What Does a Trip to Ireland Cost?
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The title of this post is one of the most common questions we are asked by friends and family. I think this is mostly because they are confused about how we can afford to go to Ireland once every year or so for two weeks at a time. The real answer to that is that I (Ryan) am a miles and points nerd, but that is a topic for another post. You are probably here to see how much you should budget for your trip. The easiest way to do that is to tell you how much we spent on one of our last trips.
This trip happened in mid-October, which is squarely in the shoulder travel season. This means that costs were less than if we would have gone in June or July. If you have the flexibility, October is a great time to visit Ireland. The small crowds and great weather make for a fantastic trip.
Back to the matter at hand. What items do you need to include in your budget, and how much in each category? The major items I will cover in this post are: airfare, accommodation, car rental, petrol, food, sightseeing, and other expenses. So without further ado, here we go!
Airfare
We used American Airlines miles to book award seats for this trip. This trip was also unique for us, because we saved up enough miles to fly business class on our way to Ireland and paid for an upgrade to economy plus on our way home. This is not the norm for us, but we had enough miles so we went for it! We spent 57,500 miles plus $5.60 per person to fly business class to Ireland, and 30,000 miles plus $138.08 to fly economy plus on the way home.
corry enjoyed her lie flat seat on the overnight flight from the U.s.
We saved up this many American Airlines miles by flying American as much as possible (neither Corry nor I travel a lot for work), by signing up for a couple American Airlines credit cards, and by doing most of our online shopping through their travel portal. If you are going to do this, please make sure you don’t buy anything you can’t afford, and pay off your card in full every month!
In total, we spent 175,000 American Airlines miles plus $287.36 in taxes and upgrade fees. If we were to fly economy for all our flights it would have cost us 120,000 miles plus $11.20 in taxes and fees.
How Much Should you Budget for Airfare?
A shoulder season ticket (March through May & September through October) will cost on average around $900. This will be less if you are flying from the east coast, or a major hub city like Chicago. if you are flying from the midwest or west coast, the ticket may be slightly more expensive. That being said, a flight from Dallas (our home airport) to Dublin in October costs about $850.
If you are not picky about your airline, I would start by doing a search on Google Flights or SkyScanner. Then check the airline website to see if you can find that deal. I like to book directly with the airline and not through an online travel agency, but that choice is up to you.
Number to put in your Ireland Budget: $900 per person.
Accommodations
This is another category where we used points, as well as free nights from hotels.com to pay for our nights in Ireland. We stayed at 5 hotels and B&Bs during this trip and used points and free nights on eight out of the ten nights.
Our first accomodation was the InterContinental Dublin. For this stay we used a free night from our IHG credit card and 100,000 IHG points for three nights at this wonderful hotel that usually runs north of €300 a night.
it was a sad when when we had to leave our comfortable room in Dublin
The next place we stayed was the Woodlands House B&B in Kinsale. A place I would highly recommend if Kinsale is on your itinerary. Two nights in October will run you about $225 for two people, but I paid with 19,581 Barlcay Arrival miles plus $28.16.
Our third stay was at the Brook Lodge Hotel in Killarney. It was not the best option in Killarney, but it was one of the only ones with availability at the time we booked. Two nights here cost us $215, but I paid with a free hotels.com night and 11,638 Capital One Venture miles.
After Killarney we were off to Galway were we stayed at Connemara Coast Hotel just outside of town. Two nights cost $214.64, but do you think I paid that whole amount in cash? By no means! I paid for one night at $98.36 and paid for the second night using 11,628 Capital One Venture miles.
Our last stay was just one night in Dublin before catching the Air Coach back to Dublin Airport the next morning. We stayed at the Clayton Hotel Ballsbridge for a cash price of $125.75. I paid $11.32 in taxes plus a free night through hotels.com.
Total cash value of accomodations for 10 nights: $1,937.37 (most at the InterContinental Dublin). That breaks down to an average of $193.74 a night.
We paid a total of $137.84, plus a couple free nights and a lot of credit card and IHG points I earned through their credit card and only staying at IHG hotels the year before our trip. Be on the lookout for a future blog post and podcast episode about using rewards programs to make your trip to Ireland possible.
What Should you Budget for Accommodations?
Options for lodging in Ireland are all over the map. If you want to pay for a hostel bed with a shared shower, it can be dirt cheap. Likewise, you can pay several hundred euros a night to stay in a luxury castle.
On average, I would budget around $60 a night per person for a B&B and around $150 a night for a hotel room.
Number to put in your Ireland Budget: $150 a night for two people.
Rental Car
The last of the “expensive three” is the rental car. We spent a little more on a car than normal because we were renting a larger car for us and two of our friends.
We rented an Automatic larger sedan from Europcar and paid €662.20 ($768.94) for the car rental, excessive damage waiver, and GPS rental for 8 days. The best part was, they upgraded us to a BMW since they didn’t have any of our class in the garage! If that number scares you, don’t worry. The smaller cars that will fit 2 people cost much less than what we paid. You may only pay a little more than the half of the above price Corry and I paid.
What Should you Budget for a Rental Car?
While our experience on the last trip was unique, budgeting about $60 per day for a compact, automatic car with excessive damage waiver and GPS rental will be enough. I highly recommend paying for the excess damage waiver, especially if your trip will be your first time driving on the left side of the road. If you are going to use the auto insurance from your credit card make sure you call and get a letter from the bank letting the car rental company know you have insurance for their car. Please remember to check that you have a card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred that has primary auto insurance and not secondary insurance. The benefits tab on your online bank portal will give you that information.
Number to put in your Ireland Budget: $60-$70 per day.
Fuel (Petrol/Diesel)
If you are going to rent a car, you will eventually have to put fuel in it. Fuel in Ireland is significantly more expensive than it is on this side of the Atlantic. Petrol or diesel will cost between €1.30-€1.40 a liter. At that price, filling up a small car will cost you about $75.
cost of one diesel fill up near galway
Number to put in your Ireland Budget: $225 for three fill ups.
Food
This is the category with the most flexibility. You can eat out every meal for 10 days, or you can stay at an AirBnB and grocery shop like you do at home. I recommend you do a little of both so you can experience great Irish restaurants and the chance to shop with the locals.
On our most recent trip we spent €414.15 ($479.88) on meals and snacks for 10 days. This number included eating at a pub or restaurant almost every night, packing or eating cheap lunches, and a couple days worth of breakfasts when they were not included in our accommodation.
What Should you Budget for Food?
Tailor your food budget to your preferences (eating out vs. cooking meals), and whether or not your accommodations include breakfast. In general, I recommend budgeting €5 for breakfast, €10-€15 for lunch and €20-€25 for dinner per person. This will give you enough for a quick breakfast at a cafe as well as lunch and dinner at a pub or reasonably priced restaurant.
Number to put in your Ireland Budget: $55 per person, per day.
What about those Famous Pints of Guinness?
If you are in Ireland, my guess is you will want to have a few pints at the local. The price of a good pint will vary depending on where you are on the island. In general, pints will be more expense in the cities and less expensive in the small towns. Budgeting €6 per pint is a safe estimate.
a typical night our for us. bulmers/magners for Corry and guinness for ryan
Number to put in your Ireland Budget: $150 per person.
Sightseeing
Much like budgeting for food, budgets for sightseeing can be all over the map. You could do mostly free things like museums and walks along seaside cliffs, or you could visit all of the expensive attractions such as the Guinness Storehouse and the Titanic Belfast.
On our last trip we visited most of the historic sights where the price of admission is anywhere from free to about €10 per person. We spent a grand total of €182.50 ($210.59) on admission to attractions. This included one ticket to the Guinness Storehouse for me, and the rest were €12 euro or under per person.
What Should you Budget for Sightseeing?
The internet is a great tool for this part of your budget. You can look up the exact price of most of the things you want to see before you leave home! Our general rule is to budget for one or two expensive things per trip and 1-2 of the less expensive sites per day. Depending on your itinerary, it might be best to buy an OPW Heritage Card that will get you into most of the historical sights in the Republic of Ireland.
Number to put in your Ireland Budget: $110 per person.
Other Expenses
Now that we have covered the big expenses, here are some other ones you may want to factor into your budget.
Souvenirs
There is no hard and fast rule for this one. Pick an amount you are comfortable with, and try not to spend more than that amount. Corry and I usually budget enough for 1-2 larger items (something from Avoca for Corry and a bottle of Whiskey for me), and enough so we can pick up little things like postcards and pins along the way.
Buying gifts for people? Make sure you include that price in your souvenirs budget!
Number to put in your Ireland Budget: $125 per person
Miscellaneous Expenses
You will also encounter a couple of random expenses on your trip such as public transportation, tolls, and parking. For example, a 3 day LEAP visitor card in Dublin will run you about €20 ($23) and tolls may cost you a couple euros a day. It is also good to keep a cushion in your travel budget for unforeseen circumstances such as an emergency trip to the pharmacy or a trouble with a car tire.
Number to put in your Ireland Budget: $250
How Much did our Trip Cost?
Of all the trips we have taken to Ireland, this trip was a little more than usual. We were with friends, so we ate at a lot more restaurants and paid for more admissions than what is normal for us. That being said, we didn’t pay much for our flights or accommodations. We spent a grand total of $1,784.82 plus a lot of points, miles, and free night certificates.
Here is a run down of the travel rewards we spent on this trip:
175,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles
1 IHG free night certificate from the IHG credit card (now capped at 40,000 points)
100,000 IHG points (same room would now cost 110,000 points for two nights)
19,581 Arrival miles from the Barclays Arrival+ (no longer available)
23,266 Venture miles from the Capital One VentureOne card
2 free nights on hotels.com
It may take a while for you to master, and I would recommend starting simple, but travel rewards can cut the cost of your trip by more than half. On this trip specifically, I only paid cash for airfare taxes and fees, as well as two nights in a hotel.
What Does a Trip to Ireland Cost?
Now we come to the question you have probably been looking for this whole time. What is the big number you should be aiming for as you save for your trip?
Here is a summary of the items we have been talking about for a 10 day trip for two people.
Airfare: $1,800
Accommodations: $1,300
Rental Car: $700
Fuel (Petrol/Diesel): $225
Food, Snacks, and Drinks: $1,100
Sightseeing: $250
Souvenirs: $250
Miscellaneous Expenses: $250
Total Estimated Cost: $5,900
You can obviously spent way more on your trip. You could only stay at luxury hotels and hire a private driver. On the flip side, you could stay at cheap backpackers hostels, only buy food from the grocery store, and take public transportation to make your trip cheaper.
Budgeting about $6,000 for a 10 day trip for two people is enough for you to have a comfortable trip without breaking the bank. That price means you would need to budget $500 a month if you started saving one year out, and only $250 if you started saving two years from when you wanted to travel!
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are those of the author alone, not those of any product or company mentioned or referred to in this post. They have not been reviewed or approved by any of these entities. The information in this post is for informational purposes only. It should not be seen as professional advice and is accurate, to the best of our knowledge, as of the date on this post. You use the information at your own risk.
