Last Minute Lodging
 

My husband and I are traveling to Ireland for the first time Aug 16th, 2008. We have 1 week there and will be travelling around the southwest (Cork, Galway, Tipperary, Killarney, etc.). We do not want to be restricted to a specific itinerary and as such we don't want to book lodging ahead of time. We are wondering if it is realistic to expect to find lodging at that time of year without prebooking. As we are fifty I don't think hostels are available to us.

If you were going in April or mid-May or mid-Sept - or just about any other time of the year - you'd be fine. But August is <b>very</b> busy/crowded and most of the good B&amp;Bs will be booked solid.

Time for a reality check. Even the hostels will be booked up in August.

If you expect to find good accommodations on the fly you should change your plans and go at a different time of year. If you must go in August now you know the realities.

Make an itinerary and make reservations. Otherwise you could easily spend hours every day looking for accommodations and still be disappointed. Do you want to do that? It is your vacation and up to you.

With just 1-week &amp; no reservations be prepared to waste a lot of time looking for lodging. One saving grace: some B&amp;B's have people who will take 'overflow' guests. Once, in Bangor Erris (County Mayo) Evelyn Cosgrove's Hilltop B&amp;B was full and she sent me to an overflow provider that was nicer than her own facility.

I recommend firm reservations for the day you arrive (B&amp;B or Hotel) and for the night before your flight back to the U.S. For the latter I recommend Ennis or Limerick City.

Ennis is also a good 'Base' for Galway, Connemara and for west Clare

Effectively, I agree with janisj and IrishEyes: It's not realistic to expect to find lodging at that time of year without prebooking!
BTW
There are 'Youth' Hostals (mostly for students) &amp; there are 'Tourist' Hostals. I'm a septuagenarian and have stayed in the latter ...

If you go ahead with your plan and you find yourself unable to located lodging at towns that have Irish Tourist Bureau centers, they can usually find you a place for a small booking fee. Most larger towns such as the ones you have mentioned have them. Having said that Neds right in that you should book your first and last night no matter what. Have fun

Hi...new to this website...I just need a bit of clarification. One of the posters mentioned that even hostels would be difficult to find in August. What about July? I've been to Italy and even in May/June I never had a problem finding a place to stay. Would Ireland be comparable in July or would you say that hostels are hard to come by during these festival months. Thanks for any help and sorry to the original poster...i'm piggybacking off your original post.

The highest/busiest season runs basically from the second half of July through August.

May/June/early July isn't so bad since most European kids are still in school. The BIG crowds start when most European families head out during that 6+ weeks late July/Aug.

Thanks...we're departing, tentatively, July 23/24. So maybe we'll still be alright? Thanks for the heads up!

No book some places ahead or yopu could end up paying more for hotels in the B&amp;B's are booked out. I would not wing it as you waste time looking for places and many may be further out than you want to stay.

We've done the 'Book As You Go' in June, Feb and April, though notin July or August. At this juncture of our traveling, we usually book MOST of our lodging ahead, but do leave a few 'Transition' nights open, until we see how our plans have changed. If you have specific B&amp;B's that you want to stay in, then it is ESSENTIAL that you pre-book.

If, however, you are more flexible in your demands and expectations (particularly as to location -- in town, or near town), you could begin each day by dropping into the Tourist Office and having the book you into you anticipated locale for that night. The fee is minimal.

Having said THAT, August is peak season and the SW is the peak destination. Although I'm sure that lodging can be found, it is a safe bet that the BEST places will all be unavailable as Last Minute choices.

Bob