Transportation London to Dublin
 

Will someone describe the train/boat trip from London to Dublin? I am debating between train and plane. I know, the train trip is longer, and those low fare airlines have a strong appeal. So I am looking for facts that will swing the decision one way or the other.<BR>

You have a limited number of options for train/boat. The most obvious is to go from London to South Wales and cross from Fishguard to Rosslare, and then on from there to Dublin. The London to Fishguard train alone takes about 5 hours. The sailing times are awful (3:15am or something), but there is a catamaran - but I don't know the times.<BR>Option 2 is to go to Liverpool so that you can cross to Dublin (or Holyhead in North Wales).<BR>The one fact that may swing it for you (apart from the collosal time difference between plane and train/boat) is that the celtic sea is notoriously choppy and sailings are frequently stopped. You don't mention when you plan to go, but even in summer you can get bad weather and strong winds. People DO get stranded.<BR>There is no particular reason to want to go by train to see the countryside as the train from London to South Wales is achingly dull. My advice is to get to Luton and fly EasyJet to Dublin, or Stanstead and go by Ryanair. Fly, fly,fly!!!

Hokay. I am going in the summer; dates undetermined. Perhaps misguided, my idea for taking the train was governed by reading this schedule on the British Railsite. It did not sound so bad. So, is something not revealed??<BR><BR>(Leave)London Euston 10:10 Express Virgin Trains <BR>arrive Crewe 12:20 leave Crewe 12:30 Express First North Western <BR>arrive Holyhead 14:42 15:15 Ship <BR>arrive Dublin Ferryport 17:05 <BR>Duration: 6:55 <BR><BR>Perhaps the mystery will be cleared if I am told where Dublin Ferryport is.<BR>It is still in Wales? I looked at the map and it looked to like Hollyhead was the sailing point to the west from Wales. So after ariving in Dublin Ferryport, how far away am I from Dublin the city?<BR>

It's the Irish Sea. Dublin Ferryport is in Ireland not Wales!! Details of ferries:<BR><BR>Holyhead-Dublin, Pembroke-Rosslare www.irishferries.ie<BR><BR>Holyhead-Dublin, Holyhead-Dun Laoghaire, Fishguard-Rosslare www.stenaline.com<BR><BR>Liverpool-Dublin www.norsemerchant.com<BR><BR>Mostyn-Dublin, Liverpool-Dublin www.poirishsea.com<BR><BR>Dublin Port www.dublinport.ie is about 2 miles from the city centre with shuttle bus transfers. <BR><BR>Dun Laoghaire (also in Ireland) is further from Dublin city centre but there are regular trains from the DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transport) station which can be accessed directly from the ferry terminal www.irishrail.ie/dart/home Journey time is 30 minutes approximately.<BR><BR>Given a choice I'd fly!<BR><BR>www.vistaphotos.com<BR><BR>

The fastest surface route from London to Dublin is via Holyhead - it was the route used by the mail trains before air travel. The timings quoted use Irish Ferries' fast catamaran JONATHAN SWIFT, but they also have a big ship, the ULYSSES, which is not affected by bad weather (www.irishferries.ie). The train journey along the North Wales coast is very scenic, but there is not much to look at on the sea crossing. Dublin Ferryport is at the mouth of the Liffey and there are buses and taxis into the city centre.