Health & Insurance

The cost of travel insurance varies widely, depending on the cost and length of your trip, your age and health, and the type of trip you're taking, but expect to pay between 5% and 8% of the vacation itself. You can get estimates from various providers through InsureMyTrip.com. Enter your trip cost and dates, your age, and other information, for prices from more than a dozen companies.

Trip-Cancellation Insurance -- Trip-cancellation insurance will help retrieve your money if you have to back out of a trip or depart early, or if your travel supplier goes bankrupt. Permissible reasons for trip cancellation can range from sickness to natural disasters to the State Department declaring a destination unsafe for travel.

For more information, contact one of the following recommended insurers: Access America (tel. 866/807-3982; www.accessamerica.com); Travel Guard International (tel. 800/826-4919; www.travelguard.com); Travel Insured International (tel. 800/243-3174; www.travelinsured.com); and Travelex Insurance Services (tel. 888/457-4602; www.travelex-insurance.com).

Medical Insurance -- For travel overseas, most U.S. health plans (including Medicare and Medicaid) do not provide coverage, and the ones that do often require you to pay for services upfront and reimburse you only after you return home. As a safety net, you may want to buy travel medical insurance, particularly if you're traveling to a remote or high-risk area where emergency evacuation might be necessary. If you require additional medical insurance, try MEDEX Assistance (tel. 410/453-6300; www.medexassist.com) or Travel Assistance International (tel. 800/821-2828; www.travelassistance.com; for general information on services, call the company's Worldwide Assistance Services, Inc., at tel. 800/777-8710).

Ireland is very strict about public funding for healthcare for foreigners. Strict as in, they really are determined not to do it. If you fall ill while traveling, you will not be denied treatment, or made to pay in the emergency room. However, you will be billed later (after you get home). Odds are you'll have to pay, and then get reimbursed by your travel insurance or health insurance plan. You don't have to pay anything upfront.

If you go to a general practitioner for non-emergency treatment, you'll have to pay after your visit, as you would at any American doctors' office.

Lost-Luggage Insurance -- On international flights (including U.S. portions of international trips), baggage coverage is limited to approximately $9.07 per pound, up to approximately $635 per checked bag. If you plan to check items more valuable than what's covered by the standard liability, see if your homeowner's policy covers your valuables, get baggage insurance as part of your comprehensive travel-insurance package, or buy Travel Guard's "BagTrak" product.

If your luggage is lost, immediately file a lost-luggage claim at the airport, detailing the luggage contents. Most airlines require that you report delayed, damaged, or lost baggage within 4 hours of arrival. The airlines are required to deliver luggage, once found, directly to your house or destination free of charge.

Health & Safety

Staying Healthy -- As a rule, no health documents or vaccinations are required to enter Ireland or Northern Ireland from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, or most other countries. If, however, you have visited areas in the previous 14 days where a contagious disease is prevalent, proof of immunization may be required.

General Availability of Healthcare -- Healthcare in Ireland is comparable to that in the U.S., and it is a similar system in which private doctors and hospitals provide care and patients purchase healthcare insurance.

Contact the International Association for Medical Assistance to Travelers (IAMAT) (tel. 716/754-4883, or 416/652-0137 in Canada; www.iamat.org) for tips on travel and health concerns in Ireland, and for lists of English-speaking doctors. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (tel. 800/311-3435; www.cdc.gov) provides up-to-date information on health hazards by region or country and offers tips on food safety. The website www.tripprep.com, sponsored by a consortium of travel medicine practitioners, may also offer helpful advice on traveling abroad. You can find listings of reliable clinics overseas at the International Society of Travel Medicine (www.istm.org).

What to Do if You Get Sick Away From Home -- If you require the services of a physician, dentist, or other health professional during your stay in Ireland, your accommodations host may be in the best position to recommend someone local. Otherwise, contact the consulate of your home country or the Irish Medical Council, Lynn House, Portobello Court, Lower Rathmines Road, Dublin 6 (tel. 01/496-5588), for a referral.

Depending on the severity of your illness, you may need to be treated at the emergency room of a local hospital. If your problem is less severe, some hospitals also have walk-in clinics for cases that are not life-threatening.

If you suffer from a chronic illness, consult your doctor before your departure. Pack prescription medications in your carry-on luggage, and carry them in their original containers, with pharmacy labels -- otherwise they won't make it through airport security. Carry the generic name of prescription medicines, in case a pharmacist is unfamiliar with the brand name.

For travel abroad, you may have to pay all medical costs upfront and be reimbursed later.

Staying Safe -- By U.S. standards, Ireland is very safe -- but, particularly in the cities, it's not safe enough to warrant carelessness. Travelers should take normal precautions to protect their belongings from theft and themselves from harm.

In the countryside, you're unlikely to encounter any problems with crime. In Dublin and Belfast, you'll need to be wary of the usual tourists' plague: pickpockets, purse-snatchers, and car thieves. Also, in recent years, some of Dublin's busiest thoroughfares have been the scenes of brutal attacks at night. To alert visitors to potential dangers, the Dublin Police (called the Garda) publish a small leaflet, A Short Guide to Tourist Security, which is available at tourist offices and other public places. The booklet advises you not to carry large amounts of money or important documents like your passport or airline tickets when strolling around.

Most advice is standard for travel anywhere: Do not leave cars unlocked or cameras, binoculars, or other expensive equipment unattended. Be alert and aware of your surroundings, and do not wander alone in isolated areas.

Take special care if you'll be out in Dublin late at night when the pubs and nightclubs close. Ask at your hotel which areas are safe and which are not. Take a taxi back to your hotel if you're out after midnight.

In the north of Ireland, safety has tended to be a somewhat greater concern because of the political unrest that has prevailed there for the past 30 years, but violence has diminished since the Good Friday Agreement. Occasionally, though, flare-ups do happen, especially during the Orange marching season in the late summer. Still, visitors rarely, if ever, have problems with sectarian strife, since they are simply not the target of it.

Note for U.S. travelers: These are tense times in the world politically, and while few Americans encounter hostility or anti-Americanism when visiting Ireland it can happen. According to the U.S. State Department: "Several Americans have reported incidents of verbal abuse, and one reported a physical assault apparently in reaction to U.S. policy on the war on terrorism. As elsewhere in Europe, there have been public protests, which for the most part are peaceful and well policed. Americans are advised, nonetheless, to avoid public demonstrations in general and to monitor local media when protests occur."

If you have any questions or concerns, contact the U.S. State Department to obtain the latest safety recommendations (tel. 202/647-5225; http://travel.state.gov).