Jennifer
Unregistered User
(4/8/04 10:11 am)

Budget for trip

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Well our trip is less than 2 months away and I can hardly wait. We have our tickets, car, and all reservatons made! Now for what may be a hard question to answer: how much money per day will I need? We are staying in all B&Bs, so breakfast is taken care of, but what will I need for lunch, dinner, etc? We plan on eating at a variety of places. I know this amount would vary greatly from person to person, but can anyone give me averages? I just want to make sure I put enough in our Ireland account to cover expenses. I'm not worried about shopping, I'll just use a credit card, but it's cash on hand.
Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Anita
Unregistered User
(4/8/04 11:32 am)

food

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You're going to find that it will vary according to where you are. I was shocked at the price of things in Dublin. On my first day I sat down at a little place for a bowl of soup, a small white roll, and a can of coke and paid over six Euros for it! It wasn't even good soup, and it was a small bowl! Then I had a great bowl of soup and real Irish soda bread for around five Euros at the little place somewhere on the Dingle peninsula. Dinner at an okay restaurant cost around ten Euros.

Jennifer
Unregistered User
(4/8/04 12:03 pm)

Budget for trip

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Thanks for the info Anita. The only large town we will be in is Galway. Mostly we are staying in small towns and villages in the west and northwest (Westport, Donegal Town, Ramelton, Carrrick-on-Shannon, and Bunratty). Would love suggestions of great places to eat, hear music, etc. in these places.

Also, what about having dinner (if offered) in our B&B?
Thanks,
Jennifer

mldmv
Posts: 17
(4/8/04 12:50 pm)

budget

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Hi Jennifer,

You will have a wonderful time in Ireland!! We just returned home Tuesday night, and I can provide you with our costs.

With such a wonderful breakfast each morning, we usually ate only one other meal during the day- mostly pub grub.

We were surprised with the prices-higher than we expected. Keep in mind we live in the rural Midwest.

Gas. We drove 852 miles and spent a total of 152 euros on gas.

Food. Mostly pub grub, average of 10-15 euros per person per meal. Some of the menus we looked at for dinner were running 25.00 euros on up.

Jaunting car 35 euros (total) for 4 of us -1 1/2 hr ride.

Pint. My husbands' favorite 3.30 euros.

Admissions We purchases a Heritage Card for 20 euros each- Which was wonderful. In addition we spend around 35 euros (for both of us) to cover other admission charges.

Hope this helps- have a wonderful time!!

Marcia

mldmv
Posts: 18
(4/8/04 12:52 pm)

budget

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I should have proof read my post!! I'll call it jet lag!

Marcia

Jennifer
Unregistered User
(4/8/04 1:19 pm)

Budget for triip

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Marcia, thank you so much! I am also from the midwest, but I have heard Ireland is pretty expensive. This gives me a good idea of what pub grub will cost. I'm sure we'll buy some pints, I can't wait to try a few real poured Guiness! We will be there for 14 days, and I do not want to run short of cash!

Ballykpat
Unregistered User
(4/8/04 1:20 pm)

budget for trip

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We just got back also March 21.

Dinner in restaurants can run 20-euros and up--mostly up.

Pub grub is usually around 10 euros, but in many places you have to eat before 4 or 5. If you want to eat later, then you have to budget for the restaurant prices.

Prices in Dublin are very high.

At Bunratty, we ate at "Kathleens", and that was about 20-25 euros each.

Pints can be anywhere from 3.30-4.50 euros, depending on where you are and what you like to drink--if you haven't tried Smithwick's (pronounced Smidt-its" you should!

have a great time!
Ballykpat

Jennifer
Unregistered User
(4/8/04 2:11 pm)

Budget

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Thanks! I think my husband wants to try all the pints he can! (wait, that sounds horrid, I just mean we both like stouts and are looking forward to trying new varieties)

Mark D
Unregistered User
(4/8/04 2:45 pm)

Food

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There is a nice little Fish and Chips place right around the corner from the Wyatt Hotel on the Octagon.
I think it was between 6-8 euro for a nice meal.
If you would like a realy nioe evening, and money is not a problem, go to the Quay Cottage. It is about 1.5 miles form the Octagan. Beware of the hills though, we sure burned off of meals walking to and from the place.
In Galway, we enjoyed McDonagh's and the Quay Pub. Both were great and reasonable.
Our probem with budgeting was that the American dollar is so weak right now. For $ 100 , we got 75.00 Euro.
I got some nice little suprises on my debnit card when I got home.
All in all, it was a wonderful trip, and did not worry about money that much !
Enjoy,
Mark

Irene Lee
Registered User
Posts: 26
(4/8/04 4:59 pm)

Re: Budget for trip

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The exchange rate is a little better now than it was a couple of months ago, hovering between .79 and .80 Euros to the Dollar. I watch the currency markets pretty closely and the forecasts are predicting that the Dollar will strengthen a bit more against the Euro this summer. Especially now that the economic reports have come in and are showing a stronger US economy in the last quarter. So watch what the interest rates start due, it will be a very good indicator of how fast and how strong the dollar will get.
Today you would have recieved 80.5 Euros for $100.00


In Galway city, on the main restaurant drag there's a Fish & Chips place that always had a line out the door. Big huge pieces of freshly cooked fish wrapped up in butcher paper. It was delicious...at least it was 2 years ago.

If you take your ATM card you will be able to withdraw cash as you need it...assuming you don't spend it all and go broke

Have fun. I'm not leaving until mid July and I'm already anxious to leave.

Jennifer
Unregistered User
(4/8/04 7:20 pm)

Budget for trip

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Thanks for all the great ideas! I will have an ATM, but it's a new account (my bank just was Star Network), so I have to decide how much I can comfortably put in it! Any good ideas for County Donegal?

Michele Erdvig
ezOP
Posts: 2422
(4/9/04 12:19 am)

Re: Budget for trip

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Hi Jennifer,

Everyone here has given you such good advice there is hardly anything else to add. But to save money on dinner at nice restaurants have an early bird or a value meal. These are generally much less than eating out later in the evening or having a multi-course meal. My husband's all time favorite is a carvery lunch. Pubs and restaurants have these and it is self-serve. You get a huge plateful of food and there are usually a couple of different roasts to choose from at the carving table. On Sundays the Irish like to have a leisurely lunch out and lunch hours are usually extended. Prices for Sunday lunch can be quiet reasonable for everything you get.

If you like stout then in addition to Guinness you should try Murphy's and Beamish. My favorite brew is Smithwick's. For something really different try Kilkenny. It is light and very creamy (but not a stout).

Most B&Bs no longer offer dinners unless they are in very out of the way areas where there is no place to eat nearby.

You can charge most dinners on your credit card.

Michele

Anita
Unregistered User
(4/9/04 1:37 pm)

music

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If you are going to be in Galway on a Wednesday then check out the Crane pub. When I was there last year they would bring in some pretty good musicians to their 'listening room' upstairs. There was a fee to get in, but it is a small place where we were able to sit almost right next to the fiddler who was playing. Great evening!

Jennifer
Unregistered User
(4/9/04 3:12 pm)

Budget for Trip

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Thanks Anita, I think we may be in Galway on a Wednesday!

stannseniors
Registered User
Posts: 95
(4/11/04 3:48 pm)

budget

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Jennifer, i'm from the midwest too and we did not know what to expect $wise. We had planned on breakfasts at the B&Bs then we were only going to eat one more meal around 4 or 5. We wanted to spend our money on more inmportant things so we ate at the pubs and we always got great suggestions from the B&B owners - tell them you don't want to spend much but want good food - they usually point you in really good directions. unless their breakfast is gross - then don't trust their opinion on food lol

We liked to stop at the gas stations and tried a lot of intersting candies and chips you don't see in the states (our favorite were their vinagar chips - yum, i miss them!) That tied us over until we ate - we got by pretty cheap!
Have fun - i'm jealous it's you going and not me.