Rating: 
Summary: Falling Short
Review: I thought I had my trip to Ireland all planned out, including all the right guides to get me around without any problems. I purchased this guide along with the detailed version of Dublin and reviewed the books before I left. I was surprised to find just how many holes there were with the maps. It repeatedly seemed like what I was trying to find wasn't listed in the book or it wasn't on the map. The maps, I was really dissapointed to find, only cover small sections of the towns. I would not recommend them to people who are using them as a source for directions. It had a plenty ideas for the kinds of places you would want to see in Ireland, but I found there was much more out there compared to what actually made it into the book. I recomend it as a guide for the big tourist spots and to give an idea about what to expect, but I wouldn't use it for details.
Rating: 
Summary: Essential for plannig your Irish adventure.
Review: I used this book for as my baseline for planning my week long trip to Ireland. The book is so well organized, it makes it easy to plot a course in Ireland and then to decide what to see while you are travelling from Point A to Point B. The beautiful photography and bird's eye view drawings give the reader an idea where to expect the greatest highlights. There are also very detailed descriptions, explanations, and historical narritaves. The book makes most of the guided tours at historical sights unnecessary. Often there was more information in the book than there was available on site. And the extra knowledge helped us greatly in avoiding most of the "tourist traps".(Helpful hint: Blarney castle was the biggest tourist trap/dissapointment on our trip. It that was the only castle in Ireland you saw, it would be OK. But you can find better castles along the side of just about any country road. And these castles won't have cheezy giftshops, entrance fees, photographer fees, electricity, repairs using modern technology, or 2 hour long lines.)Even if you are not planning a trip to Ireland, the book is still very interesting and informative just to get an idea of all the treasures that await you on the Green Isle. I promise this book will be the "Bible" of your journey to Ireland.
Rating:
Summary: the best travel guide to ireland
Review: I was born and educated in Ireland and travel back to the old sod every couple of years. I have studied just about every travel guide to Ireland since I am more a tourist than a native; after 30 years in the good old U.S. The eyewitness guide is by far the best
Rating:
Summary: First Rate book for the experienced or novice traveller!
Review: I've been to Ireland 3 times, and this book was extremely enlightening. If you intend to travel there, bring this book along. It describes many points of interest, of all kinds (touristy, like Blarney Castle; or off the beaten path, like Galarus Oratory), and it reviews hotels in a handy table. Colorful and insightful. When we go to Ireland we cover 1200 miles by rental car in 8 days. We design our own itinerary before-hand. This book was very good for preplanning and to bring along for the ride. It's lightweight and has a small shape so it fits into any daypack or glove compartment. You could use this book and a very good map (Michelin's road map is best) to see AND appreciate Ireland on a great vacation. Ireland travel books vary greatly on their accuracy (opening hours and directions of sights, for example), but this book was very accurate. Going on vacation to Ireland is fun and an adventure, bring this book along.
Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive Ireland
Review: In their Irish Travel Guide, titled simply "Ireland" Dorling Kindersley Travel Guides have you travelling vicariously through Ireland via the pages of this amazingly comprehensive guide! With their myriad of colour photographs, they pack more into three hundred odd pages than most others would battle to fit into six hundred! From every angle - history, folklore, travel and general information this little book is really quite fantastic. I can't wait to get there! It would be useful to have just a TINY bit more information on places to stay.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book, great pictures and information
Review: My husband and I recently took our first trip out of the U.S. and decided to take a dream trip to Ireland. We started reading this guide well before we left to get an idea of where we wanted to go and what we wanted to see. The guide is fantastic. The pictures and details about each place helped us to choose many sites in a small country with so many beautiful places to go. We took this guide everywhere with us. As first time European travelers we needed to know all the basics; how to get around, what a round-about was (we don't have those here), where to convert our money, hours that the places are open and when they close, customs of the country, etc. This book really layed it out and helped us in deciding where we wanted to go. We ended up traveling from Dublin to Connemara, to Cork, to Waterford and finally back to Dublin. We felt that we were able to pick facinating sites, covering Newgrange, which is older than the pyramids, to castles, (Blarney & Bunratty), Cathedrals in Dublin, Trinity College, shopping on Grafton Street and buying beautiful scarves and sweaters to take home at Blarney Woolen Mills. Some sites we passed as we drove across the country and decided to make part of our journey, such as Jerpoint Abbey, others we had planned, such as the Rock of Cashel. We also bought the street maps for Dublin done by DK. Our trip was fabulous and we now only choose the DK guides when we take a trip either in the states or abroad. For a beautifully done, comprehensive book, you cannot go wrong here. Take it from the first time traveler....this one had everything we needed.
Rating:
Summary: The only guide we needed....
Review: My husband and I recently took our first trip out of the U.S. and decided to take a dream trip to Ireland. We started reading this guide well before we left to get an idea of where we wanted to go and what we wanted to see. The guide is fantastic. The pictures and details about each place helped us to choose many sites in a small country with so many beautiful places to go. We took this guide everywhere with us. As first time European travelers we needed to know all the basics; how to get around, what a round-about was (we don't have those here), where to convert our money, hours that the places are open and when they close, customs of the country, etc. This book really layed it out and helped us in deciding where we wanted to go. We ended up traveling from Dublin to Connemara, to Cork, to Waterford and finally back to Dublin. We felt that we were able to pick facinating sites, covering Newgrange, which is older than the pyramids, to castles, (Blarney & Bunratty), Cathedrals in Dublin, Trinity College, shopping on Grafton Street and buying beautiful scarves and sweaters to take home at Blarney Woolen Mills. Some sites we passed as we drove across the country and decided to make part of our journey, such as Jerpoint Abbey, others we had planned, such as the Rock of Cashel. We also bought the street maps for Dublin done by DK. Our trip was fabulous and we now only choose the DK guides when we take a trip either in the states or abroad. For a beautifully done, comprehensive book, you cannot go wrong here. Take it from the first time traveler....this one had everything we needed.
Rating: 
Summary: A well-rounded guide
Review: Not your typical guide book, this one is a pleasure to read from cover to cover. A very nice layout and beautiful photographs.
Rating:
Summary: A good guide, but falls short
Review: On the plus side, the Eyewitness guide is easy to read and gives you a more accurate idea of what to expect at the various attractions across Ireland, and has a decent section on Northern Ireland, which is often noticeably lacking in many other guides. However, it is VERY limited in terms of its listings of lodgings, restaurants and pubs. I bought the guide while living in my husband's native Northern Ireland on the recommendation of a friend, but found I had to continually refer to other guide books to find hotels, B&B and restaurants that normal people (those of us with incomes under $100,000/year) can afford. Also, the listing of hotels, etc., at the back of the book is rather frustrating, as you have to flip back and forth many times to determine if there's an accommodation, etc. near where you want to travel. Basically, it's a good companion guide, but not very effective on its own.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Guide!
Review: Our family moved to Germany almost 2 years ago. Before coming here I purchased the Eyewitness Travel Guide to Germany (also highly recommended). Since then, I have tried a few other books to use during our European travels. NONE of them come close to Eyewitness books. These travel guides are easy to use. They have awesome pictures. I am one who likes to look at pictures to see what is interesting and then read the info. so the pictures are a huge help. The guide for Ireland is just as great as I had expected it to be. The guide is broken into sections and regions. We did purchase a map in addition but for over-all ease and basic facts, the DK books are tops! I will always look to the Eyewitness books first when considering travel destinations.
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