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My Irish Road-trip with Bunk Campers

Since visiting my trip to every country in the world, I was determined to finally explore my home island, Ireland! I was born in Galway, and grew up in County Down so I was keen to explore the whole island and the best way to do that? Road trip!

So, I was sitting in my adopted home of Bangkok, Thailand and began to create a hit list of things I wanted to hit. And the list got bigger, and bigger, and bigger. Dublin? Sure. Belfast. Of course. Galway. Absolutely. Eeeek, this was getting out of control, in the end I came up with this list of things to hit during my 2 week trip.

• Dublin
• Rock of Cashel
• Cork
• Blarney Stone
• Mizen Head
• Skellig Michael
• Cliffs of Moher
• Galway
• Aran Islands
• Donegal
• Slieve League
• Derry
• Giant’s Causeway
• Dark Hedges
• Belfast
• Silent Valley

As I marked them on my Google Map, I was convinced that the only way to do this justice was to get out there and explore properly, so I need a camper van. I did a bit of research and soon discovered Bunk Campers.

WHY Bunk Campers?

There are a million and 1 camper van rental companies dotted throughout Ireland and beyond, but this was an important trip for me so I wanted to choose the right one. Bunk Campers came recommend by the Northern Ireland tourism board, the Republic of Ireland tourism board and the Scottish tourism board, which instantly instilled me with confidence. After chatting to them via email then, I was sold. Here are some of the reasons why I choose Bunk Campers:

• Unlimited mileage
• Awesome hireable extras (GPS, WiFi, gas, bedding, outdoor seating etc)
• Airport transfers (amazing! So land in Ireland, get taken to the camper depot, doesn’t get better than that!)
• Brand new vehicles every 2 years
• Unreal support network

All this on top of the fact that Bunk Campers are Ireland’s largest campervan rental company with have pick up points close to both Dublin and Belfast airports. Winner!

CAMPER VANS

Next up was choosing our camper, and they have A LOT! When I first planned my trip, it was supposed to be just Josh and me so we opdted for the ‘Aero’, great value and still pretty luxury to be honest. We chose online which was great but when I arrived at the depot in Dublin (just 10 minutes from the airport, amazing) I got a chance to see some of their bigger vans, and wow I wish I had chosen one of those badboys – some of them have 2 double beds AND bunk beds in them, complete with wardrobes etc!

Still our Aero was a winner too, especially at the price. It also had a functioning toilet, and gas stove, and running hot water AND a shower! Pretty impressive stuff. As our trip went on, we would pick up a couple of friends for day trips here and there and although they couldn’t sleep in the van (2 people really is max), it was fine for picnics and lunch etc.

Price

This was only my 2nd camper van experience after New Zealand so I’m no expert with pricing, when you check the price of our van online (really easy to check on BunkCampers.com) I was shocked at how affordable these things are, and why more people don’t travel like this!

I had 2 nights in Dublin to start, so we didn’t need the van, from then we had 9 nights on the road – total cost, about £700.

So this bad boy sleeps 2, which means 350GBP each for 9 days, or 39GBP per day – remember that’s transport, mobile kitchen for lunches and dinners AND accommodation for $50 a day! Wowzer. This is the way to go. If you’re a group of 4 or 6 though, and you get the big, luxury vans it would be EVEN cheaper per person – now that’s a winning idea!

Road Trip in Ireland

It exceeded every expectation I had, and made me proud to be Irish. Check out my blog posts on the various places I went here:

DAY 1 AND 2: Dublin

DAY 3: Dublin to Rock of Cashel to Cork

DAY 4: Cork, to Blarney Stone to Port Magee

DAY 5: Skellig Michael + Cliffs of Moher

DAY 6:  Aran Islands

DAY 7: Donegal

DAY 8: Slieve League Cliffs + Derry

DAY 9: Giant’s Causeway and the Dark Hedges

DAY 10: Belfast

DAY 11: Silent Valley Reservoir

DAY 12: Drop the campervan back at the depot in Dublin. What a trip! And all the better with a campervan to get lost. So go to Ireland, rent a camper, and spend AT LEAST 2 weeks (12 days was too rushed), and enjoy. The people, the views, the culture, now if someone could just change the weather, we’d be perfect.

I had the most amazing 2 weeks, Ireland is a perfect road trip destination so if you’re keen to follow in my footsteps, then  jump on over to Bunk Campers and live the dream!