London to Ireland
Oct 20th, 2013, 09:27 AM
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London to Ireland
we have a thurs-fri-sat to travel from paddington london to ireland 11/14-11/16...my husband wants to visit blarney castle/stone in cork, so assuming we'd fly into cork...unless travel by other means (train, ferry) will be > scenic...looking for advice here. any other suggestions on where to go and what to see and what is do-able in 2.5 days? any good tours from cork? special castles to see? events? many thanks. val
Oct 21st, 2013, 12:28 AM
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With only 2 1/2 days and Cork as a base then Blarney being the main option. Consider Kinsale http://kinsale.ie/category/things-to...torical-sites/ but remember places may be Closed out of season. Cobh http://visitcobh.com/ and the 8X bus will take you up to Cahir and Cashel http://www.visitcahir.ie/ http://www.cashel.ie/. You don't have the time for 12 hour point to point via Rail and sail so stick to the flying plan but book asap because the cost starts to escalate once you get within 6 weeks of departure and remember the baggage allowances of "regional" airlines.
Oct 22nd, 2013, 05:04 AM
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You can take the train from London Paddington to Fishguard and the ferry across to Rosslare for one inclusive price, £38. But train access from Rosslare to Cork isn't good.
Better to take the 09:10 125mph 'Virgin Voyager' train (08:15 on Sundays) from London Euston to Holyhead arriving 12:50, then the 14:05 Irish Ferries ship to Dublin arriving 17:25.
This is a lovely way to travel, very scenic along the North Wales coast past Conway Castle and over Stephenson's Britannia Bridge onto Angelsey. The Irish Ferries ship 'Ulysses' is wonderful, a real 'cruise' fery, with restaurants and cinema and bars.
Again, London to Dublin this route has an inclusive train+ferry 'SailRail' price of £38.
I did this with my family yet again a couple of months ago, and made this video of the journey: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lllXSplCv5A
I recommend paying the extra £16 on board to access the Martello Club lounge, with complimentary red and white wine and smoked salmon canapes, plus a great forward view of the coast f Ireland approaching on the horizon, with the Bay of Dublin spred out before you and the brooding Wicklow Mountains to the South...
In fact, if you want to continue to Cork the same evening you can buy a SailRail ticket from London to Cork via Holyhead and Dublin for around £66, covering UK train, ferry and Irish train all on one ticket.
http://www.seat61.com/Ireland.htm explains times, prices and how to buy tickets.
Better to take the 09:10 125mph 'Virgin Voyager' train (08:15 on Sundays) from London Euston to Holyhead arriving 12:50, then the 14:05 Irish Ferries ship to Dublin arriving 17:25.
This is a lovely way to travel, very scenic along the North Wales coast past Conway Castle and over Stephenson's Britannia Bridge onto Angelsey. The Irish Ferries ship 'Ulysses' is wonderful, a real 'cruise' fery, with restaurants and cinema and bars.
Again, London to Dublin this route has an inclusive train+ferry 'SailRail' price of £38.
I did this with my family yet again a couple of months ago, and made this video of the journey: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lllXSplCv5A
I recommend paying the extra £16 on board to access the Martello Club lounge, with complimentary red and white wine and smoked salmon canapes, plus a great forward view of the coast f Ireland approaching on the horizon, with the Bay of Dublin spred out before you and the brooding Wicklow Mountains to the South...
In fact, if you want to continue to Cork the same evening you can buy a SailRail ticket from London to Cork via Holyhead and Dublin for around £66, covering UK train, ferry and Irish train all on one ticket.
http://www.seat61.com/Ireland.htm explains times, prices and how to buy tickets.
Oct 22nd, 2013, 06:59 AM
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The Man in Seat 61 adds hugely to the gaiety of life with his railway enthusiasm.
But suggesting getting a train from London if what you want to see is Blarney castle really is taking the joke way beyond sanity. Especially if you've made it clear that you;'ve got a total of 2.5 days
The 0910 from Euston gets you into Cork at 2145, which writes off one of your days. If you rush, you might just be able to kiss the Blarney Stone the following day in time to catch the 1020 train the following morning from Cork, which gets you back to London at 2142.
OK, you've spent the whole two days in trains and boats. But they're lovely smoked salmon canapes.
Kinsale's 15 mins from Cork airport: possibly the nicest small town that close to an international airport anywhere in Europe. Fly to Cork, pick up a car and get Blarney out of the way, then go and see Kinsale (where the lovely Polish staff at the Fishy Fishy fish retail shop offer really terrific salmon and lots of other fish, while their new Fishy Fishy Chippy has food as good as the name and the rest of the Fishy empire seems to be taking the town over)
Then drive westish to Killarney the following day.Or explore West Cork. Or do the Ring of Kerry
But suggesting getting a train from London if what you want to see is Blarney castle really is taking the joke way beyond sanity. Especially if you've made it clear that you;'ve got a total of 2.5 days
The 0910 from Euston gets you into Cork at 2145, which writes off one of your days. If you rush, you might just be able to kiss the Blarney Stone the following day in time to catch the 1020 train the following morning from Cork, which gets you back to London at 2142.
OK, you've spent the whole two days in trains and boats. But they're lovely smoked salmon canapes.
Kinsale's 15 mins from Cork airport: possibly the nicest small town that close to an international airport anywhere in Europe. Fly to Cork, pick up a car and get Blarney out of the way, then go and see Kinsale (where the lovely Polish staff at the Fishy Fishy fish retail shop offer really terrific salmon and lots of other fish, while their new Fishy Fishy Chippy has food as good as the name and the rest of the Fishy empire seems to be taking the town over)
Then drive westish to Killarney the following day.Or explore West Cork. Or do the Ring of Kerry
Oct 22nd, 2013, 12:48 PM
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<i>09:10 125mph 'Virgin Voyager' train (08:15 on Sundays) from London Euston to Holyhead arriving 12:50, then the 14:05 Irish Ferries ship to Dublin arriving 17:25.</i>
Makes no bloody sense to travel 9.25 hours (instead of a 50-minute flight) only to end up half a country away from where you actually want to be.
Starting to wonder if Seat61 gets kickbacks from the train companies.
Makes no bloody sense to travel 9.25 hours (instead of a 50-minute flight) only to end up half a country away from where you actually want to be.
Starting to wonder if Seat61 gets kickbacks from the train companies.
Oct 22nd, 2013, 12:56 PM
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ur man Sells tickets and pushes Irish ferries as default on his web page.
I might be a total prat at times but at least my advice is independent for the benefit of the traveller not self promotion. I chose Not to use IF (Irish Ferries) as long as there is a friendly fisherman with a row boat as an available option.
I might be a total prat at times but at least my advice is independent for the benefit of the traveller not self promotion. I chose Not to use IF (Irish Ferries) as long as there is a friendly fisherman with a row boat as an available option.
Oct 22nd, 2013, 04:43 PM
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you are all just too funny for this american gal. now i am totally confused. we are thinking of flying london to dublin, and taking the drive to cork... and for that matter whereever the winding road takes us...any <useful> thoughts on that? it appears to be cheaper than flying into cork. we can drive ourselves to kiss the darn stone (are we having fun yet?)and we don't have to rely on public transportation, which may sound lovely but it sounds like it might be a nightmare waiting to happen if we don't know which train or bus or ferry to catch. so...dublin to cork. driving. suggestions of value please.
Oct 22nd, 2013, 10:00 PM
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<i>ValVenturaKennedy123 on Oct 22, 13 at 8:43pm
we are thinking of flying london to dublin, and taking the drive to cork...
we can drive ourselves to kiss the darn stone (are we having fun yet?)and we don't have to rely on public transportation, which may sound lovely but it sounds like it might be a nightmare waiting to happen if we don't know which train or bus or ferry to catch. so...dublin to cork. driving. suggestions of value please.</i>
I did the route:
<i>Man_in_seat_61 on Oct 22, 13 at 9:04am
You can take the train from London Paddington to Fishguard and the ferry across to Rosslare for one inclusive price, £38. But train access from Rosslare to Cork isn't good.</i>
I did the London Paddington to Fishguard train and the ferry across to Rosslare. It is a nice trip and a very good ferry. OTOH, "... isn't good" is an understatement for the Irish side. I took the bus from Rosslare to Cork but got started late so I over nighted in Wexford. Then I bussed in to Cork the next morning for a two day visit. Irish roads are reputed hazards but it looked OK to me, except that they all drive on the wrong side of the road as I recall.
"... kiss the darn stone ..." OMG, such disrespect! Click my name to see my bio headed by a photo of me kissing the Blarney Stone. Climbing to the top was a struggle but it was worth it. Since I was traveling solo the photo was taken by the staff and cost me €9.00. I took a city bus to Blarney, half an hour. Senior price to enter was €8.00. There is a large souvenir shop at the castle with EVERYTHING you would ever want branded Guinness, plus a million pieces of Waterford glass.
Then I took the train to Dublin Heuston Station. This is the way to go, if you can read a departure board - duh. It only cost €51.00 for the three hour ride, city center to city center. The food on board was blaah so bring your own sandwich and beverage. If you fly to Dublin and have time I suggest the best chowda on the planet at Ryan's FXB Grills. Also take a tour of the Guinness Storehouse. You will have fun.
we are thinking of flying london to dublin, and taking the drive to cork...
we can drive ourselves to kiss the darn stone (are we having fun yet?)and we don't have to rely on public transportation, which may sound lovely but it sounds like it might be a nightmare waiting to happen if we don't know which train or bus or ferry to catch. so...dublin to cork. driving. suggestions of value please.</i>
I did the route:
<i>Man_in_seat_61 on Oct 22, 13 at 9:04am
You can take the train from London Paddington to Fishguard and the ferry across to Rosslare for one inclusive price, £38. But train access from Rosslare to Cork isn't good.</i>
I did the London Paddington to Fishguard train and the ferry across to Rosslare. It is a nice trip and a very good ferry. OTOH, "... isn't good" is an understatement for the Irish side. I took the bus from Rosslare to Cork but got started late so I over nighted in Wexford. Then I bussed in to Cork the next morning for a two day visit. Irish roads are reputed hazards but it looked OK to me, except that they all drive on the wrong side of the road as I recall.
"... kiss the darn stone ..." OMG, such disrespect! Click my name to see my bio headed by a photo of me kissing the Blarney Stone. Climbing to the top was a struggle but it was worth it. Since I was traveling solo the photo was taken by the staff and cost me €9.00. I took a city bus to Blarney, half an hour. Senior price to enter was €8.00. There is a large souvenir shop at the castle with EVERYTHING you would ever want branded Guinness, plus a million pieces of Waterford glass.
Then I took the train to Dublin Heuston Station. This is the way to go, if you can read a departure board - duh. It only cost €51.00 for the three hour ride, city center to city center. The food on board was blaah so bring your own sandwich and beverage. If you fly to Dublin and have time I suggest the best chowda on the planet at Ryan's FXB Grills. Also take a tour of the Guinness Storehouse. You will have fun.
Oct 23rd, 2013, 04:08 AM
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You can now get the GoBus direct from DUB (Dublin Airport) to Cork. http://www.gobus.ie/timetable.php?map=2 Local bus's then for Blarney and if you wish a Hire Car, COR (Cork Airport)
