Customer Reviews

Lonely Planet Walking in Ireland

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Lonely Planet guides are always an honest,open an informative and this is no different. The book gives you detailed information on walks giving you directions such as "100m to the left of the pier" and so on. I find with details like that it's pretty hard to get lost! There is also general information on travelling in Ireland, places to stay, where to eat, what's worth seeing and places to avoid if you want to be in a less visited area. The only thing I would like to see is a little more information on day walks. Many people want day walks around Killarny and Dingle and from the information in the book I'm not sure how to divide up some of the week long walks in to day hikes for people who don't have a week for walking

I found this book to be very out of date, especially in terms of walking paths, pricing and logistics. I went to Dingle, and found that the hostel they highly recommend as having a free shuttle no longer has a free shuttle or friendly/knowledgeable service. I went on the three day Dingle walk that they outline, and the path had changed (and been changed for several years) and we got quite lost several times by following the directions in the books. The hostels that they indicate offer food no longer exist or don't offer food, and they don't mention anything about how easy it is to find someone to shuttle your baggage from walk to walk. Very disappointed.

After having returned from a 16 day hiking-predominant Irish vacation, we found the book at best, a "mixed bag." We found some amazing hikes with the book: Gap of Dunloe, Coomlaghra Horseshoe, Torc Mountain, Mahan Falls. However, some of the directions are rather vague, and require you to traverse private land (pastures mainly). These pastures have locked gates and barbed wire, which as far as I'm concerned, means "stay out." Barbed wire is not to keep the livestock in, but to keep us humans out. For this reason, especially for Coomlaghra horseshoe, there is a real uncomfortable feeling that your are trespassing (perhaps it's just my American sensibilities). What you should know is that this is not England with a beautiful network of "right-of-way" footpaths and gate-styles. You will need to trespass to finish a lot of these hikes. For instance, we drove to the MacGillicudy's reeks walk and drove into this cottage area which was empty and "deserted." The book tells you to park in the lot on behind the barn. When we got there, there were signs everywhere "private property." Then we noticed a coin-box for "parking" for 2 Euro. Unfortunately, the gate to the gravel lot was closed, and nobody was around. Were we supposed to just move the barriers and drive onto this land? We felt very uneasy. There are also some vague directions such as "follow the bitumen road." Does everyone know what a bitumen road is? We looked it up: it's asphalt!

So, although we had a very nice vacation and got in some good hikes, we also had to cancel some hikes (MacGillicudy's and Galtee) due to vagueness and private property concerns. It was incredibly frustrating to drive 1 or more hours to hike (you don't get anywhere in Ireland rapidly), only to get "turned around." I do remember throwing the book once or twice. Having said that, I'm not sure what else is out there. Ireland is evolving as a hiking country, but really has very far to go before I would recommend such a trip there. Go to England instead, or mainland Europe, but not Ireland.

We went to Ireland last year and had a wonderful time. But looking back our very best times were spent walking in the beautiful countryside. The trouble was, we didnt have a plan for our walking and didnt know where the trails were located. We have decided to go again this year and thanks to this FABULOUS book, we will have a PLAN!
This book is very well put together. Maps of trails, length and difficulty of trails. Closest towns. Everything you need to know. And its also and excellent source for all the other things a traveler needs to know such as where to stay, eat and play. It is the only book you will need to plan a memorable trip to Ireland!

For independent walkers planning a trip to Ireland, this portable encyclopaedia is good value. It covers a huge range, from a scenic two-hour stroll to the 122-mile Kerry Way (nine days), from easy walks to some tough mountain circuits. As you would expect from Lonely Planet, the authors are strong on environmental issues and thorough on practical information.

In 424 well-filled pages they cover the whole island of Ireland, both the Republic and Ulster (part of the UK). The secret of easy access is to use their handy 4-page table of walks organised by region. There is a good index and glossary, and even the boxed text and maps are indexed. Each walk is supported by a small-scale contour map (intended for planning purpose only). As a one-stop resource for walking in Ireland, this book is unrivalled.