Ireland Cities

Vacationing In Ireland: A Student Travelers Guide

Traveling to any new country, while exciting, can be extremely expensive. While you might get a great deal on flights and initial hotels, exploring your new destination might be a little more costly that you initially bargained on. This can be especially true if you are a young traveler. If you are a student and planning a trip to Ireland, there are a few factors to keep in mind so you can make your euro's stretch a little further.

Ireland has recently undergone an economic boom, and this has filtered down into the general cost of living for locals and visitors alike. While once this was an inexpensive vacation destination for many, people are now finding that they run into some financial difficulties due to high costs of lodgings and food. This is especially true for the younger traveller in the Emerald Isle. However, there are some simple ways to cut the costs of your basic living while on vacation, and to still experience all the entertainment this country has to offer.

Flights to Ireland are pretty inexpensive these days as many travel websites offer discount plane tickets to would be travellers. Sites such as expedia and travelocity buy airline tickets in bulk and thus are able to offer generous savings to people looking to purchase flights to Ireland. Quite often, if you book two months in advance of your planned vacation, you can find exceptionally good deals with flights to your destination of choice. While these websites are great at finding deals, it is vital that you look over all of the discount travel websites in order to find the best deal. Occasionally, these sites will offer prices for exactly the same seat at very different prices. Before you make your purchase, be sure to look over as many discount travel sites as possible.

One great thing about staying in Ireland is that the country embraces the Hostel tradition still. Every city in this country offers young travellers the chance to stay in some very modern and fully equipped hostel venues for the duration of their stay. Many people might be slightly put off by the idea of staying in a hostel, considering old fashioned views of cheap, nasty and dirty locations that are unsafe. However, the hostels in Ireland have taken pain to remove this image in their cheap accommodation. Almost all of the modern hostels around Ireland have private rooms for yourself and your party to share. Additionally, these modern hostels offer amazing entertainment facilities for visitors to experience. Most of them have fully equipped social gaming rooms, theatre style movie rooms and sometimes gym facilities. Additionally, almost all of the modern hostels in Ireland have internet suits for visitors to obtain on-line access and keep in touch with family at home. Some even offer wi-fi facilities in the private rooms so visitors can get on line in privacy.

In addition to all of the less than basic comfort facilities these hostels have to offer, many of these venues now have a fully licensed bar and restaurant for visitors to enjoy. These bars and eateries are often far less expensive than others in the locality of the hostel. Additionally, these places offer a great social hang out for the residents to get to know one another. Many lone travellers have been known to enter into one of these hostel bars and find a travel mate for the duration of their trip.

Travelling around Ireland itself isn't that costly. All of the major cities have train and bus links to other locations throughout the country. One of the most popular ways to travel from city to city in Ireland is via the national bus service run by Bus Eireann. Round trip tickets from Cork to Dublin, for example, can cost as little as 19 Euro. The trip itself takes around four hours to complete and travellers will find themselves experiencing the beauty of the Irish country side. This bus trip takes visitors past some of the most historic landmarks the country has to offer, so make sure you have your camera ready to take some amazing snap shots of your bus trip. Additionally, these buses are pretty luxurious and quite so, if you are tired, you can always take a short nap in peace and comfort.

Another great and cheap form of travel throughout Ireland is to actually go city to city with air travel. Ryan Air offers some of the most inexpensive flights in Europe and is a native Irish company. Additionally, they offer some amazing bargains on their website for trips throughout Europe with some trips costing as little as 99 cents. The typical price of a flight between the two Irish cities of Cork and Dublin will cost travellers around 40 Euro and will take around 30 minutes to reach your destination. For just a shade more than the cost of a bus ride, these flights will get you to your destination far quicker, so you have more time to enjoy your new environment.

Eating out in Ireland can be a pretty expensive experience. While it is nice to experience traditional Irish fare while on vacation, eating in the wrong location can end up costing you a fortune. In saying that, there are many restaurants and cafe bars that will provide great quality food at inexpensive prices. The best way to find these venues is to ask the locals where they like to eat. This is also a way to uncover some hidden culinary gems while on vacation.

Additionally, if you prefer to cook for yourself while in Ireland, it is essential that you make note of the closest super market to where you are staying. The major supermarkets in Ireland are Dunnes and Tesco. These supermarkets are located in every town and city throughout the country and offer economy lines of great tasting food for you to prepare. Additionally, some of the smaller convenience markets such as Centra and Spar are great places to pick up inexpensive snackables to see you through the day. Also, if you find yourself in Cork during your vacation, the English Market in the center of town is very popular for fresh and cheap produce. This is not only a great spot to save a few euro, but also a beautiful place to visit.

One thing to remember about staying in Ireland is that if you wish to withdraw money from an ATM machine or pay via card, your pin number needs to be no more than 4 digits long. Banks and merchant services in Ireland do not accept longer pin numbers in their systems so, if you have a pin that is longer than 4 digits, you will need to contact your bank and change your number prior to your vacation.

If you find yourself out of cash while in Ireland, there is no need to be overly concerned. There are hundreds of Western Union branches in every town and city, so you can pick up some extra cash from home if needs be. If you are unable to find a Western Union outlet local to you, you can always head into a post office as every post office doubles as a Western Union branch.

The cost of travel and your stay in Ireland need not be expensive at all if you know these small points. Saving a little bit of cash on accommodation and travel will insure that you have cash in your pocket to spend on things you enjoy while in this country.