Ireland for Independent Travelers

If you want to travel independently in Ireland and remain flexible with your plans, but would appreciate some help with the basic organizing of transportation and accommodations, the Irish Youth Hostel Assn. (An Oige) has go-as-you-please packages that can help.

The “An Oige Rambler Holiday” package includes vouchers that will be honored for shared accommodations at any of the group’s 37 hostel locations, plus transportation passes valid for rail and bus travel throughout Ireland. Accommodations for seven nights and a transportation pass valid for any eight days of travel within a 15-day period totals about $215. The same transportation pass with 14 nights’ accommodation is $292.

If you’d prefer to cycle, the “Rail Cycling Holidays” package is available, which includes hostel vouchers, bicycle rental and a rail ticket valid for travel to or from any destination in Ireland. Seven nights in a hostel with a one-week bike rental and train ticket is $181. Bike rental and rooms for two weeks and a rail ticket is $303.

Hostel locations range from a 15th century Norman castle (Foulksrath Castle, County Kilkenny) to a former convent in Dublin. If you also want to include travel up to Northern Ireland, there are package tours that combine travel in both regions, allowing you to stay at any of the seven affiliated youth hostels in Northern Ireland.

For more details, contact An Oige, Irish Youth Hostel Assn., 61 Mountjoy St., Dublin 7, Ireland, telephone 011-353-1-830-4555, fax 011-353-1-830-5808, Internet https://www.irelandyha.org.

Keep in mind that many of the youth hostels are closed in low season (November through March), and remember that it’s not wise to overcommit yourself to one type of accommodation, because in some locations you may find that there are more suitable or attractive alternatives. Holiday Hostels is a network of 150 independent accommodation services in Ireland that also offer inexpensive lodgings. Each year, they jointly produce a map indicating their services and locations. You can contact them at IHH Office, 57 Lower Gardiner St., Dublin 1, Ireland, tel. 011-353-1-836-4700, fax 011-353-1-836-4710, Internet https://www.iol.ie/hostel.

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Travelers interested in learning more about Willing Workers on Organic Farms (WWOOF), an organization that arranges lodging (from a few days to a month) in exchange for help on organic farms in a variety of countries, can reach them at https://www.cityfarmer.org/wwoof .html or the old-fashioned way, tel. (250) 354-4417.

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“I don’t get it!” wrote a reader about a recent column on women traveling alone. “As open-minded as I believe myself to be, when it comes to cultures that revolve around religion, where women aren’t equal or even considered equal to men, why should I go there? Why would I want to?”

There are many places in the world that operate in ways we might strongly disagree with, and there are two schools of thought about traveling to them. I think both have merit.

When you do visit, you financially support a system you don’t morally support. That’s especially true if you are in a tour group in a controlled environment, where the dollars you spend are circulating back to the government or to large businesses.

The other side of the coin is: We don’t travel to see what we have at home--we go because it’s different. The student budget traveler usually gets closer to the local community, spends his/her money at mom-and-pop businesses and interacts with residents. Travelers and locals learn from each other. I believe that’s the healthiest situation, especially as we enter a global society. Budget travelers are our grass-roots ambassadors.