My Ireland Blog
 

Because I used info from the forum, as well as Fodor's Ireland travel guide, here's my blog on my wife and I's honeymoon to Ireland. Hope it helps some people.

http://farmerstravel.wordpress.com/

Your blog was outstanding and I hope all the planning travellers take a serious look at you list for packing. Great for Spaing and Fall and easily adjusted for summer or winter. I would add a shawl (pashima of the like)for the ladies. Travel sheets take up so little room they can come in handy if you find a "iffy" hostal and there are some..Thanks for taking the time to do the blog!!

Thank you amer_can. My wife did buy a wool scarf on our trip, so your suggestion of a shawl was correct!

davidafarmer:

What are your thoughts now about staying at hostels (you mentioned the hard mattress, loud etc) If you had to do this over would you perhaps choose more B&B's? Your packing list included sheets and a travel pillow, is that for staying at hostels?

Sorry to hear about your difficult journey home due to cancellation of your connecting AA flight.

Thanks for posting your blog. It was fun to read.

Sandy

Thanks for sharing your honeymoon with us! Loved your photos.

Most of the hostels are quite clean, and the people are very friendly. We only encountered noise at one hostel, and it was clearly a "party hostel". They usually cost less than half of what we paid for B&Bs, so there is that. The beds are usually bunk beds, with 4-5 inch mattresses, which aren't super comfy. I do a lot of camping, so I'm used to sleeping on hard surfaces. What we try to do is break up our hostel stays with a night at a B&B. We'll go 2-3 nights at hostels, then a night at a B&B. We also always got private rooms at the hostels. The inflatable travel pillows I use on the airplane and to augment the hostel pillows. They weigh almost nothing and take up no space. The travel sheets were for the hostels, although we did not use them much at all. The hostels were quite clean, though I have heard of people staying in less savory ones.

I would still stay at hostels. They're economical, and a great place to meet people. If you have very specific bed needs or back pain, you might want to stay elsewhere.