Ireland

My BF and I are kicking around the idea of meeting in Ireland for a trip in a few weeks (beginning of March--before St. Patrick's day).  Flights are very reasonable for me to Dublin from NY and ridiculously cheap for him on Ryanair from London (at least before all of their fees).  We'd fly in and out of Dublin and spend a couple of nights there but he wants to go somewhere very rural and quiet for most of the trip. I was pleased to see that rental cars from Dublin airport are in the $15-20 range, including taxes, for an automatic so we can go pretty much anywhere within half a day's drive of Dublin, without having to rely on public transport. Most important is somewhere quiet, with an affordable B&B (or hostel with private rooms, hopefully maybe in the ~€50/night range for a double room, if that's possible?) with at least a little bit to do in the area. Mostly, though, we want some quiet time alone and aren't worried about filling up 5 action packed days or anything. A cute little village with a couple of pubs and some nice scenery to take a drive around would be ideal. This is definitely not a see everything in Ireland in a week trip, it's a spending some good quality reconnecting time with each other trip.

Does anyone have any personal recommendations for this? A great, cheap B&B would be almost as good of a reason as any to pick somewhere, if someone has a suggestion. There are a lot of tiny, picturesque, rural type places in Ireland it's hard to narrow it down, so help, please. Thanks so much, guys.

A half day's drive can get you all the way on the other side of the country!  It's only a couple of hours to drive to Galway and about three hours to drive to Cork city. There are a lot more options of nice rural towns and villages in the west country. It's definitely better for that kind of thing.

If you want to stay closer to Dublin, Kilkenny is a nice town. There's a castle, it's the home of Smithwick's, and there are lots of shops and restaurants.

When I came to Ireland with friends a few years ago we stayed outside Galway in a village called, Oughterard. It was really lovely and was literally on the doorstep of Connemara, so lots of countryside to drive through. My parents stayed there when they were here visiting and they stayed here: http://www.riverwalkhouse.com 

B&Bs are very affordable in Ireland, so you should have no problems finding a place to stay.

I'm REALLY surprised you've found automatic rental cars for that cheap. I think we spent about 50 euro a day for one. Be wary about renting the car. Have your boyfriend do it, if possible. If you have to do it then take pictures of every inch of that car so when you return it they don't charge you for scratches and take out the extra insurance. US credit card companies don't cover international car rentals in Ireland and the car rental companies know this. Most Americans don't. If they can, they WILL try to scam you. 

I will definitely check out those places, thanks for the suggestions.

My BF doesn't have a driver's license so I need to be the one who rents the car, unfortunately. Otherwise, a manual wouldn't be an issue. Theoretically, I can drive a manual, but I'm not very experienced and I don't really want to deal with a manual, on the wrong side of the road and shifting with the wrong hand. It's just a bit much all at once. That's good to know about American credit cards not covering rentals in Ireland, I suppose I'll have to add in the insurance as well, then, making it more per day. Thanks for the heads-up.

I will definitely check out those places, thanks for the suggestions.

My BF doesn't have a driver's license so I need to be the one who rents the car, unfortunately. Otherwise, a manual wouldn't be an issue. Theoretically, I can drive a manual, but I'm not very experienced and I don't really want to deal with a manual, on the wrong side of the road and shifting with the wrong hand. It's just a bit much all at once. That's good to know about American credit cards not covering rentals in Ireland, I suppose I'll have to add in the insurance as well, then, making it more per day. Thanks for the heads-up.

To clarify that. You can use the credit card but if that would normally cover insurance it wouldn't in this case. That's my understanding. I think if you used Hertz it wouldn't be an issue. Something to check into.

A half day's drive can get you all the way on the other side of the country!  It's only a couple of hours to drive to Galway and about three hours to drive to Cork city. There are a lot more options of nice rural towns and villages in the west country. It's definitely better for that kind of thing.

 

Agreed!  But you may want to fly into Shannon instead.

Agreed!  But you may want to fly into Shannon instead.

When I checked that cost more.

To clarify that. You can use the credit card but if that would normally cover insurance it wouldn't in this case. That's my understanding. I think if you used Hertz it wouldn't be an issue. Something to check into.

You can use US credit cards anywhere in Ireland. It's the rental insurance that is the issue here.

I got scammed by a car rental company (I had to pay 800 euro for a scratch that I don't believe I put in the car, but couldn't prove otherwise) and my uncle did as well when they were here visiting (they accused him of putting diesel in a petrol car. And no, he didn't.). They didn't tell him this when he returned the car, but quietly charged his card 1800 euro which he later found. He immediately called the rental company (he's a business customer) and told them to take the charge off or they were about to lose a valuable customer. After much hassle, they took it off.  

Oh man, those are pretty ridiculous stories!  Wow. I'll be sure to get the extra insurance. I knew that's what you meant with the CC thing, btw. When I was in Florida a couple months ago I didn't have to purchase extra insurance because my cc covered me. I've never rented a car abroad before though so that's good to know! 

I caused €300 worth of damage to a rental car in Ireland!  Back before I moved to the UK and felt comfortable on the left and it was a single track road near Blarney and I got too far too the left. Ooops.
So interesting about them scamming Americans- because I didn't think the damage was that bad, but hmmmm now I am wondering...


Anyways, back to Ireland- I think Andee's suggestion of Shannon Airport is a good idea - lots of nice lovely little villages over there.  But there are lots of easy to reach villages from Dublin as well, as Bmore says.

I love Ireland! Have fun 

We are visiting on the 23rd of June for 2 nights for a friend's wedding.. We are flying into Dublin and renting a car...the wedding is in Nevan....?

Staying at the Station House Hotel.