Car Rental from Stranraer ferry?

If your destination is Keswick the closest airport is Newcastle (see Hadrian's Wall on the way).

Forget the Belfast to Cairnryan ferry if you don't have your own wheels.

Forget the ferry, as it would involve a rail journey from Stranraer to where ever you decide to pick up the car.

It makes much more sense to fly - either Newcastle or Glasgow would work.

Hi, Hilary,

Your choice of airport would depend on two things:

1) Is there a direct flight from Belfast?

2) Where are you going after Keswick, and how long do you plan to have your rental car?

I guess that's three things!

EasyJet has non stop flights from Belfast to Glasgow, Liverpool, Newcastle, and Manchester. Glasgow would be the most convenient airport, as you can hop on the motorway and be in Keswick in three hours or less. EasyJet is reasonably priced, but charges an arm and a leg for baggage. However, you can balance your total cost on EasyJet against the cost of the ferry from Belfast to the Rhinns of Galloway, then train or bus to the nearest car hire location, which would most likely be Prestwick or Ayr.

Best wishes, and good luck!

Mike (Auchterless)

Glasgow would be the most convenient airport, as you can hop on the motorway and be in Keswick in three hours or less.

90 minutes from Newcastle on the A69 and M6

Thank you so much, your replies have been so helpful to us!

I see now that flying is certainly the way to go. We're now researching the cost of flights to these destinations from either George Best Airport (Belfast City) or Belfast Int'l, the cab fees to each, and the cost of rental cars and their return from Glasgow and Newcastle.

Your help has made this research much more straightforward. Thanks again!

Just posting this as a follow up for those who might be interested in the future.

Thanks to some YouTube searching, I found a couple of videos that reviewed the Hannon's bus service between Belfast and Glasgow. For 39GBP, you can get the Hannon's bus from the Europa Bus Station in Belfast to the Buchanan Bus Station in downtown Glasgow. The coach boards the Stena Line ferry for the 2 hr trip to Cairnryan, and you can get off the bus and walk around the ferry. Then the coach rolls off the bus and drives to Glasgow. Approx a 5 hour trip. Considering the cost of EasyJet flights, cabs or a bus to the Belfast Aldergrove airport, the additional cost of luggage, etc. this bus looks (from the video) like a great option. I've booked our tickets and I'm looking forward to a nice trip across the Irish Sea. We'll get the bus out to Glasgow airport from the Buchanan bus station, where we'll rent our car.

Here's the video for those who want to check out this option.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxvUN9DLNzQ&list=TLPQMDEwMjIwMjPxLagY4Zz1iw&index=2