Difference between revisions of "Ireland"

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==Accomodation and Sleeping==
 
==Accomodation and Sleeping==
All the usual hotels and hostels exist around the big touristy areas and towns, but are still quite expensive and would not be a long term solution. Camping is by far the most reliable for of long term sleeping arrangement as tucked away, empty fields can be found just minutes outside even the biggest towns. The farmers would probably appreciate your asking if you could stay but for the most part they probably wouldn't even care. Just try not to go into fields with crops or livestock and never light a fire that would be visible from a road or house. Forest fires aren't really an issue in Ireland either as it's usually so very wet. You could also try www.couchsurfing.org for accommodation if you're interested in meeting local people. Most showers of rain in Ireland pass quickly but if you're unlucky enough to experience the weeks of drizzle and rain which can sometimes plague the country at any time of year you might need to cash out for a B&B to get a good nights sleep or to get a chance to dry out.  
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All the usual hotels and hostels exist around the big touristy areas and towns, but are still quite expensive and would not be a long term solution. Camping is by far the most reliable for of long term sleeping arrangement as tucked away, empty fields can be found just minutes outside even the biggest towns. The farmers would probably appreciate your asking if you could stay but for the most part they probably wouldn't even care. Just try not to go into fields with crops or livestock and never light a fire that would be visible from a road or house. Forest fires aren't really an issue in Ireland either as it's usually so very wet. Be careful about Donegal, though, because some areas tend to be very boggy without a lot of fields. You could also try www.couchsurfing.org for accommodation if you're interested in meeting local people. Most showers of rain in Ireland pass quickly but if you're unlucky enough to experience the weeks of drizzle and rain which can sometimes plague the country at any time of year you might need to cash out for a B&B to get a good nights sleep or to get a chance to dry out.  
  
  

Revision as of 21:06, 25 September 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. But the recent and inevitable economic downturn has made the people a bit more accommodating and brotherly again.

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 on dual carriageways – perfect for you. It's illegal to hitch on motorways, but the Irish will still pick you up if you do it, and cops aren't very likely to show up or, if they do, do more than tell you to get away. 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.

An extremely useful resource for travelers and explorers is the website of the 'Ordnance Survey Ireland' who have a free (Republic of)Ireland-wide map, free to view online which goes into the minutest detail. It shows all the maps one could need for travelling and also shows real-life aerial photography if you click in enough times. It also shows various archaeological or historic features such as castles, megalithic tombs, stone circles etc. in your area which you could have otherwise passed by and unfortunately missed. www.osi.ie. (Just click into the little Ireland icon. It operates much like Google Maps).

Accomodation and Sleeping

All the usual hotels and hostels exist around the big touristy areas and towns, but are still quite expensive and would not be a long term solution. Camping is by far the most reliable for of long term sleeping arrangement as tucked away, empty fields can be found just minutes outside even the biggest towns. The farmers would probably appreciate your asking if you could stay but for the most part they probably wouldn't even care. Just try not to go into fields with crops or livestock and never light a fire that would be visible from a road or house. Forest fires aren't really an issue in Ireland either as it's usually so very wet. Be careful about Donegal, though, because some areas tend to be very boggy without a lot of fields. You could also try www.couchsurfing.org for accommodation if you're interested in meeting local people. Most showers of rain in Ireland pass quickly but if you're unlucky enough to experience the weeks of drizzle and rain which can sometimes plague the country at any time of year you might need to cash out for a B&B to get a good nights sleep or to get a chance to dry out.


wikipedia:Republic of Ireland