Where you can actually sleep in Ireland without getting woken up by a guard. The four big routes worth doing. What van life really costs in euro. Conversion advice tuned for Irish weather. Gear we'd buy ourselves and rentals worth comparing.
Crowdsourced spots from the Irish van life community · Costs cited from CSO, Bord Gáis, AA Ireland · Advert-free, no clickbait, no fluff
A resource hub for people moving from "thinking about it" to "in the van". We don't run a marketplace, sell gear, or take a cut of rentals beyond clearly-disclosed affiliate commission — we're the editorial layer between Facebook groups and the official tourism site.
Wild camping in Ireland is a grey area, not a free-for-all. The wild camping page covers what's actually legal, where you can park overnight without drama, the spots people post on Instagram you should not copy, and how to read a Garda's polite suggestion that you move on.
The four big Irish van routes (Wild Atlantic Way, Ring of Kerry, Causeway Coast, Beara/Dingle) each have their own personality and their own honest gotchas. The routes guide breaks them down stage by stage, including where the campervan-friendly sites cluster.
Van life isn't free; it's not even always cheap. The costs page lays out a real Irish year — insurance, fuel, sites, food, maintenance, and what people forget to budget for. Short version: budget for €1,200–2,000/month if you're doing it full-time.
Honest stage-by-stage rundowns — including the bits that don't make the Instagram reel. Click through for full breakdowns with where the campervan-friendly sites actually are.
From Kinsale to Malin Head. The set-piece — cliffs, surf, traditional villages and the longest coastal driving route in the world. Don't try to do it in a week unless you fancy missing all of it.
Stage-by-stageKillarney loop with the most-photographed scenery in Ireland. Anti-clockwise is the polite direction (you're not stuck behind tour buses). Several van-friendly sites.
Stage-by-stageBelfast to Derry along the Antrim coast — the Giant's Causeway, the Dark Hedges, the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. Cheaper than the south, fewer crowds outside July/August.
Stage-by-stageThe two best-loved peninsulas, side by side. Slea Head Drive on Dingle is one of the great half-days in Ireland. Beara is what Kerry was 30 years ago. Both reward slow travel.
Stage-by-stageA rough monthly figure for a typical full-time van lifer doing 1,200 km/month, mixed wild camping and paid sites. Numbers from CSO fuel data, AA Ireland insurance averages, and surveys of the Irish van life Facebook community. Full breakdown on the costs page.
| Cost line | Lean month (mostly wild) | Mixed month (typical) | Comfortable month (mostly sites) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fuel (1,200 km @ ~9 l/100 km) | ~€180 | ~€180 | ~€180 |
| Campsites & aires | €40 | €220 | €520 |
| Insurance (motor + contents, averaged) | €95 | €95 | €95 |
| Gas, water, laundry, showers | €60 | €90 | €110 |
| Food (cooking-led) | €280 | €340 | €420 |
| Maintenance & tyres (averaged) | €100 | €100 | €100 |
| Mobile data + e-SIM | €35 | €35 | €35 |
| Indicative monthly total | ~€790 | ~€1,060 | ~€1,460 |
Practical Irish-specific writing for new and experienced van lifers. Read in any order; each one stands alone.
The questions to answer before you spend a euro on a van: hire vs buy vs convert, where you'd actually park it, what the law lets you do, and the realistic time-and-money cost of getting started.
Read the guideThe four big routes plus three under-the-radar alternatives (Hook Head Loop, Inishowen, the Boyne Valley) for when you want to dodge the crowd. With practical stops and where to actually sleep.
Read the articleThe season most blogs gloss over. Diesel heaters vs propane, dealing with damp, the campsites that actually open through winter, and why January in a van here can be magical if you're set up for it.
Read the articleWhat it costs across a full year — not a curated month. Includes the things people forget: NCT, road tax, ferry to Scotland, the inevitable mid-trip mechanic bill, and how much wild camping actually saves you.
Read the articleThe non-negotiable systems for a van that's actually liveable in Ireland: insulation, ventilation, electrical, water, heating, bed. Plus the Irish-sourcing list (where to buy what, locally where possible).
Read the checklistTell you the truth about van life in Ireland — including the parts where it rains for a week, the toilet smells, and you can't find a charger. Disclose every affiliate link clearly. Reply to community spot submissions and credit contributors. Update the cost figures as fuel, insurance and site fees move.
Sell sponsored "best of" lists styled as editorial. Recommend gear we haven't researched seriously. Publish a wild camping spot that doesn't exist or is on private land we don't have permission for. Take payment to suppress an honest review.
Vanlife.ie is published independently. We have no relationship with Tourism Ireland, Bunk Campers, Indie Campers, Roadsurfer or any other named company beyond the affiliate commissions disclosed on the disclosure page. Every recommendation is on merit.
If you've stayed somewhere in Ireland that other van lifers should know about — legal wild camping, friendly farmer's field, harbour spot, hidden caravan park — tell us about it. We'll vet it before it goes anywhere public.
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