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Does holidaying in Ireland represent any value for money or is it a rip-off for tourists and locals? Conor Pope and Georgina Campbell engaged in a head-to-head debate in The Irish Times over whether or not Ireland was a good value haven for foodies and travellers, or heaven for gougers.
We asked our readers if they had found value for money while holidaying around Ireland - and the responses from home and abroad were distinctly mixed.
Jeremy Cusker, from Tompkins County, New York, says Ireland compared favourably to the United States in terms of value, but his time in Dublin left his wallet feeling light.
“Our urban stints made us feel a bit hustled,” he says, though he had found good value in rural areas.
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“All of our trekking in the countryside and in smaller towns seemed reasonably priced. Food, drinks, lodging and local transportation all seemed very reasonable to us in places like Doolin, Ballyvaughan, Enniskerry and Glendalough.”
Dennis Bartholomew, from Franklin County, Ohio, regularly travels from the US. He says that while prices in Ireland “can be unduly expensive”, they are justified by the experiences.
“I certainly cannot comment on the impressions of the Irish themselves touring in their own country. I think both authors [Pope and Campbell] miss one of the most important factors for visitors. We all love to eat and drink well but few people come to Ireland for the cuisine. We come because we love seeing and interacting with Irish people,” he says.
“The Irish people in the hospitality business are, as a group, kind, entertaining, patient with Americans, and a huge part of what makes travelling there so rewarding.”
Describing the intangible aspects associated with a visit to Ireland, Bartholomew explains how it is not just things of monetary value that leave a tourist with a sense of having obtained “bang for their buck”.
“Inhaling that cool mist and faint peat smoke, being entertained by talented and selfless artists who clearly love what they do and just gawking in bewildered and wide-eyed admiration at the beauty of the countryside itself resonates with us and we are always grateful for the opportunity to have experienced it,” he says.
Similarly, Theresa McCarthy, from Co Cork, recalls her own recent experiences with finding value for money in Cork city. Dining at the five-star Hayfield Manor Hotel with her husband and son, she praised the “great food, friendly and professional [staff] and beautiful surroundings”.
McCarthy says she paid just over €60 for “beautifully presented” meals with generous servings, and her family looking forward to returning.
Aedeen Burns, from Co Dublin, also found value for money on a staycation in Co Sligo. Visiting Lissadel House on the Maugherow peninsula with her 11-year-old daughter, she says she “could not praise the experience enough” and applauded their tour guide whose “knowledge of the place, and its history and culture was remarkable”.
Stopping off at the nearby Pink Clover cafe in Drumcliffe, Burns says: “It was [a] fantastic spot for lunch, with beautiful fresh home cooked produce, home-made cakes and kefir. A hearty lunch for three people (including more cake than we could finish) was less than €60. Terrific value all round.”
But many readers responded that they had not found value for money while on holiday in the State.
“Prices and cost of living here are outrageous,” Mary Keane from Co Galway says, who found the service in Ireland to be “terrible”. When visiting Skopje in Macedonia, she says she shocked to find the price of a pint of Guinness to be just €1.75, compared to €9 she has paid for a pint in some parts of Ireland.
Another reader, Catherine Conroy, says in her experience staycations in Ireland are not good value: “It’s better to save, get cheap flights and head away.” She says she had been thinking of going on an overnight holiday this weekendbut €500 “really wouldn’t go very far to enjoy the weekend when you take accommodation into account and expectation is that you are out by 11am on Sunday”.
Conroy says the cost of rooms to stay, even before accounting for food, drinks and travel costs, was restrictive for herwith prices stretching as far as €295 for a hotel room in Athlone.
Rorke Bryan from Toronto, Canada, says he holidays in Ireland “at least twice per year” and that his “main complaint is the extremely high cost of car rental”. He has found car-rental prices to reach as high as €3,500 for three weeks. He says he has noticed rental agencies in Ireland often charge a significant additional fee for a second driver, despite it being “obvious that sharing driving reduces fatigue and is clearly much safer”.
Staying in Connemara, Bryan saysrenting a car was a necessity for him. But he has found it difficult to rent a car as very few agencies are willing to rent to drivers over 80, regardless of good health or having a good driving record.