London, Edinburgh, Holyhead, Killarney, Dublin trip

Posted by Susan (Carmel Valley, ca, USA) on 02/07/25 07:44 PM

We have scheduled a two week trip to London, Edinburgh, Holyhead and Killarney. We fly in to London from the US on March 18.. We will be staying in Airbnbs -5 nights in London with day trip to Bath, 3 nights in Edinburgh (traveling by train), 2 nights in Holyhead (traveling by train), 3 nights in Killarney (ferry from Holyhead to Dublin, train to Killarney, then back to Dublin for 2 nights and flying home.

I have not yet bought tickets for ferry to Dublin and subsequent trains yet. I am looking for suggestions, any input regarding our plans. Favorite spots, etc. Any thoughts on Killarney or an alternate last place in Ireland to go would be appreciated.

Thank you!

Posted by Camborne2018

Cornwall

02/07/25 07:52 PM

671 posts

Fly to Dublin from Edinburgh.

Posted by G3rryCee

Bellingham, WA

02/07/25 08:22 PM

838 posts

You can also fly direct from Edinburgh to Cork or Shannon or Belfast. If it were me, I would skip Holyhead and Killarney, fly into Belfast and stay there 3 nights, do a day trip to Giant's Causeway to get your "natural beauty of Ireland" experience, then head to Dublin. Second choice would be fly into Cork for three nights (which I will be doing from London on 3/16), day trip to Cobh (or Kinsale or Blarney or whatever), train to Dublin. Last choice for me would be fly into Shannon, rent a car (or not) and stay three nights in that area, train back to Dublin. The forum is loaded with advice about how to use your time, where to stay and what to see in SW of Ireland, so I won't get into that.

Posted by Al

02/07/25 08:24 PM

99 posts

Hoyhead is not the most attractive town and without your own transport to travel around Anglesey not much to do on your full day there.
If you are committed to a day in Wales, I would consider staying in Conwy/Llandudno for a night and taking the last train to Holyhead on the night before you sail.
There was a combined ticket under something like rail and sail on the national rail website which gave a good discount.

Posted by wasleys

Lincolnshire, UK

02/07/25 09:37 PM

2564 posts

Definitley scrap Holyhead. You are spending (wasting) a lot of time getting there. (Holythead isn't the most attractive place to stay.) Fly to Ireland from Edinburgh. If you are wanting to stay in Killarney, then try and get a flight into Shannon. Us the two nights you have 'saved' and add them to either Edinburgh, Killarney or Dublin.

Posted by jphbucks

SoCal

02/07/25 09:58 PM

1594 posts

We took the ferry from Holyhead to Dublin a couple of years ago. It was kind of fun, but not really worth the tortuous train ride to Holyhead. I echo the suggestion of flying from Edinburgh to Dublin.

Posted by Cat VH

London

02/07/25 10:46 PM

313 posts

I agree with everyone here that flying to Ireland makes more sense. I also definitely agree with G3rry's suggestion to fly to Belfast and spend time on the Causeway Coast rather than trying to get to and from Killarney- it's very easy to get from Belfast to Dublin on the train and the Northern Irish coast is beautiful.

Posted by isn31c

Lake District, England

02/08/25 07:13 AM

9261 posts

If you are flying from Edinburgh to Ireland then don't fly to Shannon then the 3 hour or more bus or train ride but use Ryanair to Dublin, connecting there with another Ryanair flight to Kerry airport.
Kerry is 30 minutes from Killarney.
It is also possible to get a train from Edinburgh to Manchester Airport, then the afternoon flight from Manchester direct to Kerry.
There is a direct morning train from Killarney to Dublin (no change) on the day you leave, at 0745, and others every two hours where you change at Mallow. Also the direct bus every two hours
Cork Airport is a good hour closer to Killarney by bus than Shannon. Ryanair has direct Edinburgh to Cork flights.

There are two buses an hour from Cork Airport to both Cork city centre and Cork (Kent) Railway Station- they originate from Kinsale and Ringaskiddy (the ferry port for Cork).