Going from Belgium to Ireland thru English countryside...any suggestions how to pull this off?

Years ago I took an overnight ferry from Holyhead in Wales to Dublin. It was a rough and memorable trip. The ferry now runs more frequently and takes less time. This would be an easy way to get there.

https://www.irishferries.com/ie-en/routes-and-times/dublin-holyhead/

Where does Dublin come in to your trip? After Belgium? Do you return to England from Belgium and then head to Dublin?

So London ->Netherlands->Belgium->Return to England->Dublin?

Ireland comes at the end of our trip. We scheduled 7 days in Ireland and fly out of Dublin.

This sounds like a lot of jumping around and backtracking, but I wonder if anything is fixable at this point. What portions are already purchased and not changable?

Is there a reason you can't fly or take Eurostar from Brussels to London? Bath, Stratford and York should be easy train rides from there, then fly from London to Dublin.

We recently flew from LHR to Dublin. If was quick, easy and cheap.

We are flexible and have not committed to any lodgings, transports, etc. We have always wanted to the Chunnel to London. So, Eurostar is the way for us to go from Brussels. We would love to see the coast of Ireland from a boat. What Im trying to figure out now is how does transportation work from London to Bath to Stratford or York and then to Holyhead?

The quickest way to get from London to Dublin (excluding flying) is to take the (Virgin) train from London (Euston) to Holyhead and then the ferry. (You won’t see any scenic part of the Irish coast as the ferry heads straight across the Irish Sea and enters an industrial port area of Dublin). Read this:>https://www.seat61.com/Ireland.htm

www.nationalrail.co.uk (Trains - please note that the Severn Tunnel is closed until July 9th so any searches for trains between Bath/London and Newport/Cardiff will not show the normal timings on these routes).

Now, the above rail route calls at Chester & I would suggest that you overnight at Chester and have a look around. (York is too far off route). About a 40 minute train ride west of Chester is Conwy (Conway) - Virgin trains stop at Llandudno Junction but not Conwy = 1 mile east but the Welsh trains will stop at Conwy by request - tell the guard or hold out your arm to stop a train. I would suggest that you may also wish to spend a night at Conwy and perhaps visit nearby Llandudno &/or Bodnant Gardens. (This NW part of Wales is very scenic = Snowdonia National Park & as well as Conwy, Caernarfon also has a large medieval Castle).

If you want to do Bath, it will mean trains London (Paddington) to Bath, Bath to north Wales - which can be done via Birmingham but the line via the Welsh borders is more scenic = Bath to Newport (change trains). Now you could travel on one train from Newport to Holyhead but I would suggest that you break the journey at Chester &/or Conwy. Newport is only 15 minutes from Cardiff - the Welsh capital - where you may also like to consider staying = google Cardiff Castle/ St.Fagans Castle & Museum/ Caerphilly Castle/ Castle Coch. For Rail Map of Britain:>
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/static/images/structure/css/nationalrailnetworkmap.pdf

Stratford-upon-Avon is rather more fiddle to reach so perhaps best left out.

To see the places I have mentioned, I think you may need to add more days. If you wish to fly- go on www.skyscanner.net and search for flights. If you go to Bath, nearest airport with flights to Dublin is Bristol. Cardiff Airport also has flights to Dublin. No doubt Liverpool & Manchester Airports will also have flights to Dublin should you not wish to take the ferry.

From Holyhead - 2 ferry lines = Irish ferries & Stena.

I agree that you should rearrange your plans, and fly into Brussels or Amsterdam and home from Dublin. Perhaps you have a romantic idea of ferries that is out of date. Eurostar is convenient, and a nice enough train ride, but nothing special. Going back across the Channel is to me just tedious. You could research the ferry from Zeebrugge, but as I suggested, this is a kind of obsolete means of transit, and distant from London if you still need a plane or train. If you decline to change the itinerary, I suggest bargain airlines, with their fees and secondary airport usage.

Considering all the ferries in Europe, I have the idea from this newsboard that there are a few that don't take pedestrians. Rough crossings have been reported here.

It's fine to decide against car rental, but you should do the countryside stuff in association with the London stay. It's not a justification for returning to England (which can have tedious immigration lines.) You don't say if you've been to Dublin before, but if you only have a night or two there, there's plenty to do.

Tim, the ferry they want to take is to Ireland, not across the English Channel. They want the Eurostar for that, and it works fine, better than flying.

Since you haven't bought your flight tickets yet, lookmat flying open-jaw (booked as " multi-city"on most airlines' websites. Into Amsterdam or Brussels, and home from Dublin or Shannon. That will be a trip in one direction with no backtracking, so will save you time and money.

If you haven't committed to airline reservations in to London, I agree I'd fly in to Amsterdam and work your way thru Belgium to then take the Eurostar to London. Do Bath, Stratford-upon-Avon (is that what you really meant instead of Stratford?) and York as trips out of London, then fly to Dublin and home from there.

If you just have 3-4 days for your outside of London ventures, I'd actually suggest 2 nights in Salisbury and 2 in Bath via train. Or 3 in York. Haven't been to Stratford-upon-Avon in years so no opinion on that.

Thanks for all your thoughtful comments. We already have airline tickets thru Aer Lingus for arrival in London and departure from Dublin. But, I am going to do some reshuffling of our route within Europe to take into account your insights.

Well, if you are committed for in to London and out of Dublin, then I'd start in London, do your England sightseeing as well, take the Eurostar to Belgium, train on to Amsterdam after those days and then fly from AMS to Dublin. That gives you your under the Channel ride to Brussels but also gets you efficiently to Dublin.

The Dutch Flyer is very easy to take if it fits in with your plans, if you think you are going to be able to sleep on it. The daytime one really takes up the whole day though. Friend of mine takes it all the time when he has business in Rotterdam in preference to the Eurostar.

The London--> Amsterdam (via the Dutch Flyer) --> Brussells --> London (via Eurostar/Chunnel) itinerary sounds great. You're doing a circle and experiencing two methods to get to or from London --> Europe. It's not backtracking and not a waste of time or expense - sounds like a nice journey, which is a great experience in itself.

It appears that the ferry from Wales to Dublin is not all that scenic or memorable. I would suggest that you experience the English country-side properly and then fly from London to Dublin. And, I definitely suggest you rent a car, as this is an exceptional way to experience the English countryside.

Make another circle starting and ending in London. Again, no backtracking and a wonderful journey.

If possible, 2 nights in Bath and 2 nights in the Cotswolds, London --> Bath, consider to visit Stonehenge, Averbury and perhaps Salisbury en route. Bath --> Cotswolds - consider to visit Stratford from your Cotswolds base. Then, back to London via Oxford and consider to visit Blenheim Palace en route.

So, you essentially have two circular journeys from London: one to Holland and Belgium via the ferry and train; the other through the English countryside by car, with Bath, the Cotswolds, and perhaps a few other fantastic sights. Then, continue from London to Dublin through the air.

That's what I would do.

Of course, you could also do the English-countryside circle before heading out to Holland/Belgium. Then, you could fly from Amsterdam or Brussels to Dublin - but then you lose out on your ferry or train/Chunnel experience. But, it would save some time and expense and shorten the journey.