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How do I plan for a huge expensive trip?

Trip from America to Ireland: how much $$$ to plan on spending?

  • I’ll start by saying I’m clueless! I’ve never travelled to another country (except Mexico on a cruise, and the Bahamas). My uncle has done a lot of work researching our family tree. So we know where we came from and all that, and actually have ‘family’ that live in England right now (very very extended….family, they ‘ran into each’ other researching family trees). So my uncle has started talking about going to Ireland (and hopefully getting to England to meet up with them at some point). So we are in the very beginning stages of just talking about an overseas trip. Since I know for sure I would want to go , I want to start saving money (or have some idea in my head of how much I will need) now. I already have a passport so no need to count the cost of that ….but I would like some help with an estimate of: Flight Lodging (we most definitely don’t have to stay anywhere super nice, I just need a bed and a bathroom!) Transportation (Trains? Busses? Taxi?) An estimate of spending cash…I don’t plan on buying any expensive souvenirs, just mainly food/drink/any other products I’ll need. I’d imagine that the trip will be at the least, 2 weeks. And from what I gather from my uncle our ‘ancestors’ lived in Donegal, I think. So I’d imagine we’d want to go there at least (I have no idea if tourists go there, or stay there!) Don’t think I can think of anything else…please let me know if I’m forgetting some significant cost! So any help on a ballpark idea of how much money I should plan to have so that I can go on this trip would be great!! Thanks! Or any tips or suggestions would be good. Literally my only reference for overseas travel is that my twin brother went on a 2week trip to Japan with some friends…and I know his whole trip cost him roughly $2000. However, I don’t think it’s a great comparison b/c they flew standby, with Buddy Passes (b/c one friend had 2 parents who worked for Delta), got a great deal on a hostel and 2wk long bullet train passes. I also know that he …. Kind of ‘ran out of money’ by the end of the trip so I think that he was lucky and got an incredibly good deal.

  • Answer:

    Go to bookingbuddy.com and enter the dates you plan to travel. They will compare 6-8 travel sites to find the best fare for you. $1000 for a ticket is a fair rough estimate. But if you shop around, don't travel during high season, depart mid-week and not weekend, book a few weeks in advance, and get lucky, you can get tickets for half that. I also recommend irishtourism.com. I booked a 9 day self-drive tour through them, and they were great. They booked my car and bed & breakfasts for me and mailed me all of the information. There were no surprises it was flawless. Whatever/wherever you want to go, they will customize a plan for you and you will get a good idea about the money you will need. I do recommend just renting a car and buying a map. Study the map a bit beforehand and plot out where you want to go. It is disorienting to drive on the left at first and sort out the use of roundabouts, but you can do it.

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Go to bookingbuddy.com and enter the dates you plan to travel. They will compare 6-8 travel sites to find the best fare for you. $1000 for a ticket is a fair rough estimate. But if you shop around, don't travel during high season, depart mid-week and not weekend, book a few weeks in advance, and get lucky, you can get tickets for half that. I also recommend irishtourism.com. I booked a 9 day self-drive tour through them, and they were great. They booked my car and bed & breakfasts for me and mailed me all of the information. There were no surprises it was flawless. Whatever/wherever you want to go, they will customize a plan for you and you will get a good idea about the money you will need. I do recommend just renting a car and buying a map. Study the map a bit beforehand and plot out where you want to go. It is disorienting to drive on the left at first and sort out the use of roundabouts, but you can do it.

Eliza P

To find out the cost of flights, go to the various airline websites and enter in where you'll be flying from and your destination. For accommodation, you could try www.hostelworld.com for budget accommodation, or simply google 'budget accommodation+Ireland' and see what comes up. Make sure to read all reviews before booking. Getting around Ireland can be tricky because we don't have a great public transport system. You can get trains to some places (see www.irishrail.ie) but there are also buses (www.buseireann.ie). If you are older than a certain age and have held a full driving licence for at least a year you might be able to rent a car, but be warned - petrol is VERY expensive now, and you'd have to factor that into your budget. But if there are two of you, you can always share the cost. Donegal is a county in the north-west, and not the easiest place to get around, but it is very beautiful. I'd factor in €100 to €150 per day, just to be on the safe side. This includes everything except the flight.

Orla C

To find out the cost of flights, go to the various airline websites and enter in where you'll be flying from and your destination. For accommodation, you could try www.hostelworld.com for budget accommodation, or simply google 'budget accommodation+Ireland' and see what comes up. Make sure to read all reviews before booking. Getting around Ireland can be tricky because we don't have a great public transport system. You can get trains to some places (see www.irishrail.ie) but there are also buses (www.buseireann.ie). If you are older than a certain age and have held a full driving licence for at least a year you might be able to rent a car, but be warned - petrol is VERY expensive now, and you'd have to factor that into your budget. But if there are two of you, you can always share the cost. Donegal is a county in the north-west, and not the easiest place to get around, but it is very beautiful. I'd factor in €100 to €150 per day, just to be on the safe side. This includes everything except the flight.

Orla C

Just take about $200 worth in cash to get you started and then get the rest out of an atm as and when you need it with your debit card. Thats what I always do when I travel. It's a very bad idea to have lots of cash. I'll presume you're from the US and the US can charge large fees for use abroad so check with your bank. I have heard from many other US travellers to Ireland that a Capital One card is the best card to get for travelling.

Jay Fay

I would love to give you a ball park figure but can't, it's a transatlantic flight to another country. As much as you can afford, a few K perhaps. Donegal is big it's barren it's mostly wide open countryside by Irish standards and depending on where you stay the prices can vary, 40 euros per night up to 110 euros. I would try Malin head for the best views V price index. Off peak season you can hire a chalet for under 400 euros p/w. A typical Donegal chalet is a rendered double skin breezeblock annex more or less with a bath toilet a shower head 2 bedrooms and a tiny kitchen with a gas stove. Very basic but nice with a panoramic view.

I would love to give you a ball park figure but can't, it's a transatlantic flight to another country. As much as you can afford, a few K perhaps. Donegal is big it's barren it's mostly wide open countryside by Irish standards and depending on where you stay the prices can vary, 40 euros per night up to 110 euros. I would try Malin head for the best views V price index. Off peak season you can hire a chalet for under 400 euros p/w. A typical Donegal chalet is a rendered double skin breezeblock annex more or less with a bath toilet a shower head 2 bedrooms and a tiny kitchen with a gas stove. Very basic but nice with a panoramic view.

Just take about $200 worth in cash to get you started and then get the rest out of an atm as and when you need it with your debit card. Thats what I always do when I travel. It's a very bad idea to have lots of cash. I'll presume you're from the US and the US can charge large fees for use abroad so check with your bank. I have heard from many other US travellers to Ireland that a Capital One card is the best card to get for travelling.

Jay Fay

step 1 - realistic itinerary. Far too much for three weeks. go read a guidebook.

MaryEllen

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