Difference between revisions of "Ireland"

From Hitchwiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
m
Line 12: Line 12:
 
[[Hitchhiking]] is the easiest and fastest way to travel in the countryside and in the less inhabited regions where public transportation such as [[train]] or [[bus]] is not available or it is not as frequent as a traveler might expect (one or two buses per day). You can easily get multiple lifts from one village to another for really short distances, and people are very welcoming. You can get a lift virtually anywhere, even on the smallest roads.
 
[[Hitchhiking]] is the easiest and fastest way to travel in the countryside and in the less inhabited regions where public transportation such as [[train]] or [[bus]] is not available or it is not as frequent as a traveler might expect (one or two buses per day). You can easily get multiple lifts from one village to another for really short distances, and people are very welcoming. You can get a lift virtually anywhere, even on the smallest roads.
  
Most people are very happy to see backpackers hitchhiking. Even if they don't pick you up, many will motivate you by waving, honking, showing thumbs up, and so on.
+
Most people are very happy to see backpackers hitchhiking. Even if they don't pick you up, many will motivate you by waving, honking, showing thumbs up, and so on. Drivers are very communicative here!
  
Long distance travelling can be a little slow, but the country isn't big. It's possible to get from one coast to the other in one day, as long as you stick to the national (N) roads. These roads connect any city or bigger towns in the country. Usually they lead directly into the town centers, so all the long-distance-traffic has to pass them. This makes it very easy to hitch a ride at the end of a town. Some bigger towns have bypasses which make it more difficult, but it's usually possible to hitch a ride to the bypass.
+
Long distance traveling can be a little slow, but the country isn't big. It's possible to get from one coast to the other in one day, as long as you stick to the national (N) roads. These roads connect cities or bigger towns in the country. Usually they lead directly into the town centers, so all the long-distance-traffic has to use them. This makes it very easy to hitch a ride at the end of town. Some bigger towns have bypasses which make it more difficult, but it's usually possible to hitch a ride to the bypass.
 
Some national roads have a dual carriageway, so they are similar to [[motorways]], except that it is [[law|allowed]] to stand on the side of the road – perfect for you. Don't bother too much about good places for cars to pull over. Irish people don't mind stopping for you in the middle of a road.
 
Some national roads have a dual carriageway, so they are similar to [[motorways]], except that it is [[law|allowed]] to stand on the side of the road – perfect for you. Don't bother too much about good places for cars to pull over. Irish people don't mind stopping for you in the middle of a road.
  

Revision as of 02:33, 24 February 2010

Flag of Ireland Ireland
Information
Language: Irish, English
Capital: Dublin
Population: 4,422,100
Currency: Euro (€) (EUR)
Hitchability: Verygood.png (very good)
Meet fellow hitchhikers on Trustroots
<map lat='53.4' lng='-8.1' zoom='6' view='0' width='270' height='320' country='Ireland'/>

Ireland (Republic of Ireland) is a member state of the European Union but with only partial participation in the Schengen Agreement. It is a great country for hitchhiking. The recent economic upsurge has changed this situation a little bit though.

Hitchhiking is the easiest and fastest way to travel in the countryside and in the less inhabited regions where public transportation such as train or bus is not available or it is not as frequent as a traveler might expect (one or two buses per day). You can easily get multiple lifts from one village to another for really short distances, and people are very welcoming. You can get a lift virtually anywhere, even on the smallest roads.

Most people are very happy to see backpackers hitchhiking. Even if they don't pick you up, many will motivate you by waving, honking, showing thumbs up, and so on. Drivers are very communicative here!

Long distance traveling can be a little slow, but the country isn't big. It's possible to get from one coast to the other in one day, as long as you stick to the national (N) roads. These roads connect cities or bigger towns in the country. Usually they lead directly into the town centers, so all the long-distance-traffic has to use them. This makes it very easy to hitch a ride at the end of town. Some bigger towns have bypasses which make it more difficult, but it's usually possible to hitch a ride to the bypass. Some national roads have a dual carriageway, so they are similar to motorways, except that it is allowed to stand on the side of the road – perfect for you. Don't bother too much about good places for cars to pull over. Irish people don't mind stopping for you in the middle of a road.

Showing your thumb is the common way to hitchhike, but using a sign reduces waiting times a lot. It is recommended to put only the name of the next town on a cardboard. You will be much faster with many short rides than by waiting for a long one.

Cities

See also:

Maps

The AA has published a very good nation-wide map. It has a scale of 1:300 000. You can get it on in main street bookshops in Ireland for about EUR 8. The road network is growing very fast at the moment (as of 2008). So make sure you have a map which is not older than a year.


wikipedia:Republic of Ireland