The cost of Holidaying in Ireland “Staycation”

Covid 19 has had a massive impact on our travel plans for this year and if you are currently living in Ireland you are being encouraged to holiday at home the term they are calling a “staycation” .With this in mind I thought it would be interesting to pick two locations around Ireland that are being advertised as an ideal travel destinations and see how much would it cost to stay in one of these destinations for 1 week during August. Will cover three types of accommodation holiday homes, hotels and hostels so that there is an option for everyone that is thinking of staying in Ireland for the next couple of months. Be clear I’m not for or against holidaying at home I just wanted to investigate how much it costs to have a holiday at home for 1 week. At the end will compare it to a holiday abroad just for a little bit of fun. The two locations that I have chosen are Dingle and Eyre Square . The only requirements that I have for our stay is 2 adults and 2 kids. And just to make you aware I won’t be going into detail of why you should visit each location. I’ll just be giving an overview of how much it will cost to visit each destination.Let’s get started.

Dingle is the first destination on the list for our “staycation” and with no doubt will have a lot to offer in terms of activities and things to do during your week stay, but how much will it cost you to stay here for the week starting the 24th of August to the 30 of August. Will start with Airbnb the average night for an Airbnb in Dingle is coming to €235 for this particular week and for this price you will get a fantastic home.The cheapest home that we found on the website for this particular week was for €137 a night coming to €819 for your week’s stay. The example we have highlighted is 10 Dingle Manor if you are thinking of visiting Dingle.

“Under new management these houses are situatated in a spectacular location overlooking Dingle Bay, stay at one of these superb properties just outside Dingle Town.

Quality accommodation on the grounds of a hunting lodge built in 1703 and former home of the Earl of Cork.

They combine a traditional design with modern, spacious, and luxurious interiors to ensure comfort for all ages.”

Will next look at the cost to stay in a hotel in dingle for a week and for this we’ll be using booking.com . The average that you’ll pay for a family of 4 for your 6 night stay will be €1850. Booking.com only gave us a small amount of options for our search but the cheapest hotel came to €1123 which does feel very expensive for a week away. If you were planning to book accommodation for a week ,I would say stay clear of any of the hotels as the prices are just crazy for a 1 weeks stay . But if you wanted to find a great place that would be great for the whole family I would recommend the Seafront Inn @Inch beach it’s only 22 minutes drive from dingle but a stay here for 6 nights does come to €1868.

Finally I’ll have a look to see what prices we can expect when looking to stay in a hostel for our stay. The website that I used for this was hostelworld.com . The website gave us only two options for hostels in Dingle one of them was sold out for our week,while the second option only gave us the option to book a room for 2 people for €50 euro a night so €300 a week and for a family a stay would come to €600. The hostel is situated in the heart of dingle and could be an option for a family looking to holiday from home. The hostel is called Lovett’s Hostel if you wanted to find out more. (picture below)

If you’re looking to get more information on what type of activities you can expect if you do choose to holiday in dingle, I’ve left a link to a guide here https://amzn.to/2P8Hkyh

The guide will describe all of dingle’s rugged peaks, dramatic ridges, captivating valleys, glittering lakes, and stunning Atlantic coastline form a treasure trove of walking options.

Our next destination on our search will be Eyre Square. Going off experience you’ll find it hard not to have a nice few days here. The buzzy city and the beautiful sea front is great during the day and come the evening you won’t be disappointed with the traditional pubs and live music bringing you an eventful night should you take part in this during your stay.

Like last time we will start with Airbnb . Getting straight into it the average cost to spend a night in Eyre Square is coming to €267 straight off the bat this would turn away a lot of holidaymakers, but lucky for us there are cheaper options starting from €150. If I was looking myself to book a home on airbnb my choice would be the Central Artsy Apartment the apartment is only 5 minutes from Eyre Square and comes with three bedrooms so everyone in the family will have their own space. The stay is €160 euro a night so for the 6 nights it comes to €1196 with all the service charges . So if this floats your boat I don’t think you could go wrong.

Next I got a surprise to what I had seen previously. There were a large amount of hotels to choose from when looking to spend a holiday in Galway. The average price a night was above €200 still quite expensive for a family looking to have a week away . The lowest option on booking.com was €798 and compared to our choices in dingle and the airbnb in Eyre Square I don’t think you could go wrong. But if I was to choose a hotel with value for money I would recommend that you take a look at the Connacht Hotel the hotel offers a family room from €930 for the week and has a full fitness centre that includes a pool ,sauna and gym should you get caught inside during your stay with the typical Irish weather . 

The last thing we’re going to be looking at is the price of a hostels in Eyre Square . There is a range of hostels that you can book in Eyre Square that will do exactly what it says on the tin . But if I was to choose one it would be the Galway city hostel and bar. At the moment you can book a room for 4 for €80 a night .The rooms are very basic but what it lacks in comfort it makes up for with fun and friendliness . The staff are wonderful and the bar does rock with great traditional music throughout the week.

If you do have an urge to travel around Ireland but not sure exactly where you would like to go I would recommend that your read Rick Stevens best of Ireland Link Here https://amzn.to/3jCsv4N

He provides you with a two day itinerary for a number of locations around Ireland including Dublin, Kilkenny, Kinsale, Kenmare and the Ring of Kerry, Dingle Town and Peninsula, County Clare, Galway, Aran Islands, Belfast, Portrush and the Antrim Coast. So if your undecided you can’t go wrong.

To finish off I want to make a comparison between our locations in Ireland and a holiday abroad. So will look at flights and accommodation and how much this would cost for a family. So the area that I have chosen is Lanzarote .The flight will depart from Dublin airport. As I couldn’t get a flight on the 24th I had to move to the 23rd of August and fly home the 29th of August. The flights for the family come to a total of €280 which is really good for this time of year. While when it comes to accommodation there are a lot of options with hotels starting from €480 for the 6 nights but the hotel that caught my attention was Hotel Suite Montana Club. The stay for the six nights comes to €678 this would be at the higher end of the scale but the hotel has great facilities and is right on the beach front. The total for flights and accommodation comes to €958 for the week but you could definitely find accommodation a couple of hundred euro cheaper for the week.If you wanted.

To conclude I hope this was informative and gives you an insight to what is the major issue with staycations in Ireland. When we compare how much a holiday abroad will cost us it can be a couple of hundred euro cheaper than a holiday in Ireland. Even if we don’t manage to save on flights and accommodation the cost of living for that week will no doubt be 100 euro less each day if I was to make a guess of the top of my head . While this is the way people will continue to take the risk to holiday abroad.

Thanks for reading to the end and any questions please leave a comment below.