Now just like my previous posts I am going to go over the cheapest sites for the cheapest deals when researching your ticket to your destination. I'll thoroughly explain my top choices of websites for Planes, Hotels, and Transportation expenses.
Now lets get the ball rolling!
The situation:
- 2week vacation stay in Ireland
- Booking for April 1st-15th (Less tourist populated)
- Departing from San Francisco (It's mainly where I'm from)
FLIGHTS
USD conversion= $627.21
USD conversion= $649.57
3. Lastminute
USD conversion= $651.29
4. GotoGate
USD conversion= $667.10
Here are my top 4 searches of the cheapest flights I found departing to Ireland. Some quick tips delete your cookies or go on incognito mode to have the freshest searches as you look for the tickets. I've read from other traveling blogs that travel companies will store search data therefore showing you the same if not more expensive prices. Also try buying them in their international websites since the conversion will save you a lil bit more. But be aware of the fees along with buying with your US credit or debit card for any conversion or transaction fees from your bank or the agency.
Hotels/Hostels
For hotels and hostels, the cheapest listings I found are:
Hipmunk.com
booking.com
skyscanner.com
kayak.com
expedia.com
hotelscombined.com
Saving on living expenses would most likely be rooms that share with various people such as hostels. I've retested sites I found for previous countries and retained them since they hosted the better deals. Just providing the sites so that you may find a particular cheaper one of your choosing. Some of these travel agencies will post the same if not a little bit more than their competitors. Just to give you some close comparisons of which site is offering you the better prices.
Hipmunk.com
booking.com
skyscanner.com
kayak.com
expedia.com
hotelscombined.com
Saving on living expenses would most likely be rooms that share with various people such as hostels. I've retested sites I found for previous countries and retained them since they hosted the better deals. Just providing the sites so that you may find a particular cheaper one of your choosing. Some of these travel agencies will post the same if not a little bit more than their competitors. Just to give you some close comparisons of which site is offering you the better prices.
Transportation
For a short concise guide on transportation click on ricksteves in which he explains the best option for traveling within Ireland. I'll provide you with cheap options if you decide either train, car, or bus for transportation.
Trains/Buses
Options I found are:
You can have the selection to buy a rail pass in Ireland which grants you the privilege to use as many train wherever it is valid on the days that you choose. For example if I bought the 3DAY pass I can pick any 3 days of the month and ride as much trains to different cities as I wish. The only limitation is that once I've used up the days I decide to travel or haven't use one or two days of the ticket but 1 month then the Eurail pass has expired and no longer in use.
This would be great for those that want to have short spontaneous trips which can make traveling substantially cheaper if you're visiting multiple cities in that small window span of your trip.
translink.co.uk
eireagele.com
This site is another incredible to customize your type of traveling service whether through bus or train by offering fares and tickets similar to eurail pass. The benefits are almost the same in that the purchase of your ticket is unlimited traveling through a specified number of days. Also very convenient and substantially cheaper than buying a rail pass. But this only works within the northern parts of Ireland. I haven't posted any prices since selection and searching of the ticket is very extensive and abundant of various combinations. But an estimated price by rail would expect 3-day unlimited pass for about 11-30 euros, as for a bus ticket would be a range of 2-30 euros depending on how often you are using the bus to reach certain parts of northern Ireland.
For metro bus fares within the city they also have a section to show you which buses and arrival times for the local routes, which is also dirt cheap.
busireann.ie
Here is another city to city bus site which is amazingly cheap to travel within Ireland! I chose a route not too far away from Dublin airport just to test out the fare on which if the closest or farthest travel distance correlates with the price of the bus ticket. So from Dublin to Mullingar which isn't too far from each other revealed a relatively cheap ticket. Then tested Dublin to Mallow which was on the opposite side of the country and the price was twice the price of the ticket to Mullingar. Just be in mind some arrival destinations are very specific and may not be able to find you a price, meaning the bus route might not go through that area (which is kind of unnecessary to be listed) but guessing it could a reference point to go their destination. But this site is amazing for cheap traveling in Ireland definitely recommending this for those that need to save a little.
Rental Cars
(Don't be deceived, some websites will help rent out other cars from different rental services for a little higher price which are heckuva lot cheaper than other 3rd party competitors.)
(I'll stop at this site since each rental services and 3rd party services spike their prices up about $2-50 up from here on out. *searched through 6 pages of google)
Total traveling expenses
Applying what we found here to our 2 week vacation and sum up our cost throughout the trip.
3 nights in Dublin
Round trip flight= $627.21
Hostel= $138.78
Car= $206.64
Total= $972.63
3 nights in Galway
Hostel= $132.26
Gas= $30
Total= $162.23
2 nights in Kenmare
Hostel= $88.87
Gas= $40
Total= $128.87
2 nights in Doolin
Hostel B&B= $138
Gas= $30
Total= $168
2 nights in Belfast
Hotel= $119
Gas= $30
Total= $149
Last 2 nights in Dublin
Hostel= $82.40
Gas= $20
Total= $100.40
GRAND TOTAL= $1681.13
I mainly used hipmunk and booking hotel websites to find the cheapest hostels and hotels. I chose a car since much of Ireland's attractions are very rural areas and by taking buses or trains would mean a whole lot of walking which would of save me maybe 200-300 more bucks. Again this doesn't include food and miscellaneous items since that can be very subjective in pricing. Ireland is a pricey vacation more so than Germany for a place filled with scenic views and delicious pubs. All of this is just a simulated guide on how would you save and spend on your trip to Ireland, thank you guys for reading and keep with my next post!
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