Customer Reviews

The Rough Guide to Ireland 8 (Rough Guide Travel Guides)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This was the 3rd "Rough Guide" I've used, and in my opinion they are the best resources for travel to new countries. They not only cover the "standard" areas and sites in detail - including a good range of lodging and dining options - but also take you off the beaten track, exposing nice gems not covered in other books.

If you like to really EXPLORE a country, rather than find the next good shopping area or find the most economical place to sleep, this book and ALL of the "Rough Guides" are for you!

I used this book for a 10-day driving trip around Ireland with my mom. My mom had brought Frommer's and Fodor's guide books, and we kept coming back to the Rough Guide. I'd used my first Rough Guide in Ecuador and loved it. What I love is that they cover everything, not just the tourist traps that the "mainstream" guide books do. The book's recommendations are right on and they have information on even the most out-of-the-way places. The book's best suggestion was climbing Mount Errigal - quite a hike, but so worth it.

Even the maps in the book are excellent. We ended up using the Rough Guide maps combined with a tourist map we got at the aiport for a large-scale view of the country. The Michelin driving map we brought ended up being too complicated to use.

After several great experiences with them, Rough Guides are now my guide book of choice. You won't be disappointed with this one!

I used this book during by trip to Ireland last summer. It was extremely helpful when I got out of the cities and was in the countryside. The books directions got me to several sites in County Meath and Donegal that I don't think I would have found without it.

I ended up spending 3 nights in the Trim area which wasn't covered in the other guide books I looked at. Very useful and complete, I highly recommend it.

This is the first Rough Guide I've purchased, and I'll be looking for more in the series. I like the way the guide is structured, by county and town/smaller area, with attractions described in detail enough for a reader to decide whether or not to see them.

I was weaned on the Blue Guides when I first did international travel. I loved the detail about towns and historic sites in those guides along with the suggested tours. The Rough Guide lived up to this standard for me. It provided a good level of detail to enjoy our touring with an organzization of the information that made sense.

This was a very good guide in most ways, which helped us in our travels. Its a great addition for any trip to Ireland but would also advice purchasing serveral other Ireland guide books to compliment what this one lacked. The one thing all these books lacked was the amazing back roads that made our trip so very much better.

This book lacked almost any pictures. It really wasn't the reference to whip out while passing through the countryside on a tour bus. The layout was logical, though. I used it in combination with another book that supplied the pictures and maps. I really liked the comprehensive history section which the picture book lacked. It gave me an understanding of the travails the Irish have suffered.

This book is wonderful! Full of pictures, text, history, everything you want to know. My mom actually picked it up, started reading it and asked if she could keep it. (She will be getting her own copy shortly). Great book! Very thorough.

Read the other reviews and was very excited, but I thought this turned out to be one of the worst guidebooks I've ever purchased. If you're going to hit absolutely every city in Ireland, then maybe it's okay, but really who's going to do that? I thought it needed more detail on things like food and hotel recommendations. There aren't any good maps, even of the city centers. It's almost completely black and white, with very few pictures. The pricing codes are difficult to understand and therefore completely unhelpful. Pretty bummed about this book.

I am traveling to Ireland soon, and found myself in need of a Rough Guide-- because no one else does it better. So far its been instrumental in planning my trip: from arrival in the Southern port cities to a trip around the Ring of Kerry to our planned stay in Dublin, its the starting point in accounting for lodging, restaurants, and activities. No guide can encapsulate the entire country they're "guiding" you through, but the very best give you a great sense of where and how to begin engaging with the country or countries in question and the Rough Guide typically does this with aplomb. I'm also headed to Britain on this trip too, and trust-- I've got the Rough Guide for Britain, too. Laurence West