My husband and I just got back from an 11-day trip to Ireland. We bought this book and the Frommer's Day by Day guide, but the only guide I used the entire time was Rick Steve's. Whether you're planning a trip for 3 days or 3 weeks, Rick Steve's has all of the information to guide you through a fun, interesting and relaxing trip.

Following the outline he provided at the beginning of the book, we flew into Dublin and made our way in a clockwise circle around the entire island. All of the places we stayed that Rick Steve's recommended were fantastic except for the place we stayed in Belfast (The Windermere Guesthouse). One of the best parts about his book was the detailed information on each locale. He not only recommended restaurants and sites, but provided walking tours, advice on times to go, places where you would get more immersed in local culture and recommended lengths of your visit and places to stop on your drive between overnight stays. He even gives you plenty of cultural information such as rules of the road, how much to leave for a tip, where you're most likely to find live, authentic Irish music, and more.

The tone of the book is light-hearted but informative. It felt a lot like getting advice from a well-traveled friend. If you're interested in reading up on the history of Ireland, Rick Steve provides a nice chapter at the end of the book that gives you a good overview of the island's turbulent history. Even if you're not much into history reading, you can get a good feel for what was going on through the centuries from each of the descriptions of his recommended sites.

All in all, I would highly recommend this book for anyone going to Ireland (north or south) for any length of time. We relied entirely upon this book and the recommendations he gave to give us for the most comprehensive visit to Ireland possible in the time we had. And we had an amazing time.