Lex Ferenda

The purpose of this page is to provide some information, based on my own experiences and those of others, on travelling between Ireland and the UK, and in particular between Dublin and London. Last updated December 2007.

Please contact me or leave a comment, if you have any ideas to add.

The information is divided into three sections - train and ferry, bus and ferry, and by air (choose between five airports and five airlines!). Sorry, I don’t drive, so I can’t give any information on that, although apparently it’s great craic.

Surface: Train and Ferry

Introduction, Fares and Booking

An excellent site is Seat61, providing information on rail (and rail/ferry travel) all across Europe and beyond. The page by ‘the man in seat 61′, Mark Smith on rail travel to/from Ireland was useful to me in my initial travels, and I’ve assisted (in a very small way) in keeping it up to date.

The big advantage of Dublin-London (or other Ireland-UK trips) via rail is that the price is set - i.e. it is €41 no matter what the demand or time of year is. I find this a really enjoyable trip, although it’s a little slower than flying (remember when comparing, though, to take transfer times to/from airports into account!). All fares are one-way (a return is two one-way trips).  Up-to-date UK train times are at the National Rail website. You can actually figure out the full time package through that site now - put in Dublin Ferryport or Dun Laoghaire; you can put in Connolly too although it just takes a guess at the transfer time to Dublin Port…

In the UK, you can book at a mainline railway station, on the Stena Line website (if you have a UK address) or with the relevant ferry company; in Ireland, try the ferry company or the Irish Rail central travel office. There’s no way to do this online from Ireland (although telephone bookings are OK).

However, there is (in theory) no need for advance booking, as the prices are fixed. Indeed, a booking from the Irish side doesn’t even specify ferry times or trains to travel on, but it’s never really much of an issue (except for the fact that even if you want a reserved seat on a train, they can’t give you one). Bookings made in the UK will have reservations attached. Again, depending on your travel plans, this could be a good thing or a bad thing.

During winter weather, the Stena and Irish Ferries fast ferries are liable to be cancelled on bad days - though the Irish Ferries slow ferry is pretty much year-round. In addition, both fast ferries are out of action during part of January for repairs/maintenance.

Choosing a Route and Getting Started

There are three possible boats - Irish Ferries fast or slow, and Stena fast. The Stena slow boat is not accessible to foot passengers, and therefore no use for a sail&rail ticket. You have a choice between the three boats, and no surcharges apply - however your ticket will be made out for either IF or Stena (as they use different ports) so you are bound to follow that.

If you’re travelling Irish Ferries, you need to make your own way to/from Dublin ferryport - there’s a shuttle bus from Busáras (central bus station) that costs €2.50 (exact fare). Buses are timed to meet all departures and arrivals. Here’s a list of times from Dublin Bus (finally, an official list on the Dublin Bus website - use this rather than the older Irish Ferries page. Note that this confirms that there *is* a bus that connects to the 0805 slow ferry! (For some time, this service appeared to be in limbo). The times are important for the Busáras-Port journey; for the Port-Busáras journey, it waits until the foot passengers have come off the ferry and picked up their bags (15-30 minutes after docking). The bus number is 53B or just a sign for “Irish Ferries” or “Ferryport”.

If you’re travelling Stena, just get the DART or a local bus to Dún Laoghaire. DART trains take about 20 minutes to the city centre, they come every 10-20 minutes.

In Holyhead, the train station and the ferry terminal are in the same building. However, while the fast Stena boat docks directly in the terminal, the Irish Ferries boats are some distance away, so you are bussed (takes about 2 minutes) into the terminal. There’s all sorts of oddness for the Irish Ferries - one time they bussed us out to this old building and then 15 minutes later we were just led to walk up the ramp behind the cars….

In London, everything leaves from Euston station (accessible by underground; also within walking distance of Kings Cross/St. Pancras).

Big bags get checked in, and are delivered back to you (usually pretty immediately) in the ferry terminal at the end of your journey. Hand luggage can come on with you. There are no luggage restrictions for sail-rail tickets.  Which is great! Let me say that again. No luggage restrictions. None.

Times - Dublin to London

These times are for Monday to Friday only. The train times are different at the weekend, and Saturday night/Sunday morning are particular problems.

0805 slow ferry or 1110 Stena fast ferry: connect at Holyhead to the 1414 direct to London (arrives 1819) (there is a slightly earlier departure that involves lots of changes; the wait if you’re getting the 0805 is nearly 3 hours at Holyhead)
0845 fast ferry: connect at Holyhead to the 1140 train, change at Crewe (arrives 1626)
1430 fast ferry: connect at Holyhead to the 1727 train, change at Crewe (arrives 2147)
2055 slow ferry: connect at Holyhead to the 0150 to Birmingham, then get the train to London (arrives 0708). You can also stay overnight in Holyhead and get a morning train to London.

There’s a Stena fast ferry at 1800 but it’s too late for a connection to London  (connections to other places e.g. Liverpool, Manchester etc are OK). You could stay overnight in Holyhead and then get a train the following day - Stena tell me this is OK, although technically the first train the following day is the 0150, so it’s probably not that one you want…as it’s about six hours between the arrival of the ferry and the departure of the train. Course, you could go to the pub…

Times: London to Dublin (”The other direction…”)

These times are for Monday to Friday only. The train times are different at the weekend, and Saturday night/Sunday morning are particular problems.

Leave London 0646 (change at Crewe and Chester), to get the 1200 Irish Ferries (fast) to Dublin (arrive 1349)
Leave London 0900 (direct), to get the 1410 Irish Ferries (slow) to Dublin (arrive 1725) - this is a great service if you don’t like changing trains! This service also connects with the 1530 Stena, with a 2-hour wait at Holyhead.
Leave London 0946 (change at Crewe and Chester), to get the 1530 Stena to Dún Laoghaire (arrive 1709). Or get the 0900 train, with a longer wait at Holyhead.
Leave London 1127 (change at Chester), to get the 1715 Irish Ferries (fast) to Dublin (arrive 1915).
Leave London 1938 (direct), to get the 0240 Irish Ferries (slow) to Dublin (3+ hour wait in Holyhead, though) (arrive 0555 following day) (there are other ways to do this via Chester/Crewe if you’d rather spend your waiting time there)

As explained above, the Dublin services are met by a shuttle bus and you can catch any bus or a DART train from the Dún Laoghaire arrival.

A note on the overnights

A note on the 2055 ferry (when travelling Dublin to London and arriving at 0708 the following day) - yes it is possible to do this and get some sleep. You can either sleep on the boat (it’s over three hours, very stable and lots of space and quiet spots, sometimes it seems like half the passengers are asleep somewhere) or try and catch some on the train. (You can also pay for a cabin on the ferry but it’s not possible to pre-book it, so you take your chances with there being a bed available on the day).

You’ll have to wait for a bit in Holyhead for the train, but once you get it it’s usually quite empty, so you can try and stretch. Unfortunately the Virgin trains in use don’t have reclining seats, so it’s not ideal. At Birmingham, you have to change trains, but the wait isn’t long. The second leg is about an hour and a half and is usually quite busy, although you might be able to doze a bit.

When you get to Euston, the showers in the station are not available to you (first class only!), but you can try Kings Cross station (ten minutes walk) where you can pay (£3) for a shower, towels etc. Highly recommended.

The other way around (where you leave London at 1938) would be great, if not for the long wait in Holyhead ferry terminal (as I mentioned,  you can soften it a wee bit by waiting in Crewe instead).  Once you’re on board, again you can try for a cabin (although naturally this is the busiest time for cabins!) or find somewhere else for a nap. Be aware that when you get to Dublin, there is a shuttle bus (although you might have to wait a few minutes) which goes to Busáras (comfortably connecting with the 7am buses, of which there are many) and Heuston (railway) station, reaching the latter around 7am (which may or may not get you onto a 7am train!), and other public transport creaks into action between 6 and 7 depending on where you’re trying to get to. As of summer 2007, there is now a good (and new, and clean, and not overpriced, and safe, and late-opening) coffee shop in Holyhead which is a major plus if you’re planning to wait it out there.

On Board Your Ferry

The ferries are fairly well served with stuff-to-do.  If you don’t like the sea feeling, stick to the slow boats.

The Stena fast ferry (”HSS”, the “Stena Explorer”) is or at least was the biggest high-speed boat in the world, it takes 1h40 port to port. It doesn’t have cabins (obviously!) although it does have a first-class lounge for an extra €15 (pay on entrance). For the rest of us, you have a restaurant (that does a decent breakfast or curry), a Burger King, a sprinkling of coffee shops and bars, video games, kids play area, TVs, seating areas, and the obligatory large shop. The shop has fairly good deals on cosmetics, jewellery, alcohol etc (and various silly Irish and Welsh items).

The Irish Ferries slow ferry (Ulysses) is the largest ferry in the world.  It has all sorts spread across multiple levels, including shops (loadsa discounted alcohol), restaurants, bars, a cinema, oodles of different kinds of seating areas, a huge outdoor deck (although the fresh air is mixed in with the product of the banished smokers!) and so on.  The first class area is up on the 11th level and is €15…a nice area, with unlimited free nibbles/wine/tea-coffee etc.  This boat takes about 3h30 to cross, and as mentioned above, has cabins available.

Finally, the Irish Ferries fast ferry (”Jonathan Swift”) is the smallest of the lot, takes just short of two hours to cross, and has a bar, a coffee dock, a shop, a cinema screen of some sort, and a surprisingly large club class area.  No cabins.  Personally this is my least favourite of the three (and it seems to be the first to cancel during bad weather), although the times can sometimes work out quite convenient.

Surface: Bus and Ferry

Bus Times and Routes

The overnight bus leaves Dublin (Busáras, the main bus station) at 2015 and joins the vehicles-only Stena ferry from Dublin to Holyhead; it continues on through the night calling at Birmingham (0530) and other destinations, reading London at 0800 (Golders Green) and finally the main (Victoria) coach station at 0845.

In the other direction, it leaves Victoria at 1800, Birmingham 2150 and arrives back in Dublin at 0630 (bus station).

Day services are also available - at least Thursday to Sunday (going from Ireland) and Friday to Monday (the other direction), and sometimes daily (e.g. during the busy Christmas period). These may vary, but typically the departure is Dublin 0745 (arriving London 1930) and London 0715 (arriving Dublin 1800, but via the Stena HSS at Dún Laoghaire - see above for information on this boat).

What’s it like?

You need to get this bus from Busáras - i.e. you cannot join it at Dublin or Dún Laoghaire ferry ports. In the UK, you can pick it up or get off anywhere (well, at the official stops like Birmingham, Milton Keynes etc) but not at Holyhead.

You are allowed to have two large suitcases plus your hand luggage (and they seem fairly flexible about the size and weight of what you put into the luggage underbelly of the bus!)  Normally, your luggage goes all the way through (i.e. the bus travels on the ship) and you simply get off the bus once it’s on board, and remember to get back onto it when they make the appropriate announcement (usually about five minutes before docking).

Once you’re on board, you’re free to roam like any other passenger, but you can’t go back to your stuff on the bus. When you are travelling from London to Dublin, you’ll usually need to clear customs at Holyhead.  This means you get off the bus, collect your luggage, walk in one door and out the other, and (assuming you don’t raise any issues) put the luggage back in the bus and get back on board.  This sometimes happens the other way around too.  Irish police will also board Dublin arrivals and check passports/visas etc when the bus leaves the ferry in Dublin port).

The ferry, the Stena Adventurer, is similar to the Ulysses (Irish Ferries) described above (but with slightly smaller and fewer distractions), and also has various configurations of cabin, which you can book on board (but not in advance).  It has a small-ish first class pay-to-enter area, and the usual shops and restaurants.  And yes, it has a cinema.  A nice boat, all things considered.

The bus is fairly comfortable (the newest Eurolines buses are great and are only used on the Ireland-UK services) although occasionally you can get an older bus at the last minute.  There are a couple of rest stops - usually a 45 minute stop at a motorway service station where you’ll find a shop, a fast food outlet and a coffee shop, and often a further stop for 20/30 minutes.  Be back at the bus by the time you’re supposed to be!  This breaks up the journey nice and well.  Oh, and there are check in times at both ends so don’t turn up at the last minute.

Here’s an interesting account of Dublin-London by bus and ferry.

There’s also a service to/from Leeds that leaves Dublin around the same time as the London service (the overnight only - there is no day service) and calls at Manchester, Liverpool, etc, using the Irish Ferries Ulysses instead of the Stena ferry.

Booking

An online booking can be made via Bus Éireann’s Eurolines page (it seems to have some problems on Macs or with certain browsers) or the Ireland page from National Express (no tech issues, but only possible if the journey starts in UK). The cheapest one-way fare is €20 (return €35) but there are limited seats at that price, and the ‘normal’ is €45 (return €65). You also need a 5-day advance purchase to get the cheap fare.  National Express prices are slightly different, but start from £10.

Flights

Dublin Airport

For a London flight, you need to be leaving Dublin city centre on Aircoach (€12 return) or Dublin Bus Airlink (€6 each way) about 2 hours before your flight departs. If you’ve checked in in advance, you can slice some time off this. If you’re going early in the morning, best to allow a little more time as the bus frequency is reduced (and Dublin Bus doesn’t start until 5.15 (city to airport) on this route).  Airlink, though, goes through the new Port Tunnel, which is sometimes quicker in times of heavy traffic.  There are local buses for under €2 but they take their time.

Dublin Airport is pretty mad these days, as the various extensions take shape, and the Irish love affair with flying keeps on going. Especially during school holidays or major events, it is little more than chaos on stilts. But we have come to accept that, it seems…

Wifi is part of the Eircom service and starts at €3 for half an hour, €5 for an hour - buy online when you connect or get a ticket from one of the vending machines around the airport.

Airlines

Aer Lingus flies around 12 times a day in each direction, Dublin to Heathrow. Fares start at €1 plus charges of about €30 one way. Baggage is €4 per checked-in bag. Online checkin is free and open to all. Seats are allocated, and you can select at the time of booking or afterwards. Booking fee €5.  Since October, Aer Lingus also flies to Gatwick (similar fares).

Ryanair flies to Stansted, Luton and Gatwick. Fares start at 0.01c (!) and the taxes/charges vary and seem to change all the time, but they’re around €7 to €15 per flight. Gatwick tends to have higher taxes. Credit card fee €3 per one-way flight (€1 for debit cards). Bags €6 per bag, online checkin (including priority boarding) is now free if you have hand luggage, but if not it’s €3 to check in in the airport (!) and priority boarding is an extra €3. In total, Ryanair have at least 20 flights a day, with the majority going to Stansted.

British Airways flies to Gatwick only, a few times a day. It’s more expensive but nice. The cheapest fare is about €60 one-way. The range of charges and add-ons familiar from Ryanair (and recently, Aer Lingus) is missing from the BA experience - although as of February 2007, you can only check one bag in (it can be heavy, all the way up to 23kg), anything extra is expensive. You still get free (and decent) food on the first flight of the day out of both Dublin and Gatwick. You’ll see lots of BA flight numbers on Dublin-Heathrow - but they are ‘codeshare’ Aer Lingus flights, used in particular by people transferring to BA flights from Heathrow to somewhere else.

BMI (formerly British Midland) also flies to Heathrow, prices start at €30 one-way including taxes. Credit card fee €7.50 per booking (I think). No other charges that I know of.

CityJet (Air France) goes to London City Airport. Very much for the business market, and quite expensive, as far as I’ve seen (maybe they have bargains out there? tell me if you’ve seen them!)

Hunting for Cheap Fares

The best timesaver is the Skyscanner site: follow this direct link (or start from the homepage) and either fill in the dates you want, or use the various charts if your dates are flexible. This covers AL, Ryanair and BMI - but not BA or Cityjet.

Don’t forget to factor in your local travel costs if you’re trying to cut the pennies…

To and From the Airport(s) in London

Heathrow to London city centre is by Tube (£4 to Zone 1, *much* cheaper with Oyster card), express train (£14, Heathrow Express to Paddington) or coach (£4 to Victoria). Allow about an hour or more for Tube/coach.

Stansted is expensive to get to/from, your options are the Stansted Express (£15 single, £16 cheap day return, £25 open return, although you get 1/3 off with a young person’s railcard) to Liverpool St (45 minutes) or coach - Terravision charges £8 single, £14 return to either Liverpool St or Victoria. National Express does it (on average every 10-20 minutes, it seems!) for £10 single, £16 return. A coach will take you at least an hour and a half, at most times.

On the other hand, Stansted is very close to Cambridge and other just-out-of-London locations, to which you can travel without going through the city. Nice.

Gatwick’s a wee bit easier, with the overpriced Gatwick Express (£14) to Victoria, as well as local trains serving all sorts of places in London. Especially if you have a Young Person’s (or other) Railcard, the non-express options (First Capital Connect on the Thameslink service to London Bridge, City Thameslink, King’s Cross Thameslink etc or Southern to Victoria) may be of interest to you. In particular, the Southern trains do the journey to Victoria in 40 minutes, just a few minutes more than the ‘Express’ but £5 cheaper. Note: the situation at Kings Cross/St Pancras is changing all the time as St P becomes the new Eurostar terminal.

Irish flights arrive in the South terminal, which is also where the trains leave from. If you’d prefer to bus it, National Express charges £6.60 (or £12.20 return) into Victoria - and it takes about an hour and a half.

Luton Airport is also to the north of the city, and is linked in by trains (to “Luton Airport Parkway”, about 5 minutes away but thankfully via shuttle bus) which go to/from Kings Cross Thameslink and other Thameslink destinations.. You can also go with National Express, and there is an unusual EasyBus (from EasyJet, of course!) that anyone can travel on. Fares start at £2 one way, although there are some baggage surcharges, and you might actually be in a van/minibus. Those buses start from a stop near Baker St tube station. Takes about 1h15 to 1h30.

By the way, it is possible to get between the London airports - National Express has a patchwork of routes, most frequently between Heathrow and Gatwick (both off the M25, takes an hour and a half). There is also a (slow) direct train link between Gatwick and Luton.

I finally activated Akismet and dealt with the spam problem - it catches virtually everything that it should and nothing that it shouldn’t. Please let me know if you do have any problems in commenting, though.

Each post has a Save as PDF and post to del.icio.us link - the former is a plugin and the latter is just a helpful line of code. I still need to play with the formatting on the PDF, but it’s a nice touch.

I’ve added a direct link to the Tim Hortons page. Every month, Tim Hortons Dublin (or versions of it) is the search term that brings more people to this page than anything else. This is in the sidebar, alongside the direct link to Dublin-London travel options (coming close to Timmy’s popularity already).

My own del.icio.us page lives over here. I’ll look at ways to integrate it into the blog a little better.