logistics-Scotland to Ireland
 

Message: I'm heading over to the UK and Ireland in a couple of weeks. I'll have 3 weeks. My plan is to spend a few days in London and then head up to Scotland and over to Ireland. The biggest issue I'm running into is the time to get from Scotland to Ireland. I'm getting a Britrail+Ireland Rail pass. Two main questions <BR> 1. Will the Britrail+Ireland pass allow me to get from Scotland to Ireland? <BR> 2. If so, what is the best way (least time consuming) to get to from Scotland to Ireland via the Britrail pass? <BR> Any suggestions are helpful. Thanks!

I don't know about your railpass covering the journey, but the easiest way is to get the SeaCat ferry at Stanraer (over the border north of Carlisle); it will take you to Belfast in less than 2 hours. From Belfast you can get a direct train to Dublin, or buses to just about anywhere else. The ferry company is named Stena; I'm sure I've seen a webpage for them at one time or another. Stanraer is pretty out of the way; expect it to take some time to <BR>get there.

The choice getting from UK to Ireland is either by ferry boat, (fairly long)and perhaps "rocky", or plane. Aren't there quite a few inter small airlines now who offer very good rates for the short hops between these two countries....perhaps Glasgow to Dublin, ...or other choices. Is Ryan Air oneof them&gt; ?

Well, yes, you can easily take a short <BR>flight if you book well ahead; but the fares for last-minute trips are VERY steep. I rather got the impression that this was one of those decide-as-you-go sort of trips; which is why I didn't mention the option of flying. When flying, it's generally MUCH easier to avoid crossing the international border by air, so from Scotland I would fly to Belfast rather than Dublin (not to <BR>mention that there are more flights <BR>within the UK than from the UK to the <BR>Republic.) <BR> <BR>The SeaCat is a hovercraft, not a <BR>traditional ferry; it's very fast, and <BR>the ride CAN be a thriller if the sea <BR>is rough. (Personally, I love that <BR>feeling of pounding over the waves.) There is also a traditional ferry, but it takes the better part of a day to cross on that.

I wasn't going to get into this becasue I knwo nothing about the train stuff; BUT <BR> <BR>you can get the ferry or the Sea Cat from Stranraer or Largs and the sailing time differences are less than a hour. <BR> <BR>Also Ryanair Only do cheap flights- tho' there's an issue with how cheap depending on when you book