What ferry to Ireland?

[nicky.mattsson]

HI all

Me and the wife are planning to go to Ireland in the next year. We live in Somerset and was after some advice on what route to take and where is best place to find the cheapest price.

Cheers

[mr0709]

The Swansea cork route has now reopened as of march 2010 search fastnet line. The south west of Ireland is very nice I grew up going to Bere Island which is in Bantry Bay. It really is one of the great places in the world. The healy pass to Kerry is a great road with sheer drops and great views. Great for a hoon!!! U can go Fishguard rosslare with stena line which is 3 hours approx but the overnight sailing from Swansea cuts out a 4 hour drive and leaves u fresh to start your holiday

Mike

[pstruck]

mr0709 said:

The Swansea cork route has now reopened as of march 2010 search fastnet line. The south west of Ireland is very nice I grew up going to Bere Island which is in Bantry Bay. It really is one of the great places in the world. The healy pass to Kerry is a great road with sheer drops and great views. Great for a hoon!!! U can go Fishguard rosslare with stena line which is 3 hours approx but the overnight sailing from Swansea cuts out a 4 hour drive and leaves u fresh to start your holiday

Mike

Wish this route had been available when we went last September. We flew from Bristol to Dublin in the end, hired a car and drove down to the south west. Cost similar all in.

The problem we found with the available routes was the sailing times. Just didn't work for us.

Good call from Mike above, as this is exactly where we spent our week and it is indeed very nice.

[adrian5750]

HI Folks
The new ferry service is at www.fastnetline.com - the new operator is owend by a co-op of small investors from Cork, Kerry and further afield - who got together to restore this vital ferry link.
First commercial sailing is March 1st 2010 - and the ship (the Julia) sails overnight between Swansea & Cork - so you arrive at your destination relaxed & refreshed - and ready to continue your holiday.
The alternative routes involve an extra 375miles of driving, and some very odd travelling times!

If you'd like to know more about the campaign to restore the service - it's at www.bringbacktheswanseacorkferry.com

The South-west of Ireland is a great place to vist - stunning scenery, friendly people, plenty to do, great food. But then - we moved out here in 2006 from the UK - so you can tell I'm a bit biased!

I was going to add a photo of my car - but I thought you'd all laugh at my 1964 Morris Traveller <g>

Enjoy your holiday
Adrian (Ballydehob, West Cork)

[mr0709]

Also to add a nice place to visit if your on your way to the Bantry Bay area from Cork is the Gougane Barra. (nice walks)
This is on the 'shortcut' that bypasses all the main roads which are a longer way round. If your down that way consider a trip over on the Ferry to Bere Island (where my family were born) it really is a nice place to walk around and has a lighthouse at the West End overlooking the Atlantic and a lighthouse on the East end which if you walk around the Fort which has now been done up by the tourist board you get a very good view of the lighthouse and 'Hungry Hill'.

Hope you have a nice time.

Edited by mr0709 on Tuesday 19th January 08:46

[Wheelrepairit]

Blimey, just taken a look at the website

Great investment bonds they offer.

Invest 50k euro and get 73k euro back over 4 yrs

Can some clever clogs work out the apr on that then.

[SwanJack]

We went on the Swansea Cork ferry in 2005 before they sold the old boat and stopped the service. I am really pleased that it has returned and hopefully will use the new boat (which looks a different class to the old one) this year. I much prefer this crossing to others as it leaves early evening and gets you in to Cork or Swansea the next morning, so no 'odd' overnight sailing times as you can get on the others. The last time we went we had a great holiday in Baltimore. If you are heading to Kerry or Dingle, thsi route cuts about 150 miles off your journey. Oh and the fish counter in Cork Market is amazing.

Edited by SwanJack on Tuesday 19th January 09:54

[Bluebarge]

Wheelrepairit said:

Blimey, just taken a look at the website

Great investment bonds they offer.

Invest 50k euro and get 73k euro back over 4 yrs

Can some clever clogs work out the apr on that then.

Did you used to have an account with an Icelandic bank?

[Wheelrepairit]

Bluebarge said:

Did you used to have an account with an Icelandic bank?

I did as it goes, although what that has to do with this is anyones guess.

[Bluebarge]

Wheelrepairit said:

Bluebarge said:

Did you used to have an account with an Icelandic bank?

I did as it goes, although what that has to do with this is anyones guess.

Well in that case, I'd have thought you'd have twigged that there's a correlation between return on investment and return of investment.

The reason the rate's so good is that no-one else will lend to them at sensible rates, because the risk of their going tits up is not negligible. This route has closed many times before because it is hard to make money on it.

[Rob S]

Theres a route from Cardigan to the south east tip of Ireland, an hour and a halfs drive to Dublin if thats any use.

[SwanJack]

Rob S said:

Theres a route from Cardigan to the south east tip of Ireland, an hour and a halfs drive to Dublin if thats any use.

There are only three ferries from South Wales to Ireland. Pembroke to Rosslare, Fishguard to Rosslare and Swansea to Cork. No ferry goes from Cardigan although Fishguard is close to the Pembrokeshire/Cardiganshire border.

[Rob S]

You're quite right, teahc me to type in a rush! Fishguard to Rosslare is the route I was referring to

[SwanJack]

Rob S said:

You're quite right, teahc me to type in a rush! Fishguard to Rosslare is the route I was referring to

There's a Ferry Inn in Cardigan though (go figure)

Edited by SwanJack on Tuesday 19th January 20:49