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Ireland is a great place to plan a memorable trip to Europe without breaking the bank! In my opinion, the cost of travel in Ireland was on par with places like Spain and Italy. It’s an easy place to splurge without the costs being too great if you’re looking for a more luxurious getaway. It’s also a budget-friendly place for backpackers and students.
On our eight-day trip to Ireland, we ended up spending around $1300 apiece. Not too bad when you figure that included plane tickets! Here I’m going to break down our separate costs to help you figure out how much a midrange trip to Ireland would cost you. I’ll also include some estimates for budget/backpacker travel – my typical price range.
Flights – $367
We found a great deal on nonstop flights out of Hamilton, Ontario, for $367USD! If you’re flying from the east coast of the US, deals that are as good or better than this one often pop up! On average, expect to pay between $300-$600 for a round trip flight into Dublin.
Accommodation – $395
We spent eight nights total in Ireland – three nights in hotels and five nights in Airbnbs. We stayed in three-star accommodations, which was more than suitable for our needs. This averaged out to be $50 per person, per night. If you’re planning on staying in hostels, expect to spend $20-25 per night or about $200 for an eight-day trip.
Public Transport – €108
Public transport is easy to use and affordable in Ireland. We chose not to have a car for a variety of reasons, although I do think I would rent one on my next trip! We used the bus and train systems to get around, which was great for what we needed. Our 72hr Dublin Leap Card covered our bus from the airport, as well as our train to and from our hotel in the suburbs and all transport in Dublin – a great deal at only €19! Other transport costs: – Train from Dublin to Cork: €12.50 – Train from Cork to Galway: €20 – Bus from Galway to Dublin Airport: €18 – Leap Card for intracity transport outside of Dublin: €25
Food – €215
We definitely didn’t skimp on food! If there’s one thing the Bartoks do best on vacation, it’s eating. We ate out for most of our lunches and dinners and bought food at Tesco or Centra for breakfast. It was nice having a fridge in our two Airbnbs so we could store leftovers and breakfast food! Most of the meals we ate out were around €10-15, usually for a pie or sandwich. We ended up spending about $30 per day on food. If you’re on a budget, cooking in your accommodation is a great way to save some money, and could easily bring your food costs down to $20 a day.
Attractions – €110
This is one area you can easily spend as much or as little as you want! There are plenty of free attractions in Ireland. There are also some that are going to cost a pretty penny. Our biggest expense was the Guinness Storehouse, at €25 per ticket. Overall, the average cost of a paid attraction in Ireland was around €7-10. Expect to spend about $20 per day on attractions. Budget travelers can plan on spending about $10-12 per day.
Day Trips – €65
We did two awesome day trips while we were in Galway – the Cliffs of Moher and Connemara. These were through Galway Tour Company, which I cannot recommend enough! They were super professional, and we learn and saw a lot we wouldn’t have otherwise. The first day trip was €35, and the second was €30 – we got a €5 discount for booking directly with them!
Total Cost – $1,312
A nice mid-range trip to Ireland is going cost around $900-1300 for the week, without plane tickets. For a budget trip around Ireland, expect to spend $600-800 for a week, without plane tickets.
As you can see, it’s not too hard to plan a great trip to Ireland for not too high of a price tag. The cost of traveling doesn’t always have to be sky high – and in fact, most time it isn’t!