As promisted at the end of post #8 that there would be one more to wrap up our European trip – and here it is! Hope any of you considering such a trip will find this helpful.
I talked a lot about our planning already in post #1 – you can find that here. This post will include our costs, since I realize that is a huge part of planning this type of trip.
Planned and Paid For in Advance:
As I discussed in the Prep and Arrival post, the first thing we paid for was our airfare. We may have been able to get less expensive tickets, but we really preferred direct/non-stop flights. We didn’t want long layovers, and ultimately opted for a longer drive to the airport to get the most cost-effective direct flight. We flew on United Airlines IAD (Washington Dulles) to EID (Edinburgh) on a red-eye flight, which left at 10:45pm ET (Eastern Time) and arrived 10:45am GMT (Greenwich Mean Time). While the flight was LONG – it is not 12 hours, but the 7 hours was long enough. The rest of the 12 hours takes into account the 5-hour time difference.
Cost of airfare: $1,438.34
Related to the airfare is long term parking for our car. I found the place we parked our car for SpotHero.com. We parked for 36 days at the Holiday Inn Express, which was about 4 miles (driving distance) from IAD/Washington Dulles International Airport. There were numerous hotels to choose from, and we ended up at a Holiday Inn Express, as they offered free shuttle service every half hour and the parking was right in the same area their guests parked in. We appreciated that there was a lot of cameras and activity, which we felt might help discourage potential thieves – not that we were worried someone would steal our 2006 hail damaged Honda CRV, but at that time there were reports of car parts being stolen.
Cost of parking: $232.90
The largest single expense of our trip was the rental of the motorhome. Once we decided on JustGo, we had to pay a deposit of 25% of the cost of the rental to hold the reservation.
Deposit to JustGo: £916.61 ($1,246.59 – exchange rate was 1.36 that day in February)
The deposit was refundable up to 6 weeks out, with a reasonable cancelation fee. The balance was due at that point, and it then the whole amount became non-refundable.
Balance to JustGo: £2,790.31 ($3,292.56 – exchange rate was a much more favorable 1.18 by then – had it remained at 1.36 it would have cost us an additional $502.25)
Total cost of motorhome rental: $4,539.15
An additional cost came about in an unusual way. When we picked up the motorhome, we needed to leave a damage deposit of £1,500.00. The amount charged to my credit card, after the exchange rate, was $1,776.15. When we returned the motorhome with no damage, we got the deposit back, but the exchange rate had changed, so we only received $1,560.00 back. This deposit was essentially the deductible on their insurance if we had gotten into an accident. As you can see on the sticker above, they make it very clear that overhead damage is NOT covered (even if we had opted for the £35 per day add-on.)
Amount lost to exchange rate difference $216.00
In consideration that the two largest costs (airfare and motorhome rental) were non-refundable, I decided a travel insurance policy was in order. I got some referrals and clicked on AARPY.com to get quotes. After comparing the options, I chose to get a policy through Seven Corners Travel Insurance. The policy allowed me to insure those non-refundable costs, plus included coverages for medical extraction and a host of other items.
Cost of policy: $459.00
Cost of international driver license (gotten at AAA) for Bill (required by JustGo): $35.90
Our next purchase was the round-trip ferry ride from Cairnryan, Scotland to Belfast, Northern Ireland and back. Following advice from Steven and Linda, we headed to Direct Ferries to make our purchase. This site has prices and times for several companies and based on Steven and Linda’s past good experiences, we decided on Stena Line Ferries.
Cost for round-trip ferry trip: $506.41 ($490.60 at the time of reservation + $15.81 when we changed the date)
I mentioned in the Prep and Arrival post that we had pre-booked and paid for some campsites, but in this post, I will summarize all overnight sites below.
Summary of All Overnight Parking
Our trip was a total of 37 days (including travel) and 36 nights. Our first night was on the flight over, leaving 36 nights in country. Bill has converted most of the costs already.
Night 1: Ferry terminal in Cairnryan, Scotland – Cost – $0 (usually €5 but machine was broken)
Night 2: Bellurgan Point, Dundalk, Ireland – €0
Nights 3, 4, 5, and 6: Camac Valley Tourist Caravan and Camping Park, Dublin, Ireland – €142.74 ($144.19)
Night 7: Parking area near Rock of Cashel, Cashel, Ireland €4.35 ($4.31)
Nights 8 and 9: Lower Road aire, Cobh, Ireland – €20.26 ($20.06)
Night 10: Kate Kearney’s Cottage, Gap of Dunloe, County Kerry, Ireland – €0
Nights 11 and 12: Dingle Marina Parking, Dingle, Ireland – €0 (free due to marathon going on – usually €5)
Night 13: Tom Malones Pub, Milltown Malbay, County Clare, Ireland – €15 ($14.85)
Nights 14, 15, and 16: Nagles Camping & Caravan Park, Doolin, County Clare, Ireland – €88 ($87.12)
Night 17: O’Hallorans Caravan Park, Galway, County Galway, Ireland – €35 ($34.65)
Night 18: Quay Street aire, Donegal, County Donegal, Ireland – €0 (someone gave us their window ticket)
Night 19: Feigh Farm, Bushmills, County Antrim, Northern Ireland – €28 ($27.72)
Night 20: Stena Line Ferry parking area, Cairnryan, Scotland – £0
Nights 21, 22, 23, and 24: Glen Nevis Campsites, Fort William, Scotland – £107.13 ($123.63 – Stay 3 nights get 4th free special)
Night 25: Dornoch Caravan & Camping Park, Dornoch, Scotland – £31 ($27.21)
Night 26: Inver Caravan Park, Dunbeath, Scotland – £29.23 ($33.62)
Night 27: Ferry View Campground, Gills, Scotland – £25 ($28.75)
Nights 28, 29, and 30: Sango Sands Oasis, Sangomore, Scotland – £78.04 ($89.75)
Night 31: Parking Lot near The Balvenie Distillery, Dufftown, Scotland – £0
Night 32: The Helix Car Park, Falkirk, Scotland – £7.50 ($8.62)
Nights 33, 34, 35, and 36: Mortonhall Caravan & Camping Park, Edinburgh, Scotland – £115.41 ($132.72)
Total spent on overnight sites: $777.20 Average per night: $21.58
Food
I will break the this into two subcategories, home-cooked (grocery store) and dining out.
We food shopped more frequently than we do at home in the states, mostly due to lack of refrigerator space. We loved experiencing different stores in each area. While it would be difficult to say which was a favorite, I will say each had its own feel. Overall, I’d say it was easy to find quality items wherever we went. I will also say, after reading labels, there were definitely less preservatives in food in both countries than here at home. For example, one of the differences we noticed right away was eggs are not kept in the cold section and each egg is marked so you know how old it was. NOTE: the amount below includes adult beverages we purchased for consumption at home.
Total spent on groceries: $844.54
We also ate out more often than we generally do at home in the states – not surprisingly – as we were in vacation mode! Eating out enhances the experience of being in a new place. We enjoyed all our meals, snacks, AND adult beverages.
Total spent on dining out: $1,149.58
Total spent on feeding ourselves: $1,994.12 Average per day $53.89
Entertainment
A lot of the things we did while on our trip were free – hikes, walking into town, etc, however as you will see below, we also did some pricey things. As I said about about the dining out – doing tours, etc is part of the experience, and the things we chose to do added to the overall experience. To make it easier, I’m just going to list things in the order we did them.
Belfast
Titanic Museum in Belfast – £41.42 ($51.08)
Dublin
Hop On/Hop Off Bus tour – €56.72 ($56.16)
Foodie Tour – €41.79 ($41.38) *note: food purchased during the tour has been added under “dining out”
Guinness Tour – €53.81 (53.28)
Epic Museum – €38.64 ($38.26)
Cashel
Chapel Tour – €22.28 ($22.06)
Cork City
Shandon Bells – €10 ($9.90)
Killarney/Gap of Dunloe
Pony and Trap/Boat Tour – €207.07 ($205.00)
Doolin/Inisheer
Ferry to Aran Island – €64.60 (63.96)
Pony and Trap tour – €20 ($20.20)
Galway
Hop On/Hop Off Bus Tour – €26.14 ($25.88)
Donegal Town
Boat Tour – €50.33 ($49.83)
Giants Causeway
Parking – €6 ($6.90)
Fort William
Jakobite Train R/T to Mallaig – £178 ($204.70)
Durness
Smoo Caves – £10 ($11.50)
Dufftown
The Balvenie Distillery Tour – £100 ($115)
Falkirk
Falkirk Wheel – £27.00 ($31.05)
Edinburgh
“Free” Walking Tour of Old Town – £20 (23.00)
Edinburgh Castle Tour – £36 ($41.40)
Total Entertainment
Total for entertainment $1,070.54
Fuel
Our temporary home was a 2019 6.4m (21′) Class C type motorhome; it was 2.35m (7.7′) wide (with the mirrors folded in), and 2.95m (9.7′) tall. It was on a Ford Transit chassis and had a Ford 6-speed,2.0L multijet turbo diesel engine. Its gross vehicle weight was 3500kg or 7,700 pounds, with a payload of 445kg, or 980 pounds.
Miles driven: 1,972.7 (Bill already converted kilometers to miles when needed – motorhome displayed kilometers when in Ireland and miles when in Northern Ireland and Scotland)
Gallons of diesel used: 77.91
Total spent on diesel: $606.60
Average miles per gallon: 25.32
Gallons of AdBlue (DEF) used: 1.5 -we bought 2 5L (or 2.64 gallons) bottles and left the half full bottle in the RV when we returned it
Total spent on AdBlue (DEF): $34.72
Average cost per mile: $0.32 – for comparison it with current fuel/gas costs in USA our cost per mile is close to $1.00
Bill converted everything to US terms to make it easier to understand. As talked about above, when we first put the deposit on our motorhome, the exchange rate was 1.36 GBP to USD, which thankfully didn’t last or our trip could have been significantly more expensive. At the time of our visit, the exchange rate was pretty even at $1 to €1.006 on 8/23/2022, which was our date of arrival in Scotland. $1 = £.845 was the dollar to British pound on the same day. By the time we left, the rates were $1 = £.933 and $1 = €1.04. All these numbers to say the dollar was fairly strong in both countries, which helped our dollars go further. As a comparison, when I visited Ireland in 2004 with my Dad, the exchange rate was $1 = €.79, so I lost $0.21 per dollar.
While unrelated to fuel costs, it makes sense to include bus and taxi fares here since its part of transportation.
To get us from the airport to JustGo, we used a taxi.
taxi – £30 ($34.50)
While in Dublin, we used the bus to get downtown on three different days. Twice we used the red bus and on the third day we used the city bus.
Red bus (2 round trips for the 2 of us) €24 ($27.60)
City bus (1 round trip for the 2 of us) €7.20 ($8.28)
Cobh is in County Cork and a bit too far to walk, so we hopped on the train.
train (1 roundtrip for 2 of us) – €12 (13.88)
While in Doolin, we used a taxi to return back to the campground after our cliff walk.
taxi €10 ($9.90 – this is only half since we split it with Steven & Linda)
Fort William was the next time we used a taxi. We took the Jakobite Train to Mallaig and back. In the morning before the train we walked to the station, but when we returned, we stopped in at the Morrisons and didn’t want to walk back with the bags.
taxi – £10 ($11.50 – again this is half since we split it with Steven & Linda)
Edinburgh was the next and final time we utilized public transportation, when we used the city bus two days in a row to get from our campground into city center. There was a very convenient stop right across the street from the entrance of Mortonhall.
Edinburgh city bus (2 roundtrip for the two of us) – £11 (12.65)
We used a taxi to take us back to the airport after dropping off the motorhome.
taxi £30 ($34.50)
Phone
On our arrival day, we used my Travel Pass to call family to let them know we had arrived, as well as used the data to find our way to shopping, etc. Once we purchased and activated the new SIM cards, we used What’sApp to contact family back home. It was very convenient and worked well.
Cost of one day of Travel Pass on Verizon $10
We initially purchased 2 SIM cards to use, and later purchased 2 more.
Kelly’s – £40.00 ($46) for unlimited calling, texting, and data for 30 days
Bill’s £10 ($11.50) for unlimited calling and texting, and 10gigs of data for 30 days
Kelly’s second £10 ($11.50) for calling and texting, and 10gigs of data for 30 days (but I only used 6 days)
Bill’s £10 (11.50) just renewed his original card, just only used it for 6 days
Total cost for connectivity: $90.50
As a comparison, we could have just used our Travel Pass for both phones for the entire trip, but at $10 each per day per phone, the total cost to do that would have been $720 (if we used it everyday)! Quick math tells the story – we saved $629.50! Thank you to Steven and Linda for insisting we do it their way!
Souvenirs and Gifts
Like most of us, Bill and I love to get ourselves mementos from our trips, as well as gifts for loved ones that don’t get to go with us. This trip was no exception.
Total $935.97
Miscellaneous
Try as we might to find a home category for each dollar spent, we always end up with miscellaneous.
As close as we can figure, we spent about $400 in cash that we can’t account for. I’m thinking its for things like a pint while exploring a new town, a 99¢ (a soft-serve ice cream with a KitKat type cookie stuck in it), maybe lunch out we didn’t get a receipt for, stuff like that.
It cost $9.25 to fill the propane tank in the motorhome before we returned it.
We purchased a couple of pieces of luggage and an electric adapter from Amazon – cost $175
We paid our son $360 to cat-sit for us. At $10 per day, it was a bargain from a financial standpoint, and she was cared for much better than had we took her somewhere to be boarded. I’d say it was well worth every penny knowing my kitty was getting all the love! We also paid a month of pet rent ($50) to Billy’s landlord.
In Closing
While I’m sure it can go without saying, we had an amazing trip on the far side of the Atlantic. Were there challenges? Sure (you’ve watched the dash cam footage on previous posts, right?) For those only now joining the party you will find links to each of the previous posts below:
Kilkenny, Cashel, Cobh/Cork, and Killarney #3
Dingle, Milltown Malbay, and Doolin #4
Galway, Donegal, and Giant Causeway #5
The Balvenie Distillery, Falkirk, and Edinburgh #8
Was this an expensive trip – you’ve seen the numbers now – so you know it was. Was it worth every penny, Euro, and British Pound? YES it was! While we had hoped to keep costs down a bit, we are not upset at the numbers – they are what they are.
Bill and I both loved experiencing the different culture. I mentioned above about the differences in food, we just felt like it was more natural. I’m strictly basing that on fewer ingredients listed on packaging. The quality of their meats was top-notch. It was easy to find fresh and delicious produce – I especially enjoyed the berries that must have been in season. The dairy products were also of high quality – I enjoyed yogurt with my berries several times a week. It probably goes without saying that Bill and Steven consumed at least their fair-share of Guinness, along with some Jameson, and Scotch. I Baileys here in the states, but of course it is fresher closer to where it’s made. I discovered Jameson & Ginger beer – YUMMY!
We developed a love for sausage rolls – sadly there isn’t an equivalent here at home. We did taste haggis – which is sheep “pluck” (heart, liver,and lungs) chopped and mixed with suet (fat), coarse oatmeal, and spices (typically nutmeg, cinnamon, and/or coriander,) salt, and pepper; then stuffed into sheep intestine or stomach. Sounds gross, right? But it isn’t – I didn’t love it and I’d probably never actually eat it – but the flavor wasn’t totally nasty.
OMG – and the scones! Linda introduced us to scones with clotted cream (a very thick cream which is made by heating full-cream cow’s milk using steam or water bath and leaving it in the shallow pan and allowing it to cool slowly. The cream then rises to the top and forms “clots” – which sounds potentially bad – but it is so delicious! I was so skeptical but was totally converted! So, you cut your scone in half, then pile on the clotted cream and fresh jam; which is then served with cream tea. So fancy!
Last bit about the food – we probably ate close to our weight in fish & chips (which aren’t actually chips, but could be compared to our steak fries.) The fish was always fresh caught and dunked in beer batter before being deep fried to perfection. Guinness stew, meat pies, and Irish Stew were also indulged in.
Another difference we noticed was the amount of people walking. It seemed people walked everywhere. There was also fairly nice bus systems in larger towns, not just in bigger cities like Dublin or Edinburgh. In smaller towns there were people walking, and I don’t think they were just tourists like us, as they were walking with purpose, not just strolling along. We walked a lot during our trip, Bill monitored his steps and we averaged over 10,000 a day.
Bill and I spent 3 days in Dublin on our own, then 1 day in Cork, and 3 days in Edinburgh with Steven and Linda; other than that our time was spent in smaller towns – which we loved. Don’t get me wrong – we loved all of it, but the smaller towns are so amazing. I know there are small towns here in the USA, but its just different. The people were all so friendly and welcoming. I don’t mean to imply that people in the USA aren’t friendly or welcoming, but the FEEL is different – in a good way. I found myself, more than once, wondering what is it like to live in those little towns? Towns that felt like life moves at a much slower pace, and that’s coming from an RVer who has already slowed the pace of their life.
So, after this raving review of our trip, one might ask “Where to next?” Answer is – we have no idea where or when. For sure it won’t be this year, probably not next year either. Main reason – above detailed costs. To be fair – the trip didn’t just cost what we paid for, but also there was no earning going on during those 5 weeks either. Most years we would have booked 2 or 3 installs during that time.
Places we’ve talked about for next time include Germany, Norway, Switzerland, Greece, France, Italy, etc. Would we rent a motorhome again, or travel differently? Rent a car and stay in AirB&B’s or hotels? Take advantage of Europe’s awesome rail system? There are so many options!
I sure do hope you’ve enjoyed my series on our trip across the pond. I know I loved reliving it while putting it together for you guys.
Next Up: Catching Up – Final Quarter of 2022!
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WHAT an amazing trip…thanks for taking your friends along with such a detailed blog!
Thanks Ellen! So happy you enjoyed it!
Wow, what an awesome detailed review.Thank you. It’s interesting to see the costs. They compare somewhat to what we are seeing for our 6 month trip. We are doing car rental and Air BNB’s/Hotels. With transatlantic cruises there and back. Its a once in a lifetime trip for us(although I still would like to go to New Zealand/Australia, ha!!ha!! ) and we sometimes wonder what have we let ourselves in for cost wise!! I am from England so its also returning home and visiting family & friends. I can’t wait for Fish&Chips and Cream Teas. Isn’t it interesting the difference the exchange rate makes. We are going to a lot of the same areas so your information is very useful. I have a question regarding the SIM cards. Which company did you use and did they work in Ireland as well as the UK? We have the same plan to use the Verizon Travel Pass for the first day. Thanks once again, I know these details take time to gather and post for the rest of us to see, and we appreciate it very much.
I’m so happy you found the post helpful! You are so right – the exchange rate matters! I will be very curious to see what your experience is – cost wise – in comparison to our costs, since as we may consider what you are doing when we plan our next trip.
As far as the SIM cards – we bought them at Vodafone and they worked in both Ireland and Scotland, but I would ask before buying since there are different ones.
Definitely keep in touch!
We had a lot of trouble renting a car for 6 months. Normal rentals would not do that length of time. We seriously considered buying a cheap car but didn’t want the extra problems we could encounter with that and then selling it at the end. It probably would have been a lot cheaper though. We decided on Turo. Kind of an airbnb for cars!! It is a hybrid car, Toyota Yaris. We are a little concerned that it may be too small but there’s only two of us so we’ll make it work and at least it should be easier on the narrow roads. Its costing 6,130.45 pounds for 5 months. Exchange rate was 1.22 so $7,508.99. Eeekkk!!! We rented a motorhome over there before and wanted something that we could drive and park anywhere. We are getting older and can’t walk as far as we used to!! We are using AirBNB for most of our accommodation. You get discounts for weekly and monthly rental over daily. I figured out that the monthly rate kicks in when you get to 28 days(4 weeks). One of them we booked for 4 weeks but will only stay for 3 as we have a lot we’d like to see and it was cheaper getting a monthly rate than paying for 3 weeks. Once I get it all set, I’ll send you a more detailed plan.
Thanks for all the info so far! I’ll look forward to hearing about it in real time!
I’m sad this is your last post in this series, what fun it has been to relive our travels together! The cost does add up, to be sure, but we did a lot of really fun experiences. The trip through the Gap of Dunloe was my favorite! Worth every penny! I actually did not know you bought all those souvenirs, that’s quite a haul! 🙂 Well done on all the posts, Kelly!
I went a bit overboard with gifts but that isn’t unusual for me. Each purchase wasn’t large (mostly) but when you add it all up – whoa!
Gap of Dunloe was definitely one of the highlights for us also! So happy we did it!
Wow! That was a lot of work Kelly!! A really amazing recap of your fabulous trip. If we’re ever lucky enough to do something similar I’ll be so glad to have this info.
Thanks Jodee! It’s mostly Bill’s recordkeeping. Hope you and Bill get to go someday – it’s beautiful over there!