more carefully, but I think that with the right host, the farm experience would be very much worth it.

[Edited 2011-03-15 06:50:40]

Looking at B+B here

http://www.bandbireland.com/

the typical price is around $80-100 for a couple.

Hostels here have beds at around $15-$20 per person per night

http://www.hostelireland.com/hostels.php

A quick search has many towns with no hostels, apparently. There are some in, for eg, Cork, Dublin, Galway, Shannon.

When do you travel exactly? The best chance to have the best weather in Ireland is end of May/beginning of June. I would highly recommend to travel around those dates.

Quoting PITingres (Reply 2): Do NOT miss Glendalough or Clonmacnoise. There's lots of great scenery all over, but the Wicklow Mountains just south of Dublin is a good place to start.

Indeed.

Quoting PITingres (Reply 2): I understand that DIngle is good too

It is. The Conor Pass is very nice. I highly recommend!

Quoting PITingres (Reply 2): Cliffs of Moher

A must-see.

I would say that in general, the whole West coast of Ireland is incredible. Best would take the car and drive along the coast line from Donegal to Cork. There is nothing to throw away in this part of the country.

I'd advise the Giant's Causeway as well, North of Northen Ireland.

Quoting oly720man (Reply 3): Looking at B+B here http://www.bandbireland.com/ the typical price is around $80-100 for a couple.

Hmm. I guess prices have crept up since I was last there (it's been a few years, alas), and the strong euro against the dollar isn't helping.

I would still advise considering a B&B for at least a few nights of the trip, and you may not have a lot of choice in some areas (e.g. the Beara, or some of the remoter regions of Donegal).

When the GF and I went to Ireland 2 years ago we had stupid cheap plane tickets. ~$300 RT EWR-DUB. This was in late May of 2009.

We were only in Ireland for 4-5 days and stayed in Dublin. While Dublin is a nice city and there is plenty to do and see, a few days is about the most you'd want to spend there. Probably the nicest part of our visit was riding the commuter train out to Howth to spend the afternoon. After that afternoon it really solidified that you need to get out of Dublin to the countryside to really experience Ireland. If we had a few more days I think we would have tried to do that.

Your best resource for planning your trip and getting around in general has to be Rick Steeve's Ireland travel guide. His style of travel and advice really seem to fit what you are trying to do. He is very big on getting off of the beaten path, not looking like a tourist and being economical.

Try and make it out to the Arann Islands as well.
Clare has plenty on offer. From the Cliffs to the Burren, plenty of places to go see some traditional Irish music performed (Clare has a quite a reputation for it). Bunratty Castle and folk park is also worth a look.
The nightlife in Galway is is quite good, but I don't think there's much to do for tourists (other than take the boat to the Islands). You could go see Kilkenny as well. A lovely city on the east coast.

You should also visit Northern Ireland. Belfast is an interesting city with lots to see and do. Northern Ireland's coastline is spectacular and includes highlights like the Giant's Causway and Dunluce Castle, to name a few. The area around Lough Erne/Eniskillen is worth visiting, particularly Devonish Island. The Area around Strangford Lough is also beautiful.

Thanks for all the help so far! I am struggling with air fare, it is so high! It will take a significant chunk out of our budget, but so be it. I really like the idea of WWoofing for two weeks and touring for two weeks. That seems to be a nice balance.

B&B's are a great experience, even though I've only done them in the states. But I love staying in them and they are pretty affordable, so I don't know why I didn't think of that. Will definitely look that up in Ireland.

Quoting tbar220 (Thread starter): (1) Flights - When is the best time to get flights?

Tuesday afternoon after 3pm is when you can book the cheapest seat.

Quoting tbar220 (Thread starter): (4) Places to Visit -

Guinness Brewery at St. James Gate and Leo Burdock's.

Quoting tbar220 (Reply 9): Thanks for all the help so far! I am struggling with air fare, it is so high!

And strangely consistent at around $1100-$1300 for July/Aug (Jul20-Aug18)

EI $1085
AC $1116
US $1126
AA $1216
KL $1300

Considering your not from Ireland and looking to come over for the first time, I would say fly with Aer Lingus, Its a great experiance and while not much different to any other airline flying across the atlantic there is a little hint of Irishness from them that will add a little bit to your all round experiance.

With regards to places to visit, it all depends on what your interested in, theres a gazillion castles and fields and bogs ect and Dublin has a lot to offer and a lot to do so im sure you'll find plenty to keep you happy

Moneywise 5K would be plenty... you may not even need to work if you budget your accomidation right

Quoting tbar220 (Thread starter): (4) Places to Visit - We know little about Ireland but want to hit some of the nice places. These include the big cities and common tourist locations but especially the lesser known, "gems" in the country.

I've been in the mid 1990s in Ireland, and of the things I remember these are recommendable:
1) Cliffs of Moher: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliffs_of_Moher
2) Giant's Causeway: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant%27s_Causeway
3) Blarney Castle + Stone http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blarney_Castle & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blarney_Stone

Quoting tbar220 (Reply 9): Thanks for all the help so far! I am struggling with air fare, it is so high!

Quoting oly720man (Reply 11): And strangely consistent at around $1100-$1300 for July/Aug (Jul20-Aug18)

Try British Airways; they seem to be the best on USA-Ireland fares at the moment.

Quoting EISHN (Reply 7): Bunratty Castle and folk park is also worth a look.

I would advise against Bunratty. The place is too touristy. IOf you want to meet crowds of Americans discovering their Irish roots with all the stereotypes go there, but else better pass it by (it is on the road between Shannon and Limerick).
I agree with going to western Ireland, Co. Clare and Connemara are still quite unspoiled and Galway is a nice town as well.
The Ring of Kerry and the Dingle peninsula, while the places are beautiful, they are, at least in summer, overrun with tourists.

(I used to live in Co. Clare for several years and I´m also familiar with Dublin, since my fiancee lives there. In fact, I´ll fly there tomorrow again).

Jan

Quoting tbar220 (Thread starter): Is there any chance these will go down or should we look at a later time?

Sign up for alerts from the different travel sites. At 1000 bucks a pop, they won't get much worse.

Quoting tbar220 (Thread starter): (2) Lodging - We are trying to keep it affordable by staying in hostels, cheap inns / hotels, etc. Maybe even couch surfing? The lady isn't too comfortable with couch surfing but I LOVE the idea. Any other suggestions?

Hostels (do your research first!) and B&Bs are the best bet.

I believe hostelbookers and hostelworld are linked above. You can also try a Google search for B&Bs that might not be listed elsewhere.

Quoting tbar220 (Thread starter): $5000 for a month's worth of travel in Ireland.

You mean $3000 dollars (airfare's a bitch, ain't it?). Totally doable. Your biggest expenses are going to be airfare, lodging, transport, and food (in that order). Always keep a few hundred saved up for any nights out on the town.

Quoting tbar220 (Thread starter): (3) Work - We both want to take part in WWOOF Ireland and that should cover a significant part of our costs. Thoughts on that? Will we miss out on sightseeing if we are working?

Not at all. You'll find that once you've seen one of something, you've seen them all. Not to mention you'll hear about some things to do that tourists generally don't know about or ignore. Plus you'll be meeting more people.