Ireland (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

My husband and I recently took our first trip out of the U.S. and decided to take a dream trip to Ireland. We started reading this guide well before we left to get an idea of where we wanted to go and what we wanted to see. The guide is fantastic. The pictures and details about each place helped us to choose many sites in a small country with so many beautiful places to go. We took this guide everywhere with us. As first time European travelers we needed to know all the basics; how to get around, what a round-about was (we don't have those here), where to convert our money, hours that the places are open and when they close, customs of the country, etc. This book really layed it out and helped us in deciding where we wanted to go. We ended up traveling from Dublin to Connemara, to Cork, to Waterford and finally back to Dublin. We felt that we were able to pick facinating sites, covering Newgrange, which is older than the pyramids, to castles, (Blarney & Bunratty), Cathedrals...Read more

On the plus side, the Eyewitness guide is easy to read and gives you a more accurate idea of what to expect at the various attractions across Ireland, and has a decent section on Northern Ireland, which is often noticeably lacking in many other guides. However, it is VERY limited in terms of its listings of lodgings, restaurants and pubs. I bought the guide while living in my husband's native Northern Ireland on the recommendation of a friend, but found I had to continually refer to other guide books to find hotels, B&B and restaurants that normal people (those of us with incomes under $100,000/year) can afford. Also, the listing of hotels, etc., at the back of the book is rather frustrating, as you have to flip back and forth many times to determine if there's an accommodation, etc. near where you want to travel. Basically, it's a good companion guide, but not very effective on its own.

I have been to Ireland now several times leading groups of university students, and I always recommend this book to them. Not only does it have a wealth of information, but the drawings and diagrams of the sites that they visit are of immeasurable help in appreciating and understanding the places that we do visit. Since we travel quite rapidly on this course, this is invaluable as a planner and as a reference. And at first, I only bought it for myself!!