Around-The-World Trip Update and Expenses: Ireland

The first week of our trip was spent in Scotland. We then flew late on 7/21 to Dublin, Ireland where we spent 4 days and 5 nights. We left early in the morning on 7/26 headed to Agadir, Morocco.

Keep in mind that all of the expenses that I’ll talk about below are my expenses only since Whitney and I have quite different spending habits. We split all shared expenses evenly, so my half of the shared expenses and then my individual expenses are how I calculate the numbers below.

Accommodations: We stayed our first three nights at an AirBnB about a mile and a half  outside of Dublin in Ballsbridge. This was perfect for us since the price was a little lower and the walk into the city was very manageable. Our host was great and gave us plenty of suggestions for things to do as well as let us wash some clothes at his place which was helpful.

The last two nights we stayed at a hostel right in the middle of the city center. We were skeptical about staying in a hostel (especially when the cost per night was only slightly lower than our AirBnB) but we decided to give it a shot since the location was ideal. What I didn’t realize is that it would be almost impossible to sleep in a hostel with people coming in late, getting up during the night, and leaving early in the morning. This will likely be our first and last time staying at a hostel since we had less energy from poor sleep.

• Total for my expenses: $145

Food and drink: I did my best to keep my food and drink expenses low, but we couldn’t pass up hanging out at some of the pubs in Dublin. They are all over the city, and we quickly found out that Dublin is not as cheap as Edinburgh for most things. I spent more than I would have liked on food and beer, but the food was very good and drinking in the pubs was a unique experience. We did go to Aldi on our last day and bought some cheap bread and sandwich meat which kept our food costs lower on that day.

• Total for my expenses: $84

Transportation: Our flight from Edinburgh to Dublin was on Ryanair which we were nervous about since we have heard that their carry-on bag rules are strict. We have also read about people having very poor experiences on Ryanair flights due to them being a budget airline. Both of these worries turned out to not be an issue at all. We got our bags on the plane no problem and the flight was quick and seamless. Add to that the insanely low cost ($35 with priority boarding added to get two carry-on bags) and we will definitely be flying with them again in the future.

Besides the flight our only other cost was a bus to and from the airport. Dublin is a very walk-able city and we got around easily without public transportation. We walked about 42 miles around most of the city in 4 days though, which Whitney wasn’t exactly fully prepared for.

• Total for my expenses: $52

Activities: Unlike our incredibly low cost activities in Edinburgh, we found there were a few things in Dublin that were worth paying to see for us. We took a day long bus tour to the Cliffs of Moher which was $50 each. We took a 2 hour free guided walking tour of the city which turned out to be very interesting and educational, so we tipped the guide $4 each. We paid for a pub crawl that was hosted by the hostel we stayed at which was $15 each (but included some free alcohol). Then on our last day, we paid to go see the Kilmainham jail ($10) and have a guided tour through the building.

Some of the activities didn’t go exactly according to plan, such as the fog being so heavy at the Cliffs of Moher that we couldn’t see anything at all, but overall the activities were worth it. We planned to pay for a tour of the Guinness Storehouse, but it was overpriced and several locals told us that it wasn’t worth it so we skipped that.

• Total for my expenses: $79

My total expenses for 5 nights and 4 days in Ireland, including accommodations, transportation, entertainment, and food was approximately $360!

Running total for entire trip to this point: $495

We headed to Agadir, Morocco next, so stay tuned for my next update and watch the Facebook page where we are posting much more frequently about the trip!