Hey all -
I’d like to ask those of you who live stateside and have traveled to Ireland: How much does a trip (state length please) to Ireland typically cost you?
On 2002-02-18 20:06, avanutria wrote:
Hey all -I’d like to ask those of you who live stateside and have traveled to Ireland: How much does a trip (state length please) to Ireland typically cost you?
We’re leaving next week for 8 days in London and 8 days in Ireland. From speaking with friends and researching we’ve put together what we think it will cost. Although, when the airfare wars hit a couple months ago we were lucky enough to get roundtrip tickets at a steal. Email off board if you want information.
Teri
I know that there are very good deals if you fly from Boston or New York to Shannon/Dublin. You should have a look at Aer Lingus’ site, I think you can get something for as low as 300$US. I’m just not sure where you’re flying from…
Oh, and if you were wondering about the cost of living over there, well, I’d say 20 pounds for the B&B, 15 pounds for food (pub food), and whatever… Might expect to spend 50$US/day…
[ This Message was edited by: Azalin on 2002-02-18 23:24 ]
Well, then it sounds to me like an England/Ireland trip isn’t much more expensive than, and may be cheaper than, a stateside trip for the same amount of time (especially if you don’t insist on 5-star accommodations)! Mrs. BB and I are considering such a trip ourselves!
I guess the main rule of thumb for any type of travel is this: Decide how much luggage and money you will need, then take half as much luggage and twice as much money! 
Youth Hostels in Ireland work well,
even for geezers like myself. The
ones we stayed at rented private rooms
to couples. Also, you can fund yourself
by playing whistle on the street.
I agree with Jim - hostels are the way to go! I travel to Ireland every year, and always stay in hostels. My favorites are Kinlay House, both in Dublin and Galway. BUT…better make your reservations NOW, because it’s no longer a secret, and they fill up quickly! If you’re heading for the west (Galway), there’s lots of info on the web at http://www.galway.net For more info, contact me by e-mail (computer@inreach.com)
I personally like ‘five-star’ vacations. We stay at locations from http://www.hidden-ireland.com which range from about $45 pp to $75 Our round-trip flight in May Hartford, CT to Shannon via NYC was about $645 pp, but we’re trying to cut it down.
Food, touring, necessities, not expensive at all. Alcohol and ‘petrol’ very expensive.
On 2002-02-19 08:11, tyghress wrote:
Food, touring, necessities, not expensive at all. Alcohol and ‘petrol’ very expensive.
Interesting take on that. Food, travel etc in Ireland are considered among the most expensive in Europe and most people in the North will cross the border to get petrol at 25 to 30 p cheaper p/l in the republic.
Alcohol and petrol not necessities???
You can’t come to ireland and not need alcahol. How would you play a session without a cool creamy pint of the Blackest Guinness in front of you???
[ This Message was edited by: Wink on 2002-02-19 10:04 ]
Well, a pint of Guinness isn’t that
expensive, is it? And a little goes
a long way. And who drinks petrol,
anyway? (Also you can take the bus,
rent bicycles, and so on.)
Peter, maybe I should qualify that. I pay a whopping tax on gasoline here – CT is among the most expensive states in that regard, but still, it’s only about $1.20 a gallon right now (at the worst I think we neared $2 a gallon about a year ago). At 3.79 liters per gallon, and 1.15 euro per dollar, that translates to me spending about .36 euro per liter here. What is the going cost for petrol there?
When we rented the car we were well prepared to talk kilometers instead of miles, then we fueled up and got VERY confused. Is gas cheaper? I don’t know…I’m used to dollars per gallon, and miles per gallon. Now we’re talking punts per liter and liters per kilometer. . .okay. . .no lets swap to euros per liter.
I actually had a piece of paper an pen out to figure it all when we remembered: we’re on holiday…we have no control over MPG…or KPL or whatever. We’re not about to go shopping around for the cheapest gas, nor are we going to limit our driving. Whatever the nice petrol pump says, we’ll pay.
Ended up we paid FAR FAR more for the full insurance coverage, which was a good thing, as we not only blew a tire in the first 24 hours, but we (okay. . .I’ll admit it, I was at the wheel) dinged the left rear fender trying to parallel park in a tight spot. The rental place paid for the tire, and waved us good bye over the dings.
I am a km/l person myself so am equally baffled by the miles to the gallon carry-on.
It does pay to look at prices at the Petrol stations, even within a range of 10 miles of here you may find awide range of different prices.
And yes, car rental seems cheap until you hear the price of the insurance which is often more than the rental price.
Ireland is still a little removed from europe. We measure fuel economy in, wait for it…miles per gallon. Where a gallon is 4.5lt. I wouldn’t be able to visualise a Km. The irish measure distance in miles.
Wink, you stated gallons, but I think you’re talking Brit gallons. Here it is 3.79 L/gal. Regardless, what is the average going rate for a liter of petrol?
I don’t have my own car so my mother is the one that watches the prices…I only fill it when it needs to be filled and I’m driving. It was up on 70p - 85p per litre. But now that should be converted to € which is €0.95 to €1.10 depending on where you get it. Converting that to dollars…I know that €1 was worth $0.80 this morning so that is about $0.75 to $0.95. But it has always been more expensive here. Rental cars here usually haven’t got a much bigger engine than 1.4 or 1.6 litre. If you drive a manual tranamission half sensibily there is no reason why you won’t get 30 to 40 miles per gallon!!! Especially on the not so bad main inter city roads (highways/motorways…), but that is Brit Gallons!!
[ This Message was edited by: Wink on 2002-02-19 11:22 ]
Gaz will be more expensive in Ireland compared to north american prices, but it’s just that Petrol is more expensive in Europe globally, not specifically in Ireland. I think it’s more expensive in France than it is in Ireland. Also, alcohol is very cheap compared to what I pay in my city. I will end up paying about 5.50EURO downtown for a pint, and you might expect paying 3EURO in Ireland. As for food, well, have you ever been to a good restaurant in Paris? You could get 6 fish&chip and 14 pints of something for the price of one meal over there…
Okay, so if you’re saying that 1euro for a liter of gas, about $.85 per liter, that would be over $3 per gallon. As I said. Gas is EXPENSIVE there! But we’re on vacation, so its all part of the fun.
Now, would someone explain the VAT to me?
Ahhhhh VAT!!!
We pay VAT, Value Added Tax on everything here. Most states in the US pay tax on sales aswell, don’t they?? The difference with VAT is this included in the price marked on a product. It is not added at the checkout. I think at present it is 21%, Fairly Steep. If you pay VAT on anything in the line of souveniers or presents for friends at home (probably anything you are bringing out of Ireland, maybe Europe) you can claim all that VAT back at the airport. I’m not sure how it works cause I’ve never done it, but it can be claimed back. Keep your reciepts
Yeah, when you buy a product, you have to ask them if they have a form for tax-refund. They need to fill this form and then you need to sign it. At the airport, you show your forms and receipts, and you get reimbursed on your credit card. I don’t know what happens if you just have the receipts without a form, not sure if you can get reimbursed then…