April,

I would have to say booking everything on your own. I did a tour package on my first visit over. We came home with unused vouchers because we found better lodgings which we paid for out of our own pocket. If you start your planning early, you can get some excellent auto rental rates through AutoEurope or Kemwel, which will be paid for by the time you take your trip; prebook at least your arrival and departure lodgings with ease and begin plotting out your route, stops along the way and what area you want to explore.

Another plus is in not having a hard in stone X amount of days, when you plan your own you decide how many days & nights you want to spend on your  vacation.

Bottom line, price it out both ways and then weigh your choices.

Slan Beo,

Bit Devine

I've found that I can save quite a bit of money self-booking. It's extra work, but I like to think I'm internet savvy enough to put it together. Booking flights directly through the airlines, for example, has saved me money. Another advantage to self-booking, since we will be spending half of our trip as tourists and half staying with my wife's family, is greater flexibility.

As Bit pointed out, there's a lot of variance in the cost of car rentals. Last year we used vouchers, but I figured out this year that they would have cost me more than paying the B&B's directly.

July 7th is just around the corner!

Roy

April,

Welcome to the forum. The members here have given you very good advice. However, on occasion, a total package can be a good deal. It depends entirely on the total price and time of year. I had some clients who got a super package that included airfare, B&B vouchers and car a couple of years ago in February for an unbelievable price. Turns out the tour company made a mistake with the pricing, but honored the price anyway. So stranger things have happened!

Generally, it saves money to put the pieces of the trip together yourself. It does depend on how much time you have to devote to the process. I will give you a word of caution about using vouchers: they may work fine off-season but during the season they can be very difficult to use. Unless vouchers come as part of an excellent low-priced package they probably are not worth getting.

If you have any other questions, please let us know.

Michele

"Value" is a somewhat relative term. If you mean strickly in terms of dollars, I suspect a tour might save you some money, give you a fixed itinerary and take you to the more popular sites. 

Now if you have the time, resources and sense of adventure, you might give some thought to tossing your fate to the wind and the experience of those posting here and, with good dialog, come up with the journey that is best adapted for your travel desires.

I find planning a trip to be one of the best parts as the trip starts well before you get on the plane. It can be a fun learning experience and like any education, it may require some extra work and tuition.

Any way you go, you can't go wrong in Ireland.

Enjoy your journey,
jb