My boyfriend and I are planning a European trip this fall- my first time! The Netherlands/Belgium for about 6 days total, then hopping over to see Scotland and Ireland, with final departure from Dublin. My question to y'all is: any suggestions as far as what to definitely experience/avoid in Scotland and Ireland? Caveat being we have about 8 days to do this- but some wiggle room so far! I know we want to get to see some of the distilleries in Scotland, spend some time in Dingle... For the sake of good drink and company, I'd love to visit the bar at Top of Coom, the Worlds End pub, etc. I'd love to visit some of the natural landscape offerings as well as mingle with the locals, but I'm well aware that I'll need to come back in order to 'see everything' :) Any thoughts or advice is greatly appreciated!!
Posted by
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
2779 posts
There is a a joint rail and ferry ticket: http://www.stenaline.co.uk/rail
The Stena crossings between Scotland and Belfast or Dublin and Wales are all between 2 and 3 hours only and the vessels are very comfortable and modern.
Stena also operate a very comfortable overnight ferry between Hoek van Holland and Harwich in England where trains meet you just outside the vessels on both sides of the journey.
Posted by
3123 posts
Since you have so few days, you might want to save time by flying from Netherlands or Belgium to either Edinburgh or Glasgow. If you want to go from Scotland to Ireland by ferry, fly from the continent to Edinburgh and work your way westward for a ferry departure on the Irish Sea.
Note that the ferry departure cities on the island of Great Britain are not in major cities -- EXCEPT that you can go from Liverpool to Belfast or Dublin. Other than that, you have to drive to Holyhead in Wales for a ferry to Dublin, or Cairnryan (near Stranraer, about 1 hour southwest of Glasgow) for a ferry to Belfast. These are far-flung towns not located on major highways, so driving there is going to take time and be stressful (as in, we've got to get there by x time or we'll miss the boat!).
Even allowing for the time spent clearing airport security, you'll save time and stress by flying. In case of any travel snafu, getting stuck in an airport generally gives you more options than getting stuck at a ferry dock.
Dingle, being in the west of Ireland, is closer to Shannon airport than Dublin, and Shannon is a little more passenger-friendly since it's a smaller airport. Aer Lingus has quite a few flights to Shannon.
Posted by
OP
17 posts
Thanks so much for the advice! We're in final run of editing and planning itinerary now - it'll be fast pace for sure, and we'll no doubt have to plan to come back. I'm excited!
Posted by
1529 posts
I agree that the plane might be less stressful.....we did the ferry crossing in the middle of a package bus tour....somewhere in the middle of the ferry journey a passenger suffered a "medical emergency" and they turned the ferry around, went to the country of origin, unloaded that party and started over. fortunately, our tour director was responsible to tweak our personal itinerary, which I think just included checking into hotel, dinner, and a walking tour. but, if we were trying to catch a plane yet that day, it would have been a hot mess. if your inter Europe flight has an issue, the airline hopefully would help you sort things out.
Posted by
6 posts
Oh goodness. DO NOT DO THE FERRY. Ours broke down and we ended up on a different ferry, it was an utter and total mess. I'll spare you the details but I would highly recommend not taking the ferry. Unless I was traveling for leisure only and had all the time in the world I would skip it.