Ireland is one of Europe’s cheap destinations now
The incredibly high airfares from between the US and Europe have taken the wind out of many vacation sails in the past few months, but one small bright spot has emerged. The problem for many is that an expensive flight drops you in a city where hotels and meals are incredibly expensive too, but Dublin and the rest of Ireland are on sale this year.
You’ve probably heard about the financial problems that many European countries have been having, with Greece and Portugal pretty badly hit, but Ireland might be in the worst shape of all of them. Their “Celtic Tiger” economy has quickly deflated, and prices for many things have fallen as a result.
Destination: Ireland
One of the many nice things about Ireland is that flights from the United States are, of course, shorten than to anywhere else in Europe. A flight between New York and Dublin will be almost an hour shorter than a flight to London or Paris, so things are off to a good start.
The better news is that packages including hotels and ground transportation are so heavily discounted this coming autumn that you can go for 6 nights for around US$900 per person, which is only slightly more than the flight itself. Basically, the airlines are slashing their prices and buying hotel rooms in bulk to try to fill up some extra seats, and the visitors win big.
How to visit Ireland
Those of us who like big cities might be tempted to fly into Dublin and maybe spend a whole week there. While Dublin does have some interesting attractions, many people actually find it a bit disappointing, plus it’s by far the most expensive part of the Emerald Isle.
The thing to do is to rent a car or take trains or buses to visit smaller towns all over the island. By United States’ standards, the country is very small, and you can literally take a train from the north end to the southern end in 7 hours or so. The best plan is to break your trip up into chunks that are maybe two hours apart.
The countryside in Ireland is actually one of its best attractions, so a drive from one town to another can be breathtakingly beautiful, also giving you chances to stop off at some historic castles or villages along the way.
Many people fly into Dublin and out of Shannon, which is a huge hub airport more in the center of the country. A strategy like this means you’ll only have to deal with the Dublin traffic and hassle once instead of twice, so it’s worth considering if flights are about the same price, which is usually the case.
Many car rental companies are set up to rent from one city and accept drop-offs in the other, so you likely won’t have to pay an extra fee to them either.