LeeVV

We plan to visit Ireland from July 15 to July 29, and have read that we will certainly want lodging reservations in the cities. But we are wondering about smaller communities. Will we need to have all our stopping places reserved in advance, or can we take our chances when we are traveling about the country?

Thanks for any advice.

flpab

Are there just the two of you? I suppose if you don't care what you end up with you could wing it but I like knowing there is a bed for my head at the end of the day.

bilboburgler

You are in/getting into the high season, I'd book

bvlenci

I used to wing it when I traveled, but once nearly everyone started booking, your chances of finding a place to stay without a reservation are not very good except in low season. The problem may be even worse in small towns, especially those that get a mention in the guide books. I think cities are more apt to have an oversupply of beds. I know that the one small hotel and two B&Bs in my tiny town in rural Italy are much more likely to be all booked up in July than the 1000+ hotels in Rome.

On our last trip to Ireland, in June, we left a few of the reservations to the last minute, when we weren't sure how far we wanted to drive in one day, but on those nights we stayed in towns we had never heard of before.

You could also try booking only a night or so ahead, but you may end up spending more time on the phone than you'd care for. That's what happened to us on a trip to Spain about ten years ago.

bilboburgler

Last time we did this we used a smart phone at breakfast to check trip advisor and then booked online for the coming night. Nice to get off a bicycle knowing there is a room

ter2000

Late July is the high season - it would be foolish to wing it. From personal experience, wandering around looking for "room at the inn" is a surefire way of ruining precious holiday time.

flpab

Don't worry about it having that shamrock that says approved by the Irish tourism board. They pay to have that and there are some great places that don't have that sign. Just read the reviews.

LeeVV

Thanks to all for the replies--very helpful! It sounds as it we'd be wise to make our plans a little more definitive and book ahead, and we'll be dedicating today and tomorrow to that task.

tomarkot

Hi LeeVV, FWIW, our experience traveling in Ireland several years ago was that it worked well to book ahead in the bigger cities, as you suggested. We also booked in the Connemara area, where we wanted to stay in a specific inn. We might suggest booking most of your lodging, but letting a few nights open for some flexibility. We're in the process of doing just that in planning a trip through the Alps. Good luck!