Ron & Mary Kay Wood

We will be in Ireland from May 21 to June 11, 2002. We plan to drive the entire island going south from Dublin and staying in B&B's along the route. We do not plan to make reservations, but will find lodging nightly as we don't know where we will end up each day. Do you think we will have problems with lodging doing it this way? Reading the travel books, there seems to be so much to see, it's a little over-whelming. Any tips as to "must sees" around the island? <BR>Thank you in advance.

Bill

The further along you go, the harder it will be, but you will probably be able to find places. They will very likely not be your first choice. If you are staying in the Dublin area you should definitely reserve a room. They fill up quickly. Mid June could start to get a bit tight room wise.<BR><BR>Try the Michelin Green guide. It ranks things from "worth a Trip" to "interesting" I would say any part of the Irish coast is a must see but yes, it's very overwhelming for such a small island. Start planning your next trip now.<BR><BR>Bill<BR><BR>Bill

suzanne

I did this several years ago, but you're lucky...I had only 10 days! We only had reservations for 2 nights on the trip - one night at Adare Manor and one night in Dublin. We traveled in mid-May, and called to reserve a room at each B&B the day we were going to arrive! There's lots of public phone booths, so it wasn't a problem. And only a few times were we told the place was booked. If you have a good B&B guide, it's not that difficult, and certainly makes for a more adventurous vacation.<BR><BR>PS I'm sure you heard this already, but spend most of your time in the western part of the country. I thought it was greener and a lot more scenic, and the B&Bs were nicer, too.

jp

Get advise from the experts<BR>www.irelandexpert.com<BR>www.irelandyes.com

Lori

<BR>Ron and Mary Kay,<BR>Generally, you won't have ant trouble at all! It seemed to me that every third house in Ireland is a B+B! The only place we had trouble on a 14 days trip was in Doolin (don't miss that tiny village!). So is you plan to stay there over night call ahead in the morning and reserve a room. The tourist information offices all over tha country will happily supply you with guides of B+Bs and farms that also have B+B facilities.<BR>I would, however, reserve a room in Dublin!<BR>Have a nice trip!<BR>Lori

carolyn

I don't think you'll have any problem finding a B&B. When we were there, we'd just visit the tourism office in town, tell them our budget, preference (private bath, etc) and they'd call and make the reservation for us. Even in Dublin it wasn't a problem.<BR><BR>We also met some lovely Scottish ladies at breakfast at our Dublin B&B who highly recommended a B&B they stayed at a few nights prior. Turned out to be the loveliest one we stayed at, and in a location we never even knew about. <BR><BR>I'd recommend booking your first night in advance.