Do I need a GPS in Ireland?--Is driving there worse than the continent?
 

This will be our first trip to Ireland, but we have taken lots of driving trips on the continent so we know all about the need to have super good, detailed maps. We've done fine for these trips with just a map and with occasional use of my husband's antique GPS which was basically directional only.

Is it a lot worse trying to navigate in Ireland? We'll be doing primarily rural areas and small towns in the W and SW. My husband has found a Gamin that is loaded with European maps for about $175. He of course likes toys of this sort so would be more that willing to buy it if we need it. But, my question is if we really need it or if we can get by with just a good read atlas. Thanks.

People have been driving Ireland for many years without a GPS.

Yes, you should do fine without one as long as you are good at navigation. Keep in mind that roads are often signposted by where they lead (i.e., Dublin, Kilkenny) rather than a road number, like N45, on the atlas. Also, in the west of Ireland, some signs may be only in Irish, rather than the English in the map.

We prefer the GPS as we like getting deliberately lost to find new things, and having the reassurance that we can always find our way home :)

A good map should be sufficient but make sure you get one that is written in Irish as well as English. Some of the Gaeltacht regions especially around Connemara have place names written only in Irish and if your map has the English translation it gets very confusing.

Greendragon--you made me laugh. When we were hopelessly confused, we occasionally used the old GPS at roundabouts to at least point us in the correct direction.

To me, it is driving throught the cities that is most confusing, and we won't be doing a lot of that on this trip so I am guessing, after hearing your replies, that a good map should be fine.

Thanks.

We were totally lost in a Gaeltacht region because nothing corresponded to our map, which was mostly in English. Eventually we saw a truck driver in an industrial area whom we asked for directions. His English wasn't very good, as he was Polish, so he basically said, "Follow me," and led us at a breathtaking speed to a freeway.

What's "freeway" in Ireland, anyway--dual carriageway?

Anyway, we could have used a GPS in that one area.

If so far you have only been driving on the Continent, this is probably the most important street sign you'll see in Ireland :-)

http://tinyurl.com/2vbzpbe

I'm with GreenDragon on how a GPS can be handy. Three reasons ... 1)it always has its map keeping up with your progress. Even if you don't use it for directions you'll know where you truly are. 2) When you see the castle "over there", it's comforting to know you can wander off your track and efficiently return to your main route. 3) When you go out for dinner at night and it's dark and/or raining when you return, it's comforting to have the GPS accurately lead you back to your hotel or B&B. Finally, with all of the GPS advantages, keep a printed map handy - GPS has been known to be wrong or confused!

If we do get a GPS, it will be to be used in combo with our map because I know technology can have problems too.

Cowboy--
Great sense of humor! Since we live in the US and have never driven on the left, driving on the left is definitely going to be different.

One thing you should be aware of is the speed limits, and the fact that the locals tend to drive at the speed limit. Even tiny single track roads can have a speed limit of 50 (80km/h) or even 62 mph (100km/h) on them!
SHould you be caught speeding (highly unlikely on most roads :) ) you have to pay an on the spot fine.
Speed limits are be given in Kms, but occasionally you will still see one in miles, and the same is true of signposts - though again occasionally the distance is given in miles.

Especially note Hetismij's warning about signage in kilometers and miles. Once I was going down a back road and saw _____25. At the next crossroad, the sign said "_____ 35". I was wondering if I had gone the wrong direction, while my sense said I was heading north as I knew I needed to.
At the pub that night someone explained about the signage, and I realized that the first one was in miles and the second, in kms.

Re. signs in miles or kms..

If the sign is green (national, "N" roads) or blue (motorways, "M" roads), the distance is always given in kms, but "km" is also on the sign.

If the sign is white, and it looks a bit faded or beaten up, the distance will be in miles unless you find "km" next to the distance given.

It gets a bit complicated when you find a mix on the same post:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/66/15...44b6c165e1.jpg
All distances but that one to Cork should be in miles.

Something you will probably not have seen on the continent are destinations or place names in brackets on the road signs, like this one:
http://www.indymedia.ie/attachments/...6/sign_hed.jpg
It means that at this intersection you turn right on N21, both for Limerick and Killarney. But if you want to go to Killarney, you will at some point have to change from N21 to N22.

Official road signs are always bi-lingual in Irish (in italics) and English (in uppercase), except in the Gaeltacht which was already mentioned.

My pet peeve with GPS in Ireland is that some do not differentiate between wide N roads and tiny rural roads and like to send you for half an hour on a 1 1/2-lane road to avoid a 5km detour via wide national roads. So it never hurts to take a look at the map first to check if the system really knows its business if it tries to send you on an unmarked road.

I did find with a map only mae a wrong turn twice.not bad for driving 3500 miles .But gp ar always nice especially a night when you can' see the signs.

On trip before last I panicked when we drove into NI in our car rented in the Republic and realized that speed limits were in miles per hour and our speedometer only had kilometers. Next time I plan to be in both countries I will take along a cheat sheet.

Thanks all. I just ordered a good, detailed road atlas, and it certainly was cheaper than the GPS. I suspect we'll be fine.

Agreed with the differences between roads not mentioned by the GPS. While the R roads are lovely and interesting, they are often tiny, windy, and have sheep/tractors/cows in the middle of them. If I'm rushed, I would rather stay with N roads. But then again, you should never be rushed in Ireland :)

With the road atlas, the downfall of that is it often doesn't list the smaller roads at all. You'd need Ordnance maps for those, though I've done OK with just the atlas. It does occasionally confuse.

julies - I think you will be fine with a good atlas. For our trip earlier this year, we used a good AA road atlas and also a fold out map which had more detail. These were perfect and for all the driving we did, the only trouble we had (which was minor) was in Galway and that is because we didn't have specific directions to the B&B. Road signs were clearly marked for the most part and I saw no need for a GPS - then again, I was the navigator for the entire trip which admittedly became exhausting, though probably not as exhausting as the driving was for my husband! :)

We drove all over Ireland for two weeks this past September without getting hopelessly lost. We did not have a GPS. However, our worst problem was trying to find the location to return our rental car at the Dublin airport. The worst signage I have seen at any airport ever!!! We did use our cell phone a few times when we couldn't locate the address of our B and B-we were usually just around the corner.

We drove around Ireland and Northern Ireland for a week last year with our Rough Guide map and it worked great. We wandered a bit one day around Newgrange, however, but saw some neat sights that we would have missed had we driven straight there. We also got to ask directions of two Irish kids on bikes and they seemed so pleased to help us!
Like SusieKay, we got turned around once in Kilkenny looking for our B&B, but a nice truck driver pointed out that we were just a block away!
So, have fun with your map and enjoy whatever adventures to which it may lead you!

The Irish people are so friendly and helpful, if you travel with a GPS, and never have to stop and ask for directions, you will have missed half the fun of driving in Ireland!!