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Money And Time Saving With A Low Budget In Ireland
Ireland is expensive especially when it comes to food an drinks.
But it´s possible to travel to Ireland on a budget.
How To Get To Ireland
The easiest way is by flying to Dublin. I travelled three times by plane and took a cheap flight from my closest airport which is located in Southern Germany. I don´t even want to mention the name of the airline because so many are angry and frustrated these days about it. I did not have a bad experience so far and I didn´t watch all the news about this airline so maybe I am not up to date.
When I flew to Ireland the flights were always in time and when you book a cheap flight you know before it can´t and won´t be like a business or first class ticket.
Getting Around Ireland
Traveling around Ireland and Northern Ireland means you should have a car. I always book it in advance and if you take the smallest and cheapest car you definitely save money. A small car is perfect for two persons getting around. By sharing the costs it´s cheap comparing it to other transportation plus you save time by not waiting for the next train or bus to arrive.
Save Time
The first time I was in Ireland I drove with a friend and we were looking for a room when we got to the place. Bad idea!
You loose so much time by looking for a place to stay plus I am „Little Miss Picky“. I want a nice and clean room not any room and so I was totally grossed out when we had to spend our night in a hostel in Wicklow.
It was my first time ever and I guess my last time ever (unless you can convince me there are nice hostels out there) I sleeped in a hostel. We couldn´t find another place for the night and were too tired to drive to another town.
The carpets were extremely gross and I didn´t even want to walk with my socks on it plus I felt like I was in prison with those old bunk beds.
The next morning we were asked if we wanted breakfast we decided: No way!
For the same amount of money a couple days later we found a B&B in Killarney. It was in walking distance to the center and absolutely lovely and clean.
Stay In B&B´s
The easiest way to sleep comfortable, on a budget and get a delicious breakfast is by staying in a Bed and Breakfast.
The families who own the B&B´s are friendly and in the morning you are greeted with a warm „Good Morning!“ and a menu card for breakfast.
You get a touch of the real Irish life vs a sterile hotel room.
Bring Your Cigarettes
If you are a smoker you can save a lot of money by bringing as much cigarettes with you as possible. The prices for cigarettes are unbelievable (Gladly I am a non-smoker).
Drink And Dine Early = Early Bird Special
The later the evening the more expensive meals and drinks – especially alcoholic beverages – become in pubs, bars and restaurants. If you want to drink start as early as possible. 😉
Free Sightseeing
Most of the sights you have to pay for but that´s okay because they are well kept.
One awesome area to see with no fee ist the Ring of Kerry. If you want to enjoy the scenery you don´t need money.
There are some places you have to pay for if you want to see them but it´s not necessary to go there.
Another possibility for saving money in advance is by ordering tickets for the sights you want to see. There are many tickets available on the Internet (Heritage Card).
Psst! Wait a minute. Need more inspiration for your trip to Ireland? Click on the link below for Places You Should Definitely Not Miss While Being In Ireland.
You might also enjoy:
ALONG THE RING OF KERRY – GREEN, GREENER…IRELAND
zuletzt aktualisiert am March 23, 2023
A few good tips here but renting a car and not staying in a hostel doesn’t seem like budget travel to me!
A rental car is cheap to me if you don´t go for a luxury or a big version. We always rented tiny cars like a Fiat 500. And staying in a B&B was as cheap as staying in a hostel in Wicklow. So to me it is traveling on a budget.
Great tips. I would love to visit places in the UK as well as Ireland but they always seem more expense that travelling outside.
It is expensive but it´s worth to go there.
Love the eat early tip! We head to Ireland in August and after almost a year of traveling are looking for a cheap way to end our trip with out missing out on the culture of Ireland. Thanks for the tips
You´re welcome. Hope you are having a great time in Ireland.
A B&B in Ireland – I can get used to that! Looks lovely, can’t wait to go. I really like the second landscape photo!
Thank´s, Alli. It´s great staying in B&B´s. We only had positive experiences and the breakfast was delicious.
Not bad tips at all, Ireland can definitely be done on a budget. Definitely agree about staying in B&B’s over sterile and expensive hotels. Don’t rule out hostels altogether though, you just have the wrong continent for them! The best hostels are in SEAsia and S.America! They have more of a backpacker hostel culture there.
Thank you for your tips about South East Asia and South America. I will definitely check your post out.
I love Ireland! It’s worth remembering that you can get to all the major towns (and some of the smaller ones) by train, so you may not need a car for all of the time.
I probably travelled to Ireland with the same budget airline as you, and I found them just fine!
We never traveled by train because I like to be free of a schedule. But it´s great to hear there are good connections.
Ireland has been on my bucket list for years (ever since I discovered Westlife over half a lifetime ago!). Someday when I do make it there, I’m going to keep these tips in mind. I must say, though, that much as I agree with BnBs over hotel rooms, hostels are absolutely marvelous experiences also!!
We went to Temple Bar for our 7 year anniversary :D. We only went to Ireland for the night though, would love to go back – is public transport really expensive?
I can´t tell you if public transportation is really expensive. We always had a tiny rental car because we want to drive around Ireland without checking which transportation to use and their schedule. And driving along the Ring of Kerry is e.g. a lot easier with a rental car. You can stop wherever and whenever you want to. But that´s my opinion. I´m sure there are other ways to travel around Ireland.
I wanted to visit Ireland in the fall, I wonder when high season ends? I bet prices would be better later in the year.
I´m sure it is beautiful there in fall. I was there in summer and in winter time. If you compare prices on the internet I´m sure you will find out when the high season ends.
Ireland is one place in the UK I didn’t visit when I lived there. Hope to go though…PS I love You sold it to me! 🙂
PS I love you made me want to visit Ireland too. 😀
Some nice tips here. I’ll be sure to start drinking early ;P
😀 Start early and stop earlier. 😀
I also like a rental car when visiting Ireland, it’s so much easier and it gives you much more freedom to go and visit the things you want to see whenever you want.
BTW: love the early bird special! 🙂
I totally agree with you. I would always take a rental car. Did it now twice and to me it´s the best option.
We hired the car from Enterprise rent a car for whole of our trip in Ireland, and we loved it. The country roads in Ireland that were running parallelly to Atlantic Ocean gave us some of the best memories from Emerald Isle.
Great you enjoyed a road trip too. If I´m in Ireland I would always rent a car except for only staying in Dublin.
Thanks for the tips. I’d love to go to Ireland one day and rent a car as you said. Just to drive around and have the freedom to check out whatever and wherever I wanted. I bet the early bird specials were full of older people, my Nanna always goes on about them haha.
I don´t care if there are “older” people around. In fact, the people in Ireland are really friendly and special, especially the “older” ones. It´s great to watch and talk to them.
I’ve only been to the tourist spots of Ireland, so would love to go and explore. I like the personal experience you get with B&B’s, usually so friendly and nice breakfasts 😉
The B&B´s we stayed at were really great. I prefer them over hotels and I like it when you are offered a menu in the morning with warm meals plus a buffet. Great!
For those under 25 renting a car is not an option 🙁 and if your buying rail tickets get the cheap ones online. Also personally I love hostels as you get to meet a lot of interesting fellow travelers, as for the rest there is a lot of touristy stuff to do that doesn’t cost a lot which is perfect. Enjoy.
That´s true, Moselle. If you are under 25 renting a car would be a lot more expensive. But as Thomas and I are older it´s the best choice for us. It gives us freedom to travel where and when we want to. If you like hostels – great. We are just not into hostels especially as a couple and the B&B´s aren´t more expensive as far as we experienced in Ireland.
Ich kenne eine “Happy hour” für Getränke, dass es das sozusagen auch für Essen gibt ist ja interessant! Woher kommt das? Sonnige Grüße, Jutta
Hmmm. Das kann ich dir leider auch nicht erklären. Dennoch aber nicht schlecht, dass es sie gibt. 😀
Absolut! Jetzt, da ich es weiß : )
Gerade in Irland, wo das Essen und die Getränke doch sehr teuer sind, ist das schon eine gute “Erfindung”.
We have just returned from Ireland and Northern Ireland. It is more expensive than many of the places we have been in Europe such as Eastern Europe. But anywhere can be done on a budget and your tips are great. We stayed in hostels and pre-booked a lot of our train travel too which made it cheaper. Love Ireland!
Thanks for your tips too. Although I am not a fan of train traveling because you have to be at the train station on time. You are not as flexible as while traveling by car.
Wonderful tips! I’m sorry to hear that you had a bad experience staying in a hostel, but I’m glad that you found a great B&B! Traveling on a budget can be difficult, but I agree that it’s definitely do-able. Great post!
We walk through Irland without money and it was realy hard. Thank you for your Stories we are Fans!
Hast du einen Tip für B&Bs in Dublin?
Schau doch mal bei AirBnB nach, da finde ich immer wieder tolle Unterkünfte. Einen 35€ Gutschein für eine Erstbuchung findest du in der rechten Sidebar auf https://www.cityseacountry.com .
Wenn AirBnB nichts für dich ist: Ich habe direkt in Dublin im Harding Hotel übernachtet. Ist in Gehweite aller wichtigen Sehenswürdigkeiten, allerdings kein B&B.
Liebe Grüße,
Christina
Ich war auch schon 2x in Dublin. Es ist eine wirklich liebenswerte Stadt. Mit tollen Menschen und leckeren Bars. Einmal davon war die Reise im Hostel und ich muss sagen, so schlimm war es nicht. Beide Flüge gingen auch mit der ominösen billig Flugline und auch ich hatte keine Probleme. Man hatte zwar mal das Gefühl gleich fällt die Seitenwand vom Flugzeug ab, aber es hat gehalten und wir sind sicher hin und zurück gekommen.
Das Titelbild sieht aus wie in Howth geschossen, toller Ort, schöner Blick auf die Klippen.
Danke für die Eindrücke von Ihnen, viele sind Deckungsgleich mit meinen eigenen.
Vielleicht mach ich das nächste mal auch eine Rundreise mit dem Auto.