Prestigious travel guide recommends Ireland as a ‘must visit’ for 2013

By the way all the festivals are free events, you will have no extra expense. Most of Dublin museums and galleries are free.

@oonafitz, go you will have a great time, Ireland is not as expensive today as it was 5 years ago, so many great deals. I went 3 weeks ago, i only live in London a 50 minute flight. I love it in Dublin a great city then i travel onto the south and west of the country. Ireland is one of the best value for money destinations in Europe today. 5 years back it was in the top 5 most expensive. Hey not everyone is Irish in Ireland, but you will still meet many in the cities and towns. It is still one of my favourite countries to visit.

The thought of hords of Americans filling the country is enough to make me stay home. I'm not sure that the events are enough to make people go. One of the complaints I hear most often on here is that it's too expensive. If people have wanted to go, which most people of the Diaspora do, and can't afford it, nothing will have changed with the addition of multiple "festivals". By the way, I don't agree with the expense. I just flew over on Aer Lingus and didn't pay much more than I paid on my first trip in 1980. And I would gladly pay a bit more to fly Aer Lingus. Great flight, great service, no extra fees for anything you might want. From what I hear, I would have to find a new airline if/when Ryanair takes over. I know if you have a family it would add up, but so does travelling anywhere. People today want to pay rock bottom prices and then complain when they get rock bottom service. Another complaint I hear here is that people don't meet any Irish. For the first time, I stayed in mid to high level hotels instead of B&Bs, and except for management, everyone we dealt with was foreign. I hear that it's that way also in many B&Bs. That's not what people will be expecting. One thing that bothered me during this trip, my first in many years, is the growing commercialization of places that shouldn't be commercialized. Places like the Cliffs of Moher and Giant's Causeway. Very disappointing. I had been thinking of going back in the spring, but will hold off in planning until I see how many people are actually going to take part in this.