Walking in Ireland

We went to Ireland last year and had a wonderful time. But looking back our very best times were spent walking in the beautiful countryside. The trouble was, we didnt have a plan for our walking and didnt know where the trails were located. We have decided to go again this year and thanks to this FABULOUS book, we will have a PLAN! This book is very well put together. Maps of trails, length and difficulty of trails. Closest towns. Everything you need to know. And its also and excellent source for all the other things a traveler needs to know such as where to stay, eat and play. It is the only book you will need to plan a memorable trip to Ireland!

For independent walkers planning a trip to Ireland, this portable encyclopaedia is good value. It covers a huge range, from a scenic two-hour stroll to the 122-mile Kerry Way (nine days), from easy walks to some tough mountain circuits. As you would expect from Lonely Planet, the authors are strong on environmental issues and thorough on practical information. In 424 well-filled pages they cover the whole island of Ireland, both the Republic and Ulster (part of the UK). The secret of easy access is to use their handy 4-page table of walks organised by region. There is a good index and glossary, and even the boxed text and maps are indexed. Each walk is supported by a small-scale contour map (intended for planning purpose only). As a one-stop resource for walking in Ireland, this book is unrivalled.

The Lonely Planet guides are always an honest,open an informative and this is no different. The book gives you detailed information on walks giving you directions such as "100m to the left of the pier" and so on. I find with details like that it's pretty hard to get lost! There is also general information on travelling in Ireland, places to stay, where to eat, what's worth seeing and places to avoid if you want to be in a less visited area. The only thing I would like to see is a little more information on day walks. Many people want day walks around Killarny and Dingle and from the information in the book I'm not sure how to divide up some of the week long walks in to day hikes for people who don't have a week for walking