I will be in Ireland in September for 16 days. Our plan is to stay in Dublin for the first 3 days or so then rent a car and head out on our own. We plan to only book our hotel in advance for the first few days then just find a room in whatever city/town we end up in that night. Is this reasonable? I know that September is the tail end of tourist season but I'm still a little worried about finding a place to stay last minute. Also, is car rental the best way to go or should we look more into public transportation?
I'm sure you will have no problem finding accommodation in this way but you will be slightly limited if you don't hire a car. For a start you need a fair bit of luggage for 16 days so you will end up dragging a huge suitcase around on buses or trains quite possibly in the rain.
For instance if you decide to only stop one night in a particular hotel & check out in the morning to move on somewhere else you have to carry your bags with you all day & not leave them unattended otherwise they might be stolen.
The first 3 days in Dublin will be fine as you can leave your bags in the hotel room but after that would look into hiring a car after you leave Dublin. Outside of Dublin our public transport service is quite expensive it can ages to get from one city to the next.
I was in Ireland last mid-September and had no problems finding hotels, and the hotels had rooms available up to almost the last minute. Do realize the more "last minute" you want to stay at a hotel the higher the cost. That was very noticeable on weekends and around high-profile football matches (fans filling the hotels).
Better would be to make reservations (NOT paid in advance) via hotel websites (NOT via travel websites like Expedia) for places where you expect to go. That will allow you to cancel or modify the reservations as needed while keeping costs lower and still assuring you have a place to stay.
If you want to maintain flexibility regarding where you go then ask the hotel you are at for help finding a hotel at your next destination. The Internet of course will also work, but you may have better success going through your "current" hotel.
I only traveled around via train and taxi, so can't help with advice on renting a car. if you travel by train then buy the tickets online at least two (3) full days in advance or the price goes up dramatically.
You'll be fine in September without advance reservations, don't worry. And rather than hotels, why not look at family-run B&Bs instead? Often much nicer, and you do get a lot of insider information from locals ...
Car rental is indeed best for if you want to go off the beaten track, but do factor in the high cost of fuel when you're here. It's currently about €1.54 per litre.
I'm sure you will have no problem finding accommodation in this way but you will be slightly limited if you don't hire a car. For a start you need a fair bit of luggage for 16 days so you will end up dragging a huge suitcase around on buses or trains quite possibly in the rain.
For instance if you decide to only stop one night in a particular hotel & check out in the morning to move on somewhere else you have to carry your bags with you all day & not leave them unattended otherwise they might be stolen.
The first 3 days in Dublin will be fine as you can leave your bags in the hotel room but after that would look into hiring a car after you leave Dublin. Outside of Dublin our public transport service is quite expensive it can ages to get from one city to the next.
I was in Ireland last mid-September and had no problems finding hotels, and the hotels had rooms available up to almost the last minute. Do realize the more "last minute" you want to stay at a hotel the higher the cost. That was very noticeable on weekends and around high-profile football matches (fans filling the hotels).
Better would be to make reservations (NOT paid in advance) via hotel websites (NOT via travel websites like Expedia) for places where you expect to go. That will allow you to cancel or modify the reservations as needed while keeping costs lower and still assuring you have a place to stay.
If you want to maintain flexibility regarding where you go then ask the hotel you are at for help finding a hotel at your next destination. The Internet of course will also work, but you may have better success going through your "current" hotel.
I only traveled around via train and taxi, so can't help with advice on renting a car. if you travel by train then buy the tickets online at least two (3) full days in advance or the price goes up dramatically.
You'll be fine in September without advance reservations, don't worry. And rather than hotels, why not look at family-run B&Bs instead? Often much nicer, and you do get a lot of insider information from locals ...
Car rental is indeed best for if you want to go off the beaten track, but do factor in the high cost of fuel when you're here. It's currently about €1.54 per litre.