What Does a Trip to Ireland Cost? A Full Rundown

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Have you always wanted to visit Ireland, but are wondering what a trip to this gorgeous country would cost? Recently, my husband, Aaron, and I did our own 10-day road trip around the Emerald Isle. Since we are nerds (accountant and engineer), we tracked all of our expenses in a beautiful spreadsheet, which I am sharing below today.

This trip of ours was supposed to happen in 2020, but, well…. you know the rest. Originally, it was planned as one week in October, covering only the Republic of Ireland. One and a half years later, we rescheduled our Ireland trip for March of 2022, now enhanced with three more days and time in Northern Ireland. You can imagine how excited we were to finally go!

Inevitably, some of your expenses will not be the same as ours. For example, if you don’t need to board any pets, then you are already $600 under our budget. There are plenty more nuances to discuss, so let’s not waste any time, and jump right into it!

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Here is our actual Ireland Trip Cost (in USD):

The above shows actual expenses paid over ten days in Ireland for two people. Our budget was not on a shoestring, but was not luxurious either.

With this being a 10-day itinerary with lots of moving around, my spreadsheet is pretty lengthy. To make it fit nicely for you above, I had to condense some of the line items. No worries though – I am going to break everything into more detail below.

While there are many factors that will make our actual expenses higher or lower than yours will be, for each category I will suggest ways to cut costs and where to splurge. After all, when doing such an epic Ireland road trip, one must occasionally treat thyself.

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Ireland Trip Cost Breakdown:

Flight

$753.57

Although traveling to Europe from the US can be pricey, Dublin is often one of the cheaper airports to fly into. Additionally, if you plan to travel elsewhere within Europe after Ireland, you can often find many budget flights on carriers like Ryanair.

We paid $753.57 for my flight and used credit card rewards points to cover the full amount of Aaron’s flight. This isn’t necessarily the cheapest price possible, but we weren’t able to be too flexible with Aaron’s limited vacation days. To find the best flight deals, I recommend comparing prices on Google Flights or Skyscanner, and avoid traveling during the summer months.

When flying United, we also pay extra for an Economy ticket, rather than the bare bones Basic Economy fares. This allows us to have flexibility with changing our travel plans when needed, as well as better overall customer service.

Solo travelers should budget around $700 on average for airfare. However, you can find even cheaper prices by following the below tips to avoid overpaying for flights:

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Transportation

$1,108.34

Rental Car

To road trip around Ireland, a rental car is a necessity. Rates will vary by the time of year and type of car. Generally, the smaller the car the better for navigating Ireland’s tight, winding roads. As you can see, we paid $210.05 for gas, as rates were very expensive during our trip.

You can also expect to pay for parking in cities like Kilkenny and Kinsale, as well as tolls when taking highways. Surprisingly, our route between Dingle and the Cliffs of Moher included a car ferry to cross a waterway, which was a hair shorter than circumventing it instead. The route on Google Map said “tolls”, which apparently meant the ferry toll, so watch out for that!

Public Transportation

In Dublin, a rental car will be more of a pain than anything else. Therefore, we ditched ours in favor of the city’s good walkability and bus connectivity. We didn’t use the taxi much, except for getting to and from the airport and one other time to go to Teeling Distillery.

Otherwise, in Dublin we paid $13.22 for one roundtrip bus ride, before realizing we’d be better off spending $33.23 on a Leap Visitor Card for the rest of our stay. At 16 euros a piece, these cards allowed us unlimited bus rides for 72 hours. We picked ours up at a Spar convenience store in Dublin.

Even if you are bus illiterate like me, rest assured that you can easily figure out the routes using Google Maps. Buses leave frequently and can take you just about anywhere in the city, so the card is totally worth it.

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Lodging

$1,801.51

Doing a road trip around Ireland can make booking lodging trickier and a bit more expensive, since you have to move around so much. Over eleven days, we spent $1,801.51. While we tried to stay budget conscious, sometimes we splurged a little.

I couldn’t get out of my head the idea of staying in a cozy little cottage during March in Ireland, when the weather is still chilly at night. So when I stumbled upon the cutest stays on Airbnb, I couldn’t say no. We ended up booking three cottages at different spots around Ireland, which were a little on the pricey side.

That said, it is generally easy to find inexpensive bed and breakfasts, inns, and guesthouses all over Ireland. If hostels are more your thing, they are harder to come by in rural areas, but are more common in cities like Dublin and Galway. For reference, below is a list of everywhere we stayed during our Ireland road trip, along with what we paid.

• Kilmore Guesthouse – Kilkenny: 1 night at $112.93
• Seaside Cottage – Kilbrittain: 1 night at $216.29
• Rockcrest House – Kenmare: 1 night at $109.05
• Dingle Cottage – Dingle: 2 nights at $286.26
• Sli Na Mara – Galway: 1 night at $132.19
• Portrush Cottage – Portrush: 2 nights at $337.17
• Number 31 – Dublin: 3 nights at $607.62

Solo travelers booking the above stays and traveling in March will spend a similar total to us. However, many individuals won’t opt for cottage rentals, preferring hostels or simple rooms instead. Therefore, the total lodging cost for a solo Ireland trip may be much lower.

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Groceries

$25.60

Eating in during your trip is a good way of keeping food costs down. However, as you can see from what we spent on groceries, we didn’t take advantage of this much.

The little bit we did spend on groceries was primarily on Irish brown bread, butter, and jam. In fact, this simple breakfast was kind of an obsession for us during much of the trip. Otherwise, we tried to stay in hotels or inns with breakfast included.

Solo travelers who are as averse to buying groceries as my husband and I will spend a little less than the above total.

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Food & Drink

$1,348.29

Aaron and I ate rather well during our Ireland trip, which is evident from what we spent at restaurants and pubs. We also love going to cafes while traveling, and stopped in for cappuccinos once or twice a day.

The food in Ireland really surprised me, as I expected it to be heavy and bland, but it really wasn’t! Throughout our road trip, Aaron and I were able to find everything from Thai, seafood, vegan, to French cuisine – you name it.

I did not find Ireland to be an especially pricey destination for dining, especially when sticking to cafes and pub food. The problem is, Aaron and I aren’t very disciplined with this, and food is always a splurge area for us. I suppose we could have cut down on the cappuccinos though.

If I had to choose a favorite meal from the entire trip, it was the Indian food we ate at Pickle in Dublin. Between their “duck two ways” and flavorful curries, everything we consumed was heavenly.

Solo travelers will likely spend less than half of our above total. As an occasional solo traveler myself, I hardly drink when I’m alone and typically opt for simple dinners like sandwiches and salads.

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Activities

$312.15

On our Ireland trip, the cost of doing activities was very reasonable. You can see the full list of everything we spent over ten days below, which for two people added up to $312.15. Outside of Dublin, most sights we visited were either free or had just a small fee.

Dublin activities tended to be more expensive; the Book of Kells and Teeling Distillery Tour were by far the most expensive experiences. If you can only do one, I recommend seeing the Book of Kells: it’s essentially a treasure that dates back to the 9th century. Of course, if tasting whiskey in Dublin is high on your list, you should know that we left with three bottles from Teeling.

You could also add a little color to your Dublin adventures with this Literary Pub Tour. It was one of the pricier things we did, but I personally love using literature as a reason to explore new pubs.

As for everything else on this list, there is nothing I recommend skipping. However, if you can’t fit it all, then prioritize the following: the Ring of Kerry, Dingle Peninsula, and Cliffs of Moher.

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Ireland Trip Cost: Miscellaneous Expenses

• Shopping: $203.04 Chances are you’ll want to leave Ireland with a memento from your trip. Just be careful that you don’t blow your budget! Our purchase consisted of Teeling whiskey, a souvenir Starbucks mug, and a book about Kinsale by the guide from our walking tour.
• Cell Phone: $110 You may need an international plan to make sure your phone works during your trip. Under Verizon, I pay $10 for every day I use cellular data abroad. It’s a bit pricey, but worth it for how often I rely on my phone for Google Maps and last minute restaurant searches. Aaron keeps his phone on airplane mode so that we only pay for my phone.
• Pet Boarding: $660.36 While it’s ideal to have a friend or family member watch your pet for free, that isn’t always possible. When Aaron and I travel together, we always pay to board our dog in a cozy little “suite” at his vet office.
• Tips: $11.02 Tipping isn’t a huge practice Ireland. When receiving table service at a restaurant, 10-15% is the norm, but not if you’re simply ordering drinks from the bar. If a hotel porter carries your bags, 1-2 euros will suffice. With taxi drivers, it’s common to simply round up to the nearest euro.

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There you have it – a comprehensive guide to the actual cost of our trip to Ireland. You should now have a good idea of what you can expect to spend on a ten day Ireland road trip. All that’s left is to start booking your trip, while dreaming of dramatic coastlines, fairy tale castles, and pubs galore.

Are you planning a trip to Ireland?