My wife and I are visiting Port Issac in Cornwall/UK the second week October, 2026. After that we have been thinking about visiting Ireland/N. Ireland. Not renting a car. How feasible is this for late October?
For N. Ireland, we are thinking two days in Belfast, 2 days in Derry, using the train for transportation. Maybe the Antrim Coast if bus is available, but RS book on Ireland says during our time of October, bus may not be running.
Then taking the train to Dubin for 2 days. From Dublin, I see there are trains to the west coast of the Republic of Ireland, which we would probably take to visit Sligo-Galway-if buses are not running that time of year. Also thinking about Dingle Coast, but with public transportation, that may be out. Dingle would be nice, but not on our to do/see list.
Really didn't want to rent a car, as I drive 100 miles round trip each day to work, and I need a vacation simply from driving.
But things may change, depending on a particular sight to reach, we are not opposed to renting a car.
We dont care about the weather that time of year either.
Let me know what you think, mainly about the transportation/bus during the month of October, and any other things to do. Seems like we could get some good deals on lodging during this time too.
Posted by
Lake District, England
10892 posts
For Port Isaac it is perfectly feasible- the bus, #96, runs year round- for all network maps and bus information see the transport for cornwall website- https://www.transportforcornwall.co.uk/
The train will take you to Bodmin Parkway then bus to Wadebridge, change for Port Isaac is the obvious route.
However the village itself has caught a cold since the end of the TV series, fickle tourists have now moved on. So it is pretty quiet now . The second week of October will be just before the school Autumn half term and the last tourists of the year. But any later than the end of October and the village will be in winter hibernation mode.
Port Isaac is good for a day visit, but Cornwall has way more to offer, which is accessible by bus/train- even just on the far northern coast up to Boscastle, Bude, Launceston way.
That isn't taking in the south coast, and all the beaches and history further south west.
You don't say how long you are in Cornwall for but it would be a shame to miss out on all of that.
The time efficient way to reach Cornwall from London (if starting there) is to fly from London Gatwick to Newquay, then bus #94 Newquay Airport to Wadebridge, for the #96 to Port Isaac.
You can then fly all year from Exeter Airport to either Belfast City or Dublin on Aer Lingus (or also all year from Bristol Airport to Dublin on Aer Lingus or Belfast City/Belfast International on Easyjet).
Ryanair also fly from Newquay to Dublin all year and Aer Lingus seasonally from Newquay to Belfast City and Dublin (so may still be running in mid October).
As for Northern Ireland the RS book is partly right and partly wrong- Translink run all year round buses on frequent timetables as far east as Ballycastle (via the Giants Causeway and Carrick a Rede etc), and also from Ballymena to Cushenden. However the bus along the Antrim Coast between Ballycastle and Larne via Cushenden has always been high summer season only.
So there is still a lot you can access- https://www.translink.co.uk/
The Sligo to Galway bus is another year round Expressway #64 bus which doesn't alter by season. The 64 actually starts in Derry so you could do the Antrim Coast then direct to Sligo on the bus then direct to Galway on the bus.
Train to Dublin or Tralee for buses to Dingle.
It is also entirely possible to go all the way from Galway to Dingle on buses 51 and 13 changing at Limerick, and almost as fast as the train.
From Dingle there are various TfI local link Kerry year round buses- 268, 275, 276, 277a and 277b which do a pretty reasonable job of covering the coast- https://www.locallinkkerry.ie/
Posted by
Lake District, England
10892 posts
For clarity for Bristol Airport you either take the train to Bristol Temple Meads then the frequent Airport Flyer bus which runs 24/7,
or the hourly 24/7 Stagecoach Falcon service which runs direct from Plymouth and various intermediate points- book it on the Megabus website
For Exeter Airport it is train to Exeter St Davids then bus 4a every 30 minutes (journey time 30 minutes)
Posted by
NC
72 posts
We were in the republic and Northern Ireland in October this year and found public transportation to be fine. My trip report has some details if you're interested: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/across-ireland-via-public-transportation.
The combination of trains, buses, and a few day trips booked through reliable companies made it very doable. And the knowledge of several others on this forum proved very very helpful!
Posted by
Seattle, WA & Bordeaux, France
561 posts
Hi there! We were just in Ireland this past October visiting our son, who lives in Co. Donegal. Most buses run year round (it's my son's mode of transportation) as do the trains. This past weekend he took the train to Belfast and the bus home from Belfast (with change in Derry.) We took the bus from Dublin airport to Galway (Citylink) in October, which takes about the same amount of time as the bus if you are coming from airport (if you are coming from Dublin city centre the train would be a bit easier.) Expressway (another bus with lots of year round routes) will get you from Letterkenny (Co. Donegal) to Dublin or from Derry to Galway (I think it's route 64?) and runs year-round with a stop in Sligo.
Hopefully this is helpful! Enjoy your visit!
Posted by
Bellingham, WA
1472 posts
You can also take a tour bus from Belfast to Giant's Causeway and Dun Luce Castle. I have used Paddywagon for this. It's a long day, but it's easy.
Posted by
OP
78 posts
Thanks for the replies, that really helps, especially with the transportation/bus availability in October.
I didn't want to add text to the original post to make it longer, but we are actually headed to Port Issac in Cornwall/UK for the Doc Martin tv show Get Together Oct 10-16, 2026. The cast will not be there, just a fan-based thing. Hate that it's in October but should work out ok.
We can't leave in early October before the Get Together to do our Ireland thing first because of scheduling. I should mention also that we have family friends who live in Southampton, England, and they are attending this Get Together with us, so they will be driving to Port Issac. After meeting up with them in Southampton, we will ride with them. After Oct 16 we go on to the Ireland excursion. Also going to head over to Scotland and Wales while we are there. It will be a 5-week trip. But thanks for the Ireland info. I may post more questions as I try and plan this thing out.