Ireland vs Northern Ireland - What's the Difference?

hey there fellow Travelers Mark here with Walters world and today we're here in the Republic of Ireland and I know when people come to visit Ireland they kind of Wonder hey is there a difference between Ireland and Northern Ireland and should I visit them both or separate them and and what I want to do in this video is talk about some of the differences and similarities between Ireland and Northern Ireland one thing you need to realize is as a tourist your biggest like annoyance and difference between the two countries is going to be the currency so if you're in the Republic of Ireland you're going to be using the Euro whereas if you're in Northern Ireland it's part of the United Kingdom so you're going to be using the British pound so you will have to transfer currency you will have exchange money but luckily both places you can pick up a credit card pretty much everywhere and ATMs are all over the place okay and and I did mention that Ireland is in the European Union however Northern Ireland is not in the European Union but one thing that's cool is there's no border formality so you don't get a stamp when you come in when you across the border from Ireland to Northern Ireland and vice versa however as a tourist if you need a visa for one of those countries you can't just cross over without the Visa you do need to have that okay now another thing I think it's important to know is the names of the country you'll see that there's a lot of different names that people will call Ireland or they're called Northern Ireland I mean Ireland you think of the Republic of Ireland people say Ireland you'll hear people say this South you'll hear them say the Republic right but then in Northern Ireland you'll hear Northern Ireland you'll hear Ulster you'll hear the the six counties you hear the north of Ireland and one thing I will say is if you're in Northern Ireland how you call the countries can be a bit uncomfortable so it might be good just to stick with Northern Ireland and Ireland for the two countries dams just to make life easier for you now obviously two different countries you have two different flags you've got Ireland's flag and you have Northern Ireland's flag okay now another thing I think is important is when you're going to be visiting Ireland or Northern Ireland but renting a car is fantastic and what's cool is if you rent a car you can actually drive it over to the other country Northern Ireland or Northern Ireland no problem but one of the things you need to realize well one you might want to tell your car rental place you're going to do that but one thing is going to notice the difference is how they measure distance in Northern Ireland they use miles and miles per hour whereas if you're in the Republic of Ireland you will see that it's listed in kilometers in kilometers per hour so that's why sometimes you might get confused when you're going across the border wait how did that place get so much farther away or how to get so much closer now that's just switching between miles to kilometers okay so that can be something and if you're renting a car in the Republic it might only have kilometers per hour so regardless whichever place you go don't forget to get the GPS because it'll tell you what the speed limit is in kilometers to help you adjust so if you're going to the north another thing we need to mention in terms of differences is really the size of the two countries I mean Northern Ireland is a fraction of the size of iron Island okay so Northern Iowa's got 1.8 million people whereas you know Ireland the republic Ireland has you know 4.8 million people so there's a lot more people in the republic versus Northern Ireland but also the size I mean you have six counties in Northern Ireland and you've got over 20 in the South and the thing is when you're going around you'll see that they both have tons of stuff to see like don't worry castles Galore in both of them yes yes Coastal Beauty yes ring of carry in Ireland uh Causeway coastal route and Northern Ireland Giants Causeway and Northern Ireland gorgeous Cliffs of more gorgeous I mean you have great stuff both places okay but since the Republic is larger there are more castles there are more sites there is more coastline just by geographical size because it's like four or five times larger than Northern Ireland that's why most people spend most of their time in the Republic but what's cool is it's really easy to go visit all of them because in general the island is not super big so if you have a week or two you can really explore both countries very easily now I think a difference here we really need to know is when you come to Ireland versus Northern Ireland the Irish accent you've heard it before whether you've heard it in movies on commercials at your favorite Irish Pub you've heard an Irish accent and you kind of understand an Irish accent a northern Irish accent you've never heard okay because no one can get it down and that's why it's always a someone from Ireland talking not a some person from Northern Ireland and the accent in the north takes you a little bit longer to kind of catch on to I know we were walking around Belfast we're like wait is that another language no that was English I was Northern Irish accent okay I've got it I've got it so be ready for that and it might take you a little more time to get the accent in the North in terms of their capitals both Dublin and Belfast are well worth visiting they both have cool sites to see whether you're going to go to you know the jail oh my go to the jail in Belfast is so cool and if you're going to go to you know going to see The Book of Kells at Trinity Castle if you're in Dublin and of course they both have the the tourist trap that's totally worth to go to bars right you got Temple Bar in Dublin you've got the crown bar and Belfast but I think the difference between the two really is the price Dublin is gonna be a lot more expensive as a tourist than Belfast so that's something to kind of think about but where Dublin and Ireland make it up is if you're looking at flying to those countries it is a lot cheaper to fly to Dublin Shannon cork than it is to fly to Belfast or anywhere in Northern Ireland I mean that's why I recommend flying to Dublin rent your car and then go up to the north because you can save hundreds of dollars per ticket just going to Dublin versus Belfast now when you are driving around and exploring the countries in which you should do realize both countries they drive on the left okay the signage in Northern Ireland is always in English the signage and the Republic is in Irish and English so you have both languages there so it's kind of cool to kind of see and it doesn't matter if you're in the North or the Republic when you're driving you hear that beep would a lorry a semis past you on the other side it will freak you out no matter what country you're in and with that driving I think also one thing you need to know is there's more motor ways to drive on if you like highway driving in Ireland than Northern Ireland but they both have tons of back rows you'll enjoy I did find the roads in Northern Ireland on the back roads to be a little bit nicer than the Republic a little bit more space I mean not we're not talking a lot of space but just a little bit more space for when you're driving and when you do go around one thing you need to realize it doesn't matter if you're in Ireland or Northern Ireland the people are fantastic they are so friendly they want to make sure you have a good time a crack when you are here in Ireland or Northern Ireland that you'll get a chance to meet locals and they're going to help you know the best places to go the best things to eat they want to know what you've seen in the country so so be ready for that I think one thing I think is interesting that the biggest question I get when I come to Ireland is hey where are you from right they want to go to Northern Iowa the biggest question I get is oh which do you like better Northern Ireland or Ireland all right so be prepared for those two questions when you come because it gives you a way to talk to the locals and believe me the locals will talk to you and talk to you and talk to you and you will make some friends when you are here and in both places if a local buys you a drink don't forget to buy the next round because that's kind of how it works when you are here in terms of other things like I said the countryside the castles the the coastlines are fantastic in both places so drive around is wonderful and honestly Ireland and Northern Ireland both are 100 worth going to so if you're going to be coming to the aisles here go to both because you can really enjoy both all right so I hope this helped you know a little bit of the differences between Ireland and Northern Ireland oh no matter which one you go to the plugs are like in the UK where it's like the flat things here and a third one up top just so you know uh just so you can make sure you can recharge your batteries and film videos and take pictures of all the beauty in both Ireland and Northern Ireland so I hope you have a great time when you are here is a fantastic country to go to and a fantastic country to go to because there's two countries haha get that one um I do wish you all the best I'll say bye from here in the Republic of Ireland but don't worry we enjoy both bye

Channel: Wolters World

Views: 76,613

Keywords: travel, europe, wolters world, travel advice, tourist attractions, travel vlogger, honest travel, Walters World

Id: ZKTpAbXiJ0I

Length: 8min 16sec (496 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 11 2023