Ireland - Should we book in advance?
 

Okay... we are further into the process of planning our trip to Ireland from March 18-26. We are pouring over various itineraries and have come to a critical question.

How wise or foolish would it be to not book hotels in advance. Our first night in Dublin is booked and taken care of. From there, we have two schools of thought. One is to plan where we will stay along our journey and book the hotels or B & B's in advance. The other is to go out on our journey, and find places to stay as we need them.

If we arrive in a city such as Galway, or Cork, or Limerick (as possible examples) how much of a problem will it be not having booked in advance? Do we run the risk of having to pay higher prices last minute? Do we run the risk of not getting an affordable room?

Your advice, as always, is greatly appreciated.

The only concern I would have is that many B&Bs and some hotels don't open until after Easter, particularly in rural areas. I would be nervous about getting to a certain area and not finding anything open. I think you'll probably be ok to not necessarily book ahead, but I would be prepared to do a fair amount of calling to find lodging when you're outside the larger towns.

As for booking in towns, you should be ok to leave that open - the only risk you might have is if there is an event going on (such as around St. Patrick's Day -- if you happen to be going around that time, you're probably already out of luck).

One hint. Any time you can find an Irish Tourist Board Office they will usually find you a place to stay for a small fee. They will have the numbers of all the B&B's in the area and will phone around and find who has a vacancy. If no Tourist office stop at a B&B in the area you want to stay and if they don't have a vacancy they will usually call around in the area and find you one. In many trips to Ireland this has always worked for me in a pinch. Have fun

You are fine in March without reservations for the most part. If you find you are going to be in Galway over a weekend I would try to book something a day or so in advance. That will just prevent your having to go on a lenghthy search ringing doorbells and using up your time when you could be sightseeing.

Some hotels have "stand-by" rates where they will let rooms go cheaper at the last minute. Always ask if a hotel has "specials". If you are staying two days or more they have things like mid-week specials, weekend specials, etc. They are reduced rates and may include a dinner thrown in.

I would advise booking ahead as a lot of tourists will be here for St Patricks weekend, and may decide to stay over longer.