A Thomastown couple spent one October week in Kerry and one on the Algarve and kept every receipt — the gap surprised even them

They didn’t set out to prove a point. They just wanted one quiet Irish week and one sunny Portuguese week before winter. So Maeve and Cian, both from Thomastown, packed light, carried a zip-lock folder, and vowed to keep every receipt. By the time they got home, the numbers told a stubborn story.

“We thought it’d be close,” Maeve said. “Two off‑season weeks, one at home, one abroad. It wasn’t.”

The ground rules

They agreed on a few simple constraints. Mid-October, seven nights each. No luxury splurges, no extreme scrimping. Comparable meals, a couple of drinks most nights, some low-key day trips, and whatever transport made the most sense.

“We paid full price on everything,” Cian said. “If we got a deal, it went in the pile. If we got rinsed, that went in too.”

Beds, flights, and the first shock

Kerry came first. They booked a B&B in Dingle at €148 per night, breakfast included. Total: €1,036. Add two return trains from Kilkenny to Killarney, a short bus on, and a weekend car hire for two days to hit the coast: €214.

The Algarve meant a budget apartment in Lagos. Off-season, bright, and five minutes from the marina: €76 per night. Total: €532. Flights from Dublin to Faro? Booked six weeks out: €292 for two, return, with one shared cabin bag and one checked bag.

Maeve tallied the headings later. “We knew accommodation might bite in Kerry,” she said. “We didn’t expect it to bite that hard.”

Eating, sipping, and small rituals

Food, it turned out, wrote half the story. In Kerry, dinners for two landed mostly in the €48–€72 zone, leaning toward seafood and cozy pubs. A pint averaged €6.40; a glass of house wine, €8. Coffee for two, usually €7.60 for flat whites.

In the Algarve, two-course dinners with wine floated in the €34–€52 bracket, and a round of drinks rarely cleared €7.60. Supermarket fruit cost less than half the Kerry price per kilo; a decent local vinho ran €4–€6 a bottle. Cappuccinos were €1.50. “I felt like I’d time-traveled to 2012,” Cian said. “Even the pastries were cheeky money.”

They didn’t starve in Kerry. They just blinked more often when the bill landed.

Getting around and doing things

Kerry’s distances demanded some planning. Buses were patchy; the car helped reach Slea Head, where the only real bargain was the wind. Parking, €2–€5 a pop. A boat trip they eyed at €35 each got scrubbed by weather. Entry to a small heritage site, €10 per person.

In Lagos, they walked. When they didn’t, Ubers were €3–€7 for short hops, and a regional train to Portimão cost €3.20 each. The water stayed warm enough for a kayak tour, €25 per person, equipment included. “Transport felt optional there,” Maeve said. “In Kerry, it felt like homework.”

The receipt stack, distilled

Here’s how one meticulous week stacked up for two people.

• Kerry (7 nights): Accommodation €1,036; transport €214; food and drink €612; activities and fees €86; misc. €58. Total: €2,006.

• Algarve (7 nights): Accommodation €532; flights €292; local transport €64; food and drink €448; activities and fees €72; misc. €41. Total: €1,449.

“That’s a €557 gap,” Maeve said. “Same month, similar weather, wildly different damage.”

Why the gap widened

A few forces did the lifting. Off-season in Portugal is still busy, but supply is deep: more apartments, more restaurants, more competition. Ireland’s west has finite beds, rising energy costs, and shoulder-season wage realities. VAT and excise bend the curve too. And while flights add to Portugal, they’re amortised over cheaper days on the ground.

Exchange rates nudged things in their favour: euros in, euros out. No currency sting, just price levels. “We weren’t ticking Michelin boxes,” Cian said. “We were buying coffee, bread, the usual bits. That’s where you really feel it.”

Value beyond arithmetic

Some costs are invisible until you miss them. In Kerry, the chats at breakfast were priceless. A barman drew them a map on a napkin and saved them an hour of wrong turns. The Atlantic did its theatre thing, all pewter sky and thundering edges.

In the Algarve, the afternoons stretched silky and unhurried. Laundry dried on the balcony in an hour. The sea offered a daily swim, the light stayed gold well past tea.

“It isn’t just money,” Maeve said. “But money talked.”

What they’d change next time

They agreed on tweaks.

• Book Irish accommodation earlier, and look beyond the most photographed towns.

• Self-cater more in Kerry to dodge the dinner premium.

• Use public transport creatively; pair buses with a one-day car rental.

• In Portugal, try inland villages for even lower rates and quieter nights.

Cian laughed. “And I’ll never again buy a bottle of water in a Kerry garage without bracing.”

The last receipt

On the final morning in Lagos, they spent €4.80 on two pastéis and two coffees. In Dingle, their first morning had been €14.80 for a similar treat. Neither ruined them. Both felt fine in the moment.

But lined up on the kitchen table, every slip of paper told the same tale: for one ordinary couple, two gentle weeks in October traveled the same distance—and landed in two very different places.