Ireland Family Vacations reader question:
We are touring Ireland with a family of 8, including a 7 year old and and infant. Besides renting a self catering cottage, are their B&Bs that would accommodate us and, should the baby be fussy, not bother other guests? We will stay in the southwest much of the time…Dingle, Kenmare, Killarney, etc. Any suggestions?
Answer:
With the size of your group it sounds like you will need 3 rooms, with at least one of them being a family room plus a cot for the baby. To narrow your search, I recommend choosing the county you wish to stay in here on Ireland Family Vacations where a click will take you to search that county on the B&B Ireland website.
When your results appear, search the round symbols at the bottom of each listing for a crib image- this lets you know that the B&B has cots or cribs available. I prefer to open these listings in a new tab to better view them.
On each individual page you will see “What’s Available”. Check this for “Family Room”. A family room will typically sleep 3 or 4 people.
At the bottom, left of the listing you will see the words “Contact Info”. Email the B&B directly with questions about the family room set up and where the room is in relation to the rest of the rooms if you are worried about a fussy baby bothering other guests. But, with the size of your group, I imagine your hosts will put you all together – or you may take every room they have!
The ‘Sunny Southwest’ of Ireland is filled with family friendly B&Bs. A few that we have enjoyed are Mystical Rose in Killarney, County Kerry, The Old Bank in Bruff, County Limerick, and Bunratty Meadows in Bunratty, County Clare.
For reviews of these and other recommended lodgings, use our handy Ireland Family Vacation planning tools and click the county you want to search.
Do you have a question about Ireland travel? View the Ireland Travel FAQs page or email your question to IrelandCoach(at)IrelandFamilyVacations(dot)com. I will reply directly to you as well as add your question to this page- because if you need an answer, it’s likely someone else does, too!
We’ve been to Ireland in October “99 and “01. We were able to drive into a town and find a B&B where ever. This year we’re going in June. Are Bed & Breakfasts still available on short notice? Should we book the day ahead? Don’t want to have to be somewhere if we find ourselves staying longer somewhere else.
Thank you, Nancy
You’ll find Ireland much busier in 2018 than it was in 2001. You’re likely to find a ‘mixed bag’ of lodging availability. If you aren’t at all picky about your accommodations you should be ok booking a day or two in advance. But if you have specific areas you need or want to be in (especially popular spots like Doolin/ the Burren, Killarney/ Dingle/ Kenmare, Dublin/ Malahide/ Skerries) you will want to book in advance of your trip. WHile you are sure to find a B&B eventually you may have trouble booking near to places you wish to visit last minute.
I recommend doing a search for B&B availability- BandBIreland.com is a good reference for this. Check the availability in the area you plan to visit on your dates. If you don’t find many options you would probably be best served by booking ahead or you could risk not finding B&B accommodation in the area.
I hope that helps! Safe travels!