Road Trip to Ireland Question

[Fire99]

Evening Peeps.

I'm looking at visiting friends in Dublin over the coming months, and being somewhat flying adverse, I'm going to do my usual drive over.

My issue is that in the past I used to combine it with a business trip so the ferry prices (Stena Sea-Cat) weren't a concern. Now i'm paying for myself.

Is there an economical way of getting your car across the Irish sea?

[sday12]

[Fire99]

sday12 said:

Hmmm, judging by my last speedboat, I think it would be cheaper to push Ireland back into Wales.

[blearyeyedboy]

There aren't cheap ferry deals in the same way as you can find a cheap flight. There are only a handful of operators so bargains are scarce. I have family in Co Cork so I fly if I'm spending less than 4-5 days there, and then I drive if I'm there for longer because the cost of hire cars outweighs any savings made by flying.

Where are you travelling from in the UK?

[Jessicus]

Really depends where you are going from and what times you want to cross over in. For example, P&O Ferries from Liverpool,overnight taking about 9 hours can cost £80. Stenaline from Anglesea for a faster crossing costs about £150.

[Johnboy Mac]

I'd avoid L/pool, too long a crossing. Head from Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire or Dublin Port. On average I'm paying €280/300 return. Also check out when the fast ferry is back in operation, only 1.5hrs in total. Watch out for cops on the A55, especially unmarked cars.

[Fire99]

Thanks for the replies. I used to regularly use Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire (Stena) up until about 4 years ago but I wasn't paying the bill

Planning on going around early to mid April. Bargains do seem pretty scarce but thought I'd see if anyone had any cunning tips for a 'private buyer'

Liverpool is a bit of a faff for me and probably not worth the financial saving.

[blearyeyedboy]

Agreed, and your car is stored up on deck during the crossing too when you go from Liverpool- I can't imagine that sea water is great for your car!

[Decky_Q]

Use the slowest boat available and cross during the night, that usually gets the cheapest deal in my experience.

[blearyeyedboy]

Decky_Q said:

Use the slowest boat available and cross during the night, that usually gets the cheapest deal in my experience.

And you save a night in a not-very-good hotel. Swansea-Cork was great for this before it went bankrupt.

[irish boy]

sometimes cheap deals appear on gumtree but it's just pure luck to find one when you want to travel.

[Fire99]

Thanks all. I'll keep my eyes posted. A bit of planning and maybe combine a bit of sight-seeing in North Wales. Not a fan of the Constabulary but the scenery is rather pretty, that way.

[sider]

We went in 2005, was late in the year, November in fact, went from Cairnryan which is near Stranraer, to Larne, which is Northern Island.

Seemed to recall it was the cheaper of the 2 crossings (looked at Stranraer to Belfast) but we were going to near Derry so it worked ok for us.

Might be a bit of a drive to where you're going.

[vrsmxtb]

Yep night boat from Liverpool is what you want, it's an early wake-up call but at least you can get some kip and head off in Ireland nice and early.

[veevee]

Leave the car.

You can get an combined train and ferry ticket from anywhere in the UK for something ridiculous - less than £40 IIRC.

[Fire99]

veevee said:

Leave the car.

You can get an combined train and ferry ticket from anywhere in the UK for something ridiculous - less than £40 IIRC.

I need the car once I'm the other side. Visiting various folk around. A rental will soon outweigh any travel savings.

[v8will]

sider said:

We went in 2005, was late in the year, November in fact, went from Cairnryan which is near Stranraer, to Larne, which is Northern Island.

Seemed to recall it was the cheaper of the 2 crossings (looked at Stranraer to Belfast) but we were going to near Derry so it worked ok for us.

Might be a bit of a drive to where you're going.

Not really, Larne is 20 minutes from Belfast and then less than 2 hours to Dublin.

Overnight from Liverpool to Belfast or vice versa is usually the way I go.