Frommer's Ireland Guide Says Spend Less See More
Cheap Irish Travel including Budget Hotels Promises New Guidebook
May 20, 2009
Pauline Frommer is the editor of this new guidebook to Ireland, including Northern Ireland, while the authors are Dr Keith Bain, who actually lives in South Africa, and Emily Hourican, who's from Dublin. 'Spend less see more' says the cover of the book, while the back promises that this is 'budget travel redefined', putting a fresh spin on traveling on the cheap. Visitors can cut costs and see a more real and authentic Ireland, without sacrificing comfort for savings.
In the book's Introduction Pauline Frommer reminds readers that she grew up traveling on a budget. From the age of four months she was visiting Europe on $5 a day with her guidebook-writing parents Hope Arthur and Arthur Frommer, great proponents of cheap travel.
Over time the $5 a day became $10 and then $20, and the Frommer publishing empire grew to cater for all travelers on all budgets. This new series is Pauline Frommer's chance to take guidebooks back to basics, and remind users that some of the best travel experiences are to be had without spending a fortune. It costs nothing to gaze at the Antrim coast or the Cliffs of Moher, or to hike some of the country's best trails.
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Frommer's Cheap Irish Hotels and Other Accommodation Advice
While the book still covers more luxury hotels, the top price category is only for hotels 'over $176 per night', which is quite modest. The cheapest hotels in the four price brackets used are all under $100 a night. The book also suggests alternative accommodation options, such as renting farmhouses, finding inexpensive guesthouses and b&bs, or quirky accommodation like the Wicklow Head Lighthouse. At first sight this looks anything but budget, with a week even in low season costing around 1200 euros. But that's for four people and it works out at about 42 euros per person per night, for which it would be hard to find a decent hotel – and the lighthouse is top quality accommodation in a beautiful Wicklow setting at Dunbur Head.
Budget Bargains on Irish Food and Drink
One example of the book's budget approach is to tell readers about the Chapterhouse Café at the Dublin Writers Museum on Parnell Square. Food here is prepared in the same kitchen as the museum's Chapter One restaurant, which has won a Michelin star. The food in the café is much cheaper than in the restaurant, and obviously much simpler, but it still allows visitors to sample the star team's cuisine.
Is Frommer's Ireland Guide Good Value for Money?
Is the guidebook itself good value for the budget traveler to Ireland? Well, it amounts to a hefty 500 pages, including 28 maps of such things as Dublin's DART Suburban Railway, Irish Rail Routes, and Where to Stay and Dine in Belfast. There are no photos, which always helps to keep costs down. Even so the cover price of £14.99 in the UK is only the same as that of the Rough Guide to Ireland and the Lonely Planet Guide to Ireland, both of which have over 750 pages, or 50% more information. Not such a good verdict on that score, then.
Frommer's Ireland Guide: the Price and Where to Buy It
Pauline Frommer's Ireland is published by Frommer's at $21.99 in the USA, $25.99 in Canada, and £14.99 in the UK. Available from Amazon and other online book stores, from book shops, and from the Frommer's Online Bookstore.
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