Driving Dublin to Belfast?
Jun 26th, 2000, 05:43 AM
#1
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Driving Dublin to Belfast?
My husband and I will be in Ireland for about 8 days in late October. Primary purpose of the trip is for him to run in Dublin Marathon. We're spending first night in Kilkenny, second and third in Kinsale, maybe take in some of the Guinness Jazz Festival in Cork,then heading to Dublin Saturday night, spend Sunday wandering around Dublin, then he runs on Monday. We then have Tuesday & Wednesday for day trips out of Dublin. We were thinking of south to Wicklow Mtns on Tuesday, Newgrange and north on Wednesday. But we just read that it's only about 100 miles to Belfast, and were interested in maybe doing that with a stop at Newgrange. Any thoughts on this itinerary, especially driving to Belfast and back to Dublin? We do have a fairly early flight out the last morning. This is our second trip to Ireland, but we were mostly in the west and northwest last trip. Thanks for any suggestions!
Jun 26th, 2000, 09:36 AM
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Harriett, <BR>We drove from Dublin to Belfast last year. As is typical of Irish roads, it's kind of slow going especially if you get stuck behind a slower moving vehicle.However it is do-able , we left Dublin at 11:30 Am and arrived in Belfast around 4:30 pm with a stop for lunch. By the time we got to Tourist info all of the city tours had stopped running, but we ended up on this taxi tour of some of the more interesting sights off the tourist path... (peace walls, and "troubled" neighborhoods) Not for everyone indeed, but very profound and interesting. By the time we got back to city center it was around 7 and getting dark (March) we had not booked a room so we headed back down south about 3-4 hours, crossed the border and spent the night in our rental car...near Kiltycloughy (sp?) very cold. We got on the road around 7 am, stopped for b-fest and managed to get back to Dublin , drop off the car and get to the airport in time for our 10:30 am flight to Paris. It was an amazing trip that nearly wiped us out, but we were glad we did it.If you plan better then we did, which shouldn't be too difficult, you could do it. But it's a lot of driving.
Jun 27th, 2000, 07:11 AM
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Hello Harriett <BR> <BR>How long it takes you to drive from Dublin to Belfast is basically going to depend on the time of day you leave at. Like most cities rush hour Dublin is quite hectic. I drive Dublin to Belfast regularily and generally it takes about three hours. It can be a little slow from Drogheda to Dundalk but other than that you can pretty much go at whatever speed is legal. I would leave Dublin early in the morning and make the most of your day in Belfast, it really is a wonderful city and you shouldnt miss the chance to see it. You could spend the night in Newry and then drive to Dublin next morning, It will take about an hour and half to get to Dublin Airport from Newry. For things to do in Belfast look at http://www.goireland.com. The Canal Court hotel in Newry is beautiful and you will get a great evening meal there. If i can help you please mail me.
Oct 5th, 2005, 12:28 AM
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The road from Dublin to Belfast has improved greatly since this thread started and there is now a motorway from Dublin almost to the border with Northern Ireland,with one toll to pay-under three dollars.Except for a few miles on both sides of the border from north of Dundalk to south of Newry there is a good road all the way to Belfast and it should be possible to do the trip in under 2 hours.
