Frommer's Ireland Day by Day (Frommer's Day by Day - Full Size) [Paperback]

Christi Daugherty (Author), Jack Jewers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 22, 2010 | Series: Frommer's Day by Day - Full Size (Book 3)

Ireland is one of the most ancient and modern countries in Europe. Our London-based writers of Irish ancestry lead you to the best of the old and new on their beloved Emerald Isle. Under their guidance, you'll experience the cosmopolitan luxuries of Ireland's cities, learn the secrets of its ancient ruins, and figure out the smartest ways to navigate all that green in between.

They hit all the highlights and tell you how to see them in their best light—from the Giant's Causeway, Newgrange, and Glendalough, to the Ring of Kerry, Killarney National Park, and Cliffs of Moher. Plus they lead you off the beaten path to undiscovered ruin sites, unsigned prehistoric tombs, and gorgeous isolated beaches.

They visit all the best hotels and hottest restaurants in person, discover new places not yet on the tourist maps, and offer authoritative, candid reviews to help you find the spots that best suit your tastes and budget. You'll get up-to-the-minute coverage of shopping and nightlife as well; detailed walking tours of city neighborhoods and small towns; special-interest trips for families, foodies, pub crawlers, lovers of literature, and history buffs—including Ireland's wealth of prehistoric sites; 900 full-color photos, a full chapter on Ireland's rich history and culture, and advice on planning a successful Ireland vacation.

Frommer's Ireland Day by Day also includes a color fold-out map.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Map your adventure

Plan a trip that suits your interests. Follow ourrecommended itineraries or mix & match to createyour own. Explore a region in depth or hit the highlights. With Frommer's Day by Day guides, the choice is yours.

• 85 self-guided tours with maps that show how to get from place to place

• Hundreds of photos,plus engaging insights on history and culture

• Detailed reviews of hotels,restaurants, shopping, and nightlife

Full-sized foldout mapof Ireland in a handy plastic envelope

Spotlight on Ireland

Complete coverage of Ireland's history and culturebegins on page 454. The following features takea closer look at the most compelling aspects ofIrish culture.

• Men of Letters (page 74)A who's who of Irish literary giants

• Devil for the Drink (page 198)From Guinness to potcheen

• From the Pipes to the Pogues (page 230)Irish music through the ages

• Monk Business (page 272)These scribes helped save Western literature

• If These Walls Could Talk (page 324)The potato famine's enduring legacy

• Women of Action (page 362)23 centuries of indomitable broads

• Drawing Sides (page 388)Belfast's murals paint a vivid picture

• For Peat's Sake (page 424)From bogs to briquettes

About the Author

Husband and wife team Christi Daugherty and Jack Jewers have been exploring Ireland together for years. Christi has been writing Frommer's Ireland since 2006, and Jack has been her co-author since 2009. Christi has also contributed to several other Frommer's guides, including MTV Ireland and MTV Europe, and she authored the first edition of Paris Day by Day. Jack, also a filmmaker by trade, has contributed to several travel guidebooks for a variety of publishers over the years. Both Christi and Jack have Ireland in their blood. Jack grew up listening to his great aunt's tales of life in Dublin during the civil war (she once leaned out of a window during a late-night gunfi ght to tell them to keep the noise down—people were trying to sleep), while Christi not long ago discovered the ruins of the castle her family left behind when they fled County Donegal in the 18th century, with the English hot on their tail. Read more about the authors at www.christidaugherty.com and www.jackjewers.co.uk.

Product Details

• Paperback: 516 pages
• Publisher: Frommers; 1 edition (March 22, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470445726
• ISBN-13: 978-0470445723
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.9 x 8.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #116,763 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #42 in Books > Travel > Europe > Ireland > General

More About the Author

Christi Daugherty (London, England) is an expat American. A former journalist, she s the author of several travel books including Frommer's Ireland 2007 and Frommer's Paris Day by Day. She also co-wrote Frommer's MTV Ireland and Frommer's MTV Europe. She learned everything she knows about Ireland accidentally, while getting lost repeatedly over the course of many years. She likes to think that she gets lost so you don t have to. On a recent trip, she stumbled across the ruins of the castle her family left behind when they fled Ireland in the 17th century, with the English hot on their trail. There wasn't much left of it. In her spare time she writes unpublished mystery novels.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 45 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Make the Most of Your Stay with Ireland Day by Day March 8, 2010

By Bryan Carey TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Frommer's Ireland Day by Day is a handy reference guide to one of Europe's most popular tourist destinations. This travel guide wants to help you, the curious world traveler, in your quest to find the best attractions, the finest dining, and the other points of interest so that your vacation to Ireland will be memorable and enjoyable.

This travel guide is different from others in one important way: It covers specific travel excursions to different parts of Ireland, with daily breakdowns on what to see and do. Let's say, for instance, that I plan to visit the capital city of Dublin and I have exactly three days in which to visit. If I turn to the section on Dublin, I will see guides for different numbers of days, one of which is titled Dublin in 3 Days. The guide will help you make the most of your short trip by guiding you to the best the Dublin has to offer in a three day time span. Other parts of the book include similar itineraries, not necessarily by number of days (most are like this, but not all), but by some type of criteria. Some focus on outdoor activities. Some of the trips focus on things to do with kids in tow. Whatever the concentration is, this guide offers you a specific breakdown of the best points of interest and what you should see/do to make the most of your trip.

Besides the individual self- guided tours, what most readers will remember best about this travel guide are the illustrations. There are actual photographs of the Irish countryside and city attractions and many of them are very enticing. The book is small in size, physically, so don't expect to find large, coffee- table book images.... The pictures are smaller than that, but they are attention- grabbing nonetheless and they will attract many readers with their historic significance, natural beauty, etc. In addition to the photos, you will also find plenty of maps in this travel guide. A large, pull- out map at the back of the guide is available for use, but there are also dozens of smaller maps throughout, each offering a road guide with specific points of interest clearly marked.

This Ireland travel guide is a reference guide and thus it doesn't offer much in the way of general reading. With the exception of the chapter that covers the history of Ireland and a few other sections, the reading in this guide is brief and factual, covering only the key points for a specific location, its dining options, natural attractions, contact information, etc. So, this is not the type of guide you want to buy if you want to study the nation of Ireland and expand your knowledge. This is really intended as a reference guide for travelers and most people who buy it will refer to it only when they need to look something up.

Ireland is a fascinating nation rich in history and natural beauty and this travel guide is a good reference guide for those who plan to visit the Emerald isle. It offers clear information, attractive photographs, helpful maps, and plenty of self- guided tours. It makes a good choice for those who are planning to travel to Ireland and want to make the most of their stay. Read more ›

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Travelpedia For The Emerald Isle March 8, 2010

By JDP

Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Over the years I've crisscrossed lands and oceans and most times made the journey with my trusted Frommer's Guide in hand. The Frommer's Ireland Day By Day is literally a book that I did not want to put down. This is one of the better guide books that I have read.

Loaded into this 504 page travelpedia of the Emerald Isle are maps, photos, facts, history, eateries, transportation, lodging, directory and much, much more. As a photographer I was pleased with the photographs. The points of interest photographs are well produced and obviously not from the the usual files of stock photography.

The FYI listings are on point tidbits and highlighted in various colors. The enclosed maps are colorful, navigable, and easy to read. Whether its visiting ancient ground or grabbing a pint at the local pub, the things to do and places to see listings go on and on. It documents well the Ireland that I want to see.

Whether its upscale dining or the locals best kept secret, Frommer's Ireland Day by Day offers a cornucopia of detailed information including the house favorites. This writing offers a good listing of local lodging options and assures the reader that they are plentiful and priced for every budget.

As I've found out through the years, each and every edition of Frommer's travel guide seems to get better. The Frommer's Ireland Day by Day is no exception. It is an outstanding compilation of all that is the magic of the Emerald Isle. I highly recommend it.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Erin Go Braugh! March 17, 2010

By Martin A Hogan HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

At over 500 glossy pages, Frommer's "Ireland day by day" is by far the most complete travel guide book to date. There are over 104 detailed maps of regions, counties and towns, details of ten regions of Ireland, eighty-five self guided tours and a cool waterproof map of the country (1" = 20 miles) with blow-ups of Dublin and Belfast and a Dublin Transportation map of the underground (in a plastic envelope).

Typical of Frommer's layout, there are four chapters that cover the "Best of Ireland", "Strategies for seeing Ireland", "The Best All-Ireland Itineraries" and "Dublin and the best day trips". The other twelve chapters cover the Counties of Wexford, Waterford, Cork, Killarney, Kerry, Galway, Clare, Sligo and Mayo. Galway City, Belfast and Northern Ireland have their own special sections.

For one example, take Cork County. Dozens of special interest tourist sites are detailed (want to see famous St. Anne's Church, the Cork Butter Museum or the Blarney Castle and Stone?). Several places to stay are listed from quaint to the fancy with details on ambience, price and phone numbers. Several varieties of restaurants are detailed as well citing the type of food, the quality and the price. Nightlife is particularly cited with lots to choose from depending on your style. All these include a website, a phone number and detailed recommendations. Plus, there is the Counties places for "Foodies", the most `Storied' drinking pubs, County Cork with Kids, County Cork Outdoors (great landscape and park excursions), and more. In fact, like every County, it is covered from north to south to east to west. Every County is given this detailed attention....

Of course, Frommer's tells you what to do "Before you go", about "Getting There", "Getting Around", "Tips on Accommodations", and Frommer's famous "Fast Facts", which give you some important clues on items that will make your travel easier and more enjoyable. "Erin Go Braugh! (Ireland Forever!) Read more ›

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Shallow and Repetitive - A Disappointment June 5, 2012

By Cyradia

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

The only nice thing I can say about this book is, "it's better than nothing." But...it's not *that* better than nothing. I always buy travel books a few months before a trip and do my own scheduling and planning. Usually Frommer's makes good stuff, but this book was really disappointing. The cover is shiny and there are a lot of pictures, but I found the information to be very shallow, especially once I was in Ireland and was using it to find out the time or the price to an attraction. It uses a "X area in one day" and then "X area in two days", etc...format, but it uses this as an excuse to be painfully repetitive. For example, a paragraph description of visiting Skellig Michael in County Kerry appears at least 6 times in the book!, but there's still very little practical information as to the cost, the times the boat leaves, the relationship between the major vendor and the various ships that cross, and how long it takes to drive to the port...so we found ourselves constantly needing to do our own scouting once in Ireland. I daresay if you shrank the book such that it was "what to add in area X when staying a second day" format instead...you'd have a book half as long. Limerick County is completely missing from the book...just like the authors forgot it existed.

One slightly redeeming quality about the book was the small city maps to use when walking in a larger city (like Cork or Dublin). However, they still had no information about where to park when driving into a city and those maps were no good at navigating from the major route into the city centers where the attractions are located. The included map with the book is complete trash - it's not detailed enough to navigate and it doesn't show you the size of the roads.... On the map all the widths of the lines for the roads are depicted as the same size, but in reality some routes through Ireland (prefix M) are like interstates and very fast, where as most others are very narrow and slow going. On average, google maps or a GPS unit horribly underestimates travel time in Ireland, because they assume you go the speedlimit (100 km/hr) on all the narrow windy roads populated by sheep (which nobody can do). So, I highly recommend leaving MUCH more time for trips between places than technology tools estimate and find a better map (my AAA travel center had a good one) to help find the fastest route for travel days.

Finally, I was disappointed by most of the shopping and eating recommendations the book makes. Many of the highest rated shops were horrible tourist traps, with goods made in various parts of Asia. I rarely had a bad meal when following their eating suggestions, but I also rarely had a great one, either. Consider triangulating restaurant/pub suggestions with yelp (mostly American reviewers) or traveladvisor (more local reviewers). Also, Ireland tourist areas tend to have wonderful "city or county visitor information" websites with better maps, scenic drives, and town descriptions...so I also recommend triangulating with those when planning your trip!

A few tips for traveling in Ireland that I picked up from experience (certainly not the book):

- Renting a car is awesome, but you're going to want a GPS unit. The rental companies charge a hefty daily charge, but if you have a Garmin unit with a SD slot you can buy a SD card with UK and Ireland maps (Amazon has the best price I found). It's plug and play goodness for navigating Ireland, but it also doesn't properly estimate the travel times of rural roads...so even setting it to "fastest" route rarely gives you the fastest route. Use that good map to help strike out on the right road.

- When (if) returning home to the U.S., all the returning customs checks are in the Dublin airport. So, you need to leave yourself at least 2.5 hours when checking in to your return flight (good news is you just get to walk off the plane when you get home like a domestic flight!)

-American travelers can get the tax (V.A.T.) they pay on goods refunded to them if they collect the right paperwork and jump through all the right hoops. I didn't know how to play the game right, so I left money on the table when I left. However, if you're a big souvenir purchaser, make sure to do your homework. VAT tax is 23% on purchased items, so it's worth getting refunded. Read more ›