We suggest that you check all of the connected costs and time of travel before determining which airport you will use. Compare flight travel time and costs, car rental costs including the CDW and factor in the time and fuel costs to get to Inishowen. In addition there is a great bus system that leaves from Dublin Airport terminal and with a brief stop in Monahan takes you straight into Derry City. Once there you would need to figure out your own ground transportation or rent a car from a company in Derry City or from the Derry City airport which is about 15 minutes cab ride North of the city.
The cities and villages that the events are held in are listed in the schedule. Some people have used travel agents to make arrangements and other people have booked their travel and accommodations themselves. If you do use a travel agent, be sure that they are aware of where the events are being held and don’t book you into accommodations that are a long distance away from the events. In the past there have been some people who had travel agents book them into places near Donegal Town which is about a 2 hour drive from Carndonagh. Others were booked into Letterkenny which is about an hour drive from Carndonagh. Both of these groups wished that they had known how long it would take to travel back and forth each day. It didn’t feel very convenient to them and was a little stressful for them.
We often suggest that you try and find a house to rent in the Inishowen area, perhaps around Carndonagh or Ballyliffin. This would probably be cheaper than hotel rooms and you could prepare your own meals for the meals times that we don’t have in the schedule.
There are many websites available now. We suggest that you check Fáilte Ireland. It is the Irish Tourist Board. We did a google search on vacation rentals Carndonagh County Donegal and there are lots of listings.
We also searched farmhouses to rent near Carndonagh County Donegal and there are other listings. The costs vary depending on the type of accommodation that you choose.
You could also book hotel rooms for your stay, there are nice hotels in Ballyliffin as well as Buncrana.
The Gateway in Buncrana is a beautiful hotel, the Ballyliffin Hotel and the Strand Hotel in Ballyliffin are also very lovely. We are sure that you would be pleased. All of the hotels have great food too. Some attendees rent a house for the time they are in Ireland or choose to stay in B&B’s. There are benefits to each type of accommodation. The B&B price is typically 35 euros per person per night. Some hotels make this same offer. B&B means Bed and Breakfast, so you can expect a great Irish breakfast for the price. Some people like staying in one place for the whole reunion so that they feel like they have a home base and don’t have to pack up and move all the time, others like staying in the local area where the events are. This is a personal preference.
You will definitely need a rental car to get around Ireland and specifically Inishowen, the public transportation system is almost not existent. The cost of a rental car will vary depending on what you choose. There are different companies represented at each airport, so do a Google search on car rental or car hire companies at the airport you are coming into to. Remember that some of the quotes do not include the Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) insurance that is required in Ireland. You can choose to use cabs to get to and from events also, they are reasonable in price and very reliable.
For our bus tour events, the bus collects the passengers from one location in Carndonagh. That is the least expensive choice for hiring the buses and since we are trying to keep the costs down for everyone, that is what we have chosen to do. If you are looking for an approximate cost, we find that the average airfare from the States is about $1300 per person, with car rental to be about $300 per week, B&B’s are about $50 per person per night and you can get your other meals for about $50 per person per day. These prices are middle of the road, but hopefully this will be a good starting point for you to budget your trip. If you have questions about your specific plans please send an email to odochartaighreunion@comcast.net.