A Weekend of Vanlife in Ireland
November 27, 2024- December 1, 2024
If you are at all familiar with my travels, it is no secret that I am very fond of vanlife. I find the feeling of having complete control of where I go and when I go the best feeling of ultimate freedom that I always search for in every one of my adventures. I have discovered that I find this feeling whenever I rent a van, hit the road, and don’t look back.
For my thanksgiving break, my brother and I rented a camper van that we would find ourselves driving all over Ireland. Starting from Dublin and making our way to Galway, the Cliffs of Moher, Kerry, Cork, Cashel, and back to Dublin again this roadtrip was an unforgettable one full of many notable moments that you can read more about below.
The first, and most, notable stop of the trip would hands-down have to be the Cliffs of Moher. When I was planning this trip’s itinerary, the cliffs were at the center of the trip. Not only were the cliffs some of the most amazing natural wonders I have ever seen, but the surroundings of the area itself were simply beautiful.
This destination was a very vanlife friendly stop since it provided an area for you to park your car and camp overnight there if needed. It had a beautiful restaurant overlooking the cliffs, a museum built into the side of a small hill, and souvenir shops scattered thourghout . Despite all fo these tourists attractions, the cliffs seemed to be very quiet, accessible, and slow moving which made the atmosphere very relaxing, calm, and peaceful.
Another very notable spot was the Rock of Cashel Castle in Cashel, Ireland. This was absolutely marvelous. Throughout all of the places I have ever traveled to, I can’t recall a time where I have seen a castle, like this one, that felt completely uninfluenced an unbothered. It felt as though I was transported back into an ancient Irish time walking through the Cathedral and cemetery of this castle.
On top of all the amazing things about this castle, entry is completely free! We were free to roam around a Romanesque chapel, a Gothic cathedral, an abbey, the Hall of the Vicars Choral and a fifteenth-century Tower House. This castle, that originally served as the seat of the Kings of Munster, had me in awe and wishing I could stay there all day long.
Ireland was a fantastic place to do vanlife. A long weekend, however, was definitely not enough time to even come close to seeing all the natural wonders and beauty that Ireland has to offer.
I rented my camper van with Indie Campers which was s very smoothe process. It is very reasonably priced, however, I found that the biggest expense was having to upgrade to an automatics van since I do not know how to drive stick. That may be my fatal flaw since I live in Italy, so I would recommend to learn how to drive manual before renting vehicles in Italy to save you a couple hundred dollars.
As for campsites, gas, mileage, etc. These once again were very affordable, of course depending on how much you drive the vehicle. Looking back on this trip, I could have planned out my route better to avoid uneccesssary use age of miles that I could’ve saved. Indie Campers offers a certain amount of miles on your vehicle that you can add more onto before your departure. I would also recommend doing this, so you don’t find yourself racking up your mileage bill because you keep finding more and more things that interest you.
Overall, this trip was splendid. I really enjoyed getting out of the city of Rome and completely being surrounded by nature for a few days to celebrate Thanksgiving with my brother abroad in Ireland.
To see more details of our trip you can check out my YouTube video on my channel!
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