Ireland by rail

Well, it’s been a few years since I did it, but it was generally pretty easy. The train routes fan out from Dublin, though, and there are some popular tourist locations that aren’t served. Dingle would be the best example. It is best to base yourself in larger towns with easy train access for a few days, and make use of guided day trips to get to sights. I made use of a combination bus rail pass that gave me eight travel days in two weeks. I’m not sure if this type of pass exists any more, though. It was good to have, though, because on travel days I could take both the train and bus as often as I wanted. You have to be quite organized, and willing to do a lot of research and planning in order to make your travel days efficient. I got my longest train ride out of the way at the beginning, taking the train from Dublin all the way down to Killarney. Then made my way back up, making three stops for one or two nights, in smaller towns before ending up in Galway. Then going from there to Belfast for a few days before flying home. I found it best to take the earliest train I could get so that when I got to my next destination I would still have a fair bit of the day left. The best way to start is to make a list of the things that interest you, then find them on the map and see if you can get there by train. I never had to make a reservation, and only once, around Easter weekend was the train fairly full.

I wouldn't rate the train system in Ireland to be the best nor will it get you everywhere you want to go. However, when you add the good network of buses, you can get almost anywhere.

I'm not a fan of long distance coaches alone but in combination with trains, it can be an excellent combination.

Mostly took it between cities, taking the higher end from Dublin to Cork, the standard train from Cork to Killarney, and basic fare from Killarney to Galway, before training back to Dublin. The first class was fine, the free newspaper and window tinting was nice, but not really needed. The standard trains between cities were solid, on time, and had comfortable seats. One thing we discovered though is that the routes up and down the west coast of ireland aren't as nice as from east to west or up the east coast. Not bad mind you, but felt more like a local city train that went up the whole coast, and on that one there was some left over trash and the like, more limited space for baggage (but still workable) while the other trains had plenty of both.

Overall, I'd definitely use the train system again, hope this helps!