edit Ireland Travel Guide

• Dublin - Ireland's capital with excellent pubs, fine architecture and good shopping. Fourth most visited European capital.
  
• Kilkenny (Cill Chainnigh) - attractive medieval town, known as the Marble City - home to 'the Cat Laughs Comedy Festival, held annually in early June.
• The Burren and the Cliffs of Moher, both located in County Clare
• Waterford (Port Láirge) - Ireland's oldest city. In the south-east and close to the ferryport at Rosslare. Waterford is a popular visit for those who want to learn more about the most ancient history of Ireland.

Visa Requirements

Customs and Immigration

By plane

Ireland is served by 4 international airports, Dublin (IATA: DUB), Shannon (IATA: SNN), Cork (IATA: ORK) and Ireland West, Knock (IATA: NOC). Dublin is connected to several cities in the US, Canada, the UK and continental Europe. Shannon, close to the cities of Limerick and Ennis, also has flights to the US, Canada, the UK and Europe. Cork has flights to most UK destinations and a wide variety of European cities. It is easily accessed from any of the major European hubs, including all of the London airports. Knock Airport has daily scheduled flights to several UK cities as well as to Boston and New York in USA, as well as various chartered flights to (mostly) holiday destinations in Europe.

Smaller regional airports that operate domestic and UK services include Donegal (IATA: CFN), Galway (IATA: GWY), Kerry (IATA: KIR), Sligo (IATA: SXL) and Waterford (IATA: WAT).

National carrier (and formerly state owned) Aer Lingus concentrates on providing cheap fares from central airports, with good service, and has cheap deals available from the UK, continental Europe, the USA and Dubai. It is usually considerably cheaper than Ryanair for flights booked close to the travel date. Ryanair is another source of flights to Ireland, particularly from the UK, however extras such as baggage charges, taxes and other charges can add a considerable amount to the total price. Comprehensive listings of airlines flying directly into Ireland, along with destinations and timetables, can be found on the Dublin, Shannon, Cork and Knock airport websites. A regional service is also provided by Aer Arann which flies internally within Ireland and externally mainly to and from the United Kingdom.

By boat

Ireland is served by numerous services to Great Britain and France:

• Swansea-Cork Ferries provide a daily service from the United Kingdom between Swansea in South Wales and Cork. This service is suspended for 2007.
• Irish Ferries travel from Holyhead, North Wales to Dublin and from Pembroke, South Wales to Rosslare.
• Stena Line connects Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire (about 8 km south of Dublin) and Fishguard, South Wales to Rosslare.
• Irish Ferries and Brittany Ferries provide services from France (e.g. Roscoff) to Rosslare and Cork. Irish Ferries is sometimes significantly cheaper than Brittany Ferries, so compare prices.

Other operators to Ireland include:

• Irish Sea Express - Liverpool to Dublin
• P&O Irish Sea - North West England to Dublin
• Steam Packet Sea Cat - Operate services between the North West of England (Mainly Liverpool) to Dublin
• Norse Merchant Ferries - operate Freight and Passenger services to Dublin from the North West of England

By train

The only cross-border train is the Enterprise service jointly run by Irish Rail and Northern Ireland Railways from Belfast Central to Dublin Connolly. A Rail-Sail Scheme is also available, linking Stena Line or Irish Ferries Ferry companies with Irish and UK Train Companies. They mainly operate from UK cities across the various Irish and British Rail Network via the Dublin-Holyhead routes.

From the UK and Northern Ireland

Due to Ireland's long relationship with Britain, citizens of Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom do not require passports to enter the Republic. As a consequence, there are no passport controls at land border crossing points. In fact, the border is rarely signposted and it is often difficult to tell when you have crossed from the Republic into Northern Ireland and vice-versa. The most obvious signal is that the roadsigns on the Republic side are jointly in Irish and English and speed limits and distances are shown in kilometres. Occasionally, the police (Garda) or Irish customs officials may set up random checkpoints at or near border crossing points and may stop and question drivers exiting and entering, but are usually friendly and will normally wave tourists through without any trouble. When arriving at an Irish airport from the UK, you will be required to produce photo ID (drivers licence or passport) to prove that you are a British or Irish citizen.

Economy

Banking

Currency

Credit Cards

In Ireland some hotels and many shops and restaurants will automatically bill your credit card in your home currency, at a very poor exchange rate, typically 1% or 2% worse than if they'd billed you in euros. This sometimes makes for as much as a 4% commission, split between the store and the provider, Fexco.

Before using a credit card at a business that caters to tourists, ask if they use Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC), and check your receipt afterwards, to make sure it doesn't show a charge in your home currency.

Mastercard, Maestro and Visa are virtually accepted everywhere. American Express and Diners Club are not as widely accepted. Discover card is very rarely accepted and it would not be wise to rely on this alone.

Tax

Tipping

Shopping

Costs

Holidays and Celebrations

Language

English is spoken everywhere but Irish (Gaeilge) is the first official language. Most people have some understanding of this but it is used as a first language by only about 400,000 people, most of whom live in rural areas known as the Gaeltacht. About 40% of Irish citizens claim to understand and speak the language. As the Gaeltacht are generally scenic areas it is likely that visitors will go there. Tourists will not be expected to speak Irish but it will be noticeable on road signs, etc.

Food is expensive in Ireland, although quality has generally improved enormously in the last ten years. Most small towns will have a supermarket and many have a weekly farmers' market. The cheapest option for eating out is either fast food or pubs. Many pubs offer a carvery lunch consisting of roasted meat, vegetables and the ubiquitous potatoes, which is usually good value. Selection for vegetarians is limited outside the main cities. Modern Irish cuisine emphasizes fresh local ingredients, simply prepared and presented (sometimes with some Mediterranean-style twists). Meat (especially lamb), seafood and dairy produce can be of a very high quality. Try some soda bread, made with buttermilk and leavened with bicarbonate of soda rather than yeast. It is heavy, tasty and almost a meal in itself! In recent years many good quality inexpensive restaurants have been set up.

The small town of Kinsale near Cork has become internationally famous for its many excellent restaurants, especially fish restaurants.

Types of Restaurants

Types of Food

Etiquette

Drinks

One of Ireland's most famous exports is stout, a dark, dry beer. The strong taste can be initially off-putting but perseverance is well-rewarded! The most famous variety is Guinness, brewed in Dublin and available throughout the country. Murphy's and Beamish stout are brewed in Cork and available mainly in the south of the country. Murphy's is slightly sweeter and creamier-tasting than Guinness, while Beamish has a strong, almost burnt taste. Several micro-breweries are now producing their own interesting varieties of stout, including O'Hara's in Carlow, the Porter House in Dublin and the Franciscan Well Brewery in Cork. Ales such as Smithwick's are also popular, particularly in rural areas. Bulmers Cider (Known as Magners in other countries) is also a popular and widely available Irish drink. It is brewed in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary. The other competitor for national drink of Ireland is tea. The Irish drink more tea per capita than any other people in the world. Cork, Dublin and Galway abound with slick, stylish coffee bars, but if you visit any Irish home you will probably be offered a cup of tea (usually served with milk, unless you explicitly state otherwise!). Coffee is also widely drunk in Ireland. (If you don't drink tea, you drink coffee!)

There are hotels of all standards including some very luxurious. Bed and Breakfast is widely available. These are usually very friendly, quite often family-run and good value. There is an official youth hostel association - An Óige. These hostels are often in remote and beautiful places, designed mainly for the outdoors. There are also independent hostels which are marketed as Independent holiday hostels of Ireland. These are nearly always found in towns. There are official campsites although fewer than many countries (given the climate). Wild camping is tolerated, although you should seek permission. There is a free accommodation finder for Dublin called Almara Accommodations Dublin.

Ireland has internationally-respected universities, including the venerable Trinity College Dublin (the only college of the University of Dublin). The National University of Ireland has constituent colleges in Dublin, Galway, Cork and Maynooth. Other colleges/universities include Dublin City University (DCU), University of Limerick (UL), Institues of Technology in the larger towns/cities around the country and other higher education colleges.

Phones

Internet

Crime

Emergency

Police

Fire Department

Hospitals

Gays and lesbians

Illicit drugs and prostitution

Smoking

Since March 2004 almost all enclosed places of work, including bars, restaurants, cafés, Etc., in Ireland have been designated as smoke-free. Rooms in Hotels and Bed & Breakfast establishments are not required by law to be smoke-free. Even though they are not obliged to enforce the ban, owners of these establishments are, however, free to do so if they wish. Most hotels have designated some bedrooms as smoking and some as non-smoking, so you should specify at the time of booking if you have a preference either way. The smoking ban also applies to common areas within buildings. This means for example that corridors, lobby areas and reception areas of buildings such as apartment blocks and hotels are also covered under the law.

Most larger bars and cafés will have a covered smoking area, often with heating. If one does not exist be aware that it is illegal to consume alcohol on the street so you may have to leave your drink at the bar.

Any person found guilty of breaching the ban on smoking in the workplace may be subject to a fine of up to EUR 3,000.

By plane

Aer Arann and Aer Lingus operate domestic flights out of Dublin, Donegal, Cork and other locations to various regional destinations. Ryanair also operates flights from Dublin to Cork to rival Irish Rail.

By train

By car

There are many car hire companies in Ireland and you can pick up in the cities or at the airports, though it may cost more to pick up at an airport. Note that Ireland is unique among European countries in that it will not accept third party collision damage insurance coverage when you rent a car. Many credit cards, for example, will pay the cost of the collision insurance (CDW) when you rent a car using that credit card. However, Irish car hire agencies will not accept this insurance. By Irish law, you must buy the CDW at the rental agency.

By bus

By bicycle

Ireland is beautiful for biking, but have a good touring bike with solid tires as road conditions are not always excellent. Biking along the south and west coasts you can be prepared for variable terrain, lots of hills and often into the wind. There are plenty of campgrounds along the way for long distance cyclists.

The planned Eurovelo cycle route in Ireland will connect Belfast to Dublin via Galway, and Dublin to Rosslare via Galway and Cork. Visit their website for updates on the status of the path.

Dublin has some marked bicycle lanes and a few non-road cycle tracks. Traffic is fairly busy, but a cyclist confident with road cycling in other countries should have no special difficulties (except maybe for getting used to riding on the left). Cyclists have no special right of way over cars, particularly when using shared use paths by the side of a road, but share and get equal priority when in the traffic lane. Helmets are not legally required, but widely available for those who wish to use them.

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