Theonlysue
LIFE MEMBER
Copied this from a facebook page. Might be of interest...
Just returned from a brilliant 5 week tour if Ireland. We started and finished at Belfast, and went right round the coast, in an anti-clockwise direction. It's one of, if not the best place we've ever toured in the van. There are plenty of places to stop and virtually every tourist attraction, city and town was easy to access in our van, a 7.5 Metre Autotrail Cheyenne 660. We got the ferry from Cairnryan, and initially were supposed to be going to Larne, but we arrives early and rather than stay at the ferry port, for a fiver, we opted to pay an extra £7.30 and go a day early, so ended up at Belfast! We found every single stop over on Search for Sites, we have the app on my phone. The sat nav co-ordinates were stop to, taking us to the door of every place we stayed. We use an Aguri RV720, and again it never put a foot wrong in navigating us around. We used a mixture of "aires", marinas, wild spots and sites throughout the tour. Sites are quite expensive. between 25-33 Euros a night, including ehu, for 2 people and a dog, (some charged for the dog, some didn't). Showers were extra in them all, except the C&CC site at Delamont Park, in the North, so I didn't use them! The official guide book for the Wild Atlantic Way says' and I quote, "Wild camping is strictly forbidden in Ireland, but in reality no one really cares. You can stop anywhere, except on someones' drive. But if you ask you are pretty sure to get the ok!" And that's exactly how it was! No one bats an eye lid. There are some height barriers at a few places, but not many. A lot of farmers and marinas are cottoning on to the money to be made from motorhomes stopping over, couple that with the fact that they can provide pitches and so on without any planning permission, providing they don't have showers, and you can see why they are becoming popular! Every single person we met, without fail, in the entire country North & South, was friendly, welcoming and helpful. Nothing was too much trouble. They interrogate you from minute 1. Where are you from? ? What's your name? Where are you going? have you had a great time? Brexit, what the Fiddlesticks are you guys up too? Seriously? You think we're going to have a border? Jeez, you're all mad! That pretty much sums up the introduction conversation. they they get on to their life stories, family issues, health issues and where they think the government are going wrong! Problems with "Over-sharing", don't seem to have hit Ireland yet! We had our little dog with us, and before we left we had concerns about her and any pet passport issues. Needn't have worried! Not one person, from getting on the ferry, to getting off the ferry, asked a single question about her, apart from what's her name! No mention of any passport, restrictions on where she could and couldn't go or anything! Diesel is expensive, and for some strange reason, was more expensive the closer you got to big towns and cities! Several times I filled up at €1.35PL, to find 5 miles outside of town in a little garage it would have been €1.32, which was about the cheapest. Not many supermarkets seem to do fuel, like over here, there are some, but not many. LPG for our under slung tank was also readily available, and cheap. I topped up at 66 cents per Litre. Well who wouldn't at that price! I could go on. It was just brilliant! For anyone starting out in this mad lifestyle and wanting to stretch you wings, I'd go to Ireland! The people, in theory, speak the same language, the money is Euros, in the South, and you can have a go at aires and such. It was our first time to Ireland, but we'll definitely be going back!
Just returned from a brilliant 5 week tour if Ireland. We started and finished at Belfast, and went right round the coast, in an anti-clockwise direction. It's one of, if not the best place we've ever toured in the van. There are plenty of places to stop and virtually every tourist attraction, city and town was easy to access in our van, a 7.5 Metre Autotrail Cheyenne 660. We got the ferry from Cairnryan, and initially were supposed to be going to Larne, but we arrives early and rather than stay at the ferry port, for a fiver, we opted to pay an extra £7.30 and go a day early, so ended up at Belfast! We found every single stop over on Search for Sites, we have the app on my phone. The sat nav co-ordinates were stop to, taking us to the door of every place we stayed. We use an Aguri RV720, and again it never put a foot wrong in navigating us around. We used a mixture of "aires", marinas, wild spots and sites throughout the tour. Sites are quite expensive. between 25-33 Euros a night, including ehu, for 2 people and a dog, (some charged for the dog, some didn't). Showers were extra in them all, except the C&CC site at Delamont Park, in the North, so I didn't use them! The official guide book for the Wild Atlantic Way says' and I quote, "Wild camping is strictly forbidden in Ireland, but in reality no one really cares. You can stop anywhere, except on someones' drive. But if you ask you are pretty sure to get the ok!" And that's exactly how it was! No one bats an eye lid. There are some height barriers at a few places, but not many. A lot of farmers and marinas are cottoning on to the money to be made from motorhomes stopping over, couple that with the fact that they can provide pitches and so on without any planning permission, providing they don't have showers, and you can see why they are becoming popular! Every single person we met, without fail, in the entire country North & South, was friendly, welcoming and helpful. Nothing was too much trouble. They interrogate you from minute 1. Where are you from? ? What's your name? Where are you going? have you had a great time? Brexit, what the Fiddlesticks are you guys up too? Seriously? You think we're going to have a border? Jeez, you're all mad! That pretty much sums up the introduction conversation. they they get on to their life stories, family issues, health issues and where they think the government are going wrong! Problems with "Over-sharing", don't seem to have hit Ireland yet! We had our little dog with us, and before we left we had concerns about her and any pet passport issues. Needn't have worried! Not one person, from getting on the ferry, to getting off the ferry, asked a single question about her, apart from what's her name! No mention of any passport, restrictions on where she could and couldn't go or anything! Diesel is expensive, and for some strange reason, was more expensive the closer you got to big towns and cities! Several times I filled up at €1.35PL, to find 5 miles outside of town in a little garage it would have been €1.32, which was about the cheapest. Not many supermarkets seem to do fuel, like over here, there are some, but not many. LPG for our under slung tank was also readily available, and cheap. I topped up at 66 cents per Litre. Well who wouldn't at that price! I could go on. It was just brilliant! For anyone starting out in this mad lifestyle and wanting to stretch you wings, I'd go to Ireland! The people, in theory, speak the same language, the money is Euros, in the South, and you can have a go at aires and such. It was our first time to Ireland, but we'll definitely be going back!
