take the train, instead of the plane

Mint Sauce

really considering doing this as an alternative in traveling to london from the NW of ireland, heres my reasoning,

i travel to london 2 to 3 times a years, takeing the train to dublin, and fly to london, and often, between, train, plane and conection times, by the time i leave the house, and get to my final destination, can be up to 7 to 8 hours traveling , and between train, plane (any other apart from ryanair) and connection fares, usally costs 70 to 80 yo yos. to allow for connections at either end, have to leave in the morning, and dont get there till afternoon/evening, beween outward and rtn journey, thats almost 2 days of my holiday gone.

now prompted by another thread, was looking at the train, took the bus all the way before, about 10 years ago, and after almost 18hrs, including the cruise ferry, lugage lost, possibly stolen off the bus, swore never again, the train is now apealing to me

was looking up nationalrail inqueries, a UK website, which has, as i have found in the past, a very useful journey planner, enter your departure and arrival points (covers island of ireland as well), includs all connections, times and costs and links to book your journey. i found a plan i could possibly live with, ok, costs about 80 to 90 sterling, but covers train to dublin, connections to ferryport, dart/bus depending on times, fast ferry to the UK, and train to london, outward journey is over night, ariving in london in morning, as is rtn journey, ariving back in the NW around lunch time

as journeys are overnight, less of my holiday lost (can cope with the nights sleep lost), also no baggage limits, can grap a few winks on the ferry/train if need be, and probably less streesful

am i mad to consider it, would you consider it, any one done it

Savman

It's called 'Sail Rail' and it's a helluva lot easier than doing the coach thing. See info on Irish Ferries or Stena Line sites for times etc.

Vokes

I did the Sailrail thing one Xmas eve-eve overnight. London -> Rosslare -> Wicklow. 25GBP one way, so very very cheap. Caught some shuteye on the fairly quiet ferry too.

Not sure I'd do it again though considering the time it takes. But its a nice cheap option of you've got a fair few bags on you.

Whereabouts in the NW are you? Is Knock not accessible to you for Ryanair flights to Luton?

Mint Sauce

Savman wrote: »

It's called 'Sail Rail' and it's a helluva lot easier than doing the coach thing. See info on Irish Ferries or Stena Line sites for times etc.

already looked up the times, as per my reference to national rail inquires, that includs the ferry crossing times on it, and shows price including all the train link times, from any where in country, to any where in UK and vis versa

speciaclly looking for peoples opinion to it, compared to traveling a few hours to the airport, hanging round an airport, and futher travel from destination airport, which takes up most of the day, and almost said day lost

as i said, done the whole journey by bus before, never again

SofaK wrote: »

I did the Sailrail thing one Xmas eve-eve overnight. London -> Rosslare -> Wicklow. 25GBP one way, so very very cheap. Caught some shuteye on the fairly quiet ferry too.

Not sure I'd do it again though considering the time it takes. But its a nice cheap option of you've got a fair few bags on you.

Whereabouts in the NW are you? Is Knock not accessible to you for Ryanair flights to Luton?

knock is acsesable, but not a fan of coach travel, and dont do ryan air, usally fly from dublin to gatwick or heathrow, but looking at the train all the way as a possible alternative, considering rising fuel charges, stupid add on fees, and reducing baggage allowance

Savman

The Coach method is an absolute dog of a journey. SailRail gets my vote for a relatively stress free alternative to the hellish experience that is Dublin Airport most days. When you add up all the checking in, fannying around in the terminal, transfers between airport and destination city etc etc you soon see how a 35min flight equals nearly 5-6hrs in actual travel time.

Biggest problem with Ferry travel is they get cancelled first sign of bad weather. Got stung once before meself. Flights will always take off barring a real freak storm.

P. Breathnach

Savman wrote: »

Biggest problem with Ferry travel is they get cancelled first sign of bad weather. Got stung once before meself. Flights will always take off barring a real freak storm.

It's the fast ferries that often get cancelled. Apparently they don't function so well when wave heights exceed something like 6 feet. The traditional boats, which they now call cruise ferries, seem able for almost anything you get on the Irish Sea (whether or not the passengers are is another question).