Dublin to Donegal 3 hours?

silverharp

there is a tourist ad at the moment for Donegal saying its 3 hours to Donegal (from Dublin). Is it true? last time I was there (early 90's) it was more like a 5 hour+ affair to Glencolumbkill, I could imagine some time saving in the mean time but so much?

foggy_lad

fastest i can find is 3hours 30 minutes to lifford

but the 6.35am bus departs the airport at 6.35am and gets to lifford at 9.45am so that is under 3 hours!

baddler

well depends on where you're going. the very southern part (Ballyshannon/Bundoran) would take about 3 hours non-stop what with the new motorway bypassing all the bottle-necks in Meath. rest of Donegal you're obviously adding on one to two hours so they're being a bit loose with the facts there really

sharkbite1983

foggy_lad wrote: »

fastest i can find is 3hours 30 minutes to lifford

but the 6.35am bus departs the airport at 6.35am and gets to lifford at 9.45am so that is under 3 hours!

when i was at school we'd call that over three hours.

JHMEG

Fly Dublin to Derry and then across to Donegal by bus or taxi etc?

lord lucan

baddler wrote: »

well depends on where you're going. the very southern part (Ballyshannon/Bundoran) would take about 3 hours non-stop what with the new motorway bypassing all the bottle-necks in Meath. rest of Donegal you're obviously adding on one to two hours so they're being a bit loose with the facts there really

They're probably taking the southernmost part of the county nearest Dublin and basing their timings off of that. It's like ads for houses in Enfield saying they're 25 minutes from Dublin! Not from the City Centre it ain't,Dublin County it is.

Cookie_Monster

Dept of Tourism so its probably a case of straight line measurement from A to B and dived by 120kph :rolleyes:

ardmacha

Google trip planner gives O'Connell St Dublin to Lifford as 2hrs 47mins.
With the M3 I expect Ballyshannon is about the same.
Now of course the places you want to visit in Donegal are another hour, but the county is 3 hours from Nelson's Pillar.

Polar101

Going Out Dublin (DUB) - Donegal (CFN)

Day Wed
Date 28 Jul, 2010
Departs 11:40
Arrives 12:30

Well under 3 hours.

Snickers Man

Only if you're a Donegal driver.

silverharp

thought so, so even being reasonable, leaving college Green Sat. morning 8am to be at the Quayside to get across to Aranmore is still going to be 4.5 to 5hr trip

foggy_lad

sharkbite1983 wrote: »

when i was at school we'd call that over three hours.

I missed that part of the lesson because the bus was ten minutes late:D

dcr22B

I've done Lusk to Letterkenny in 2h 42 legally.

L1011

When you went to Glencolumbcille in the 1990s I suspect that you went by the N4 which ran through Sligo town centre, Boyle, all the villages through the Curlews, Edgeworthstown, possibly Longford depending how long ago it was, Kinnegad, etc, etc...

The N4 has had MASSIVE amounts of non-motorway upgrades since that point as well as the motorway closer to Dublin. Add to that that the routes to other parts of the county or from other parts of Dublin (N2/N3) have had similar upgrades or motorway projects - 3hrs is entirely doable.

L1011

silverharp wrote: »

thought so, so even being reasonable, leaving college Green Sat. morning 8am to be at the Quayside to get across to Aranmore is still going to be 4.5 to 5hr trip

I've done Ashbourne to Burtonport in little over 3 hours, its not 2 hours from college green to ashbourne!

unknownlegend

MYOB wrote: »

I've done Ashbourne to Burtonport in little over 3 hours, its not 2 hours from college green to ashbourne!

I do North Dublin City to Burtonport in ~3 hours 20 mins, give or take a few depending on traffic. Takes about 50 mins to get from the Donegal border to Burtonport usually so I guess NDC to Donegal county in less than 2.5 hours is well achievable, giving half an hour to get you to the full 3 :cool:

The Big Red Button

It'll depend what part you're going to. When the roads are quiet, I get from Dublin city centre to Sligo in two and a quarter hours or less ... and Sligo to Bundoran is about twenty-five minutes. So you'd definitely get as far as Bundoran/Ballyshannon in less than three hours. As far as I know, most people go there via Sligo, not sure about that though!

gingerGiant

Have done Letterkenny to Navan in 2h 25 via the A5 and N2, Ardee to Navan is about 20 mins so if I had taken N33->M1->Port Tunnel I probably could have been at O'Connell Bridge in under 3 hours.

This was done legally in a transit connect so in a car should be very doable.

digiman

Blanchardstown to Killybegs normally takes me 2hrs 45mins via the new M3

Mint Sauce

silverharp wrote: »

there is a tourist ad at the moment for Donegal saying its 3 hours to Donegal (from Dublin). Is it true? last time I was there (early 90's) it was more like a 5 hour+ affair to Glencolumbkill, I could imagine some time saving in the mean time but so much?

possible to a boarder town in south donegal such as petiego if going though the north. or at a real push to fundoran, sorry, bundoran on the letriem boarder at the very south of the county, if heading via the N4 and sligo. also depends on your start point in dublin, reckon those times are from the airport.

add another up to hour plus depending on where your heading to in the county

glencolumkill would still take about even 4 hours today

Diarmuid

digiman wrote: »

Blanchardstown to Killybegs normally takes me 2hrs 45mins via the new M3

Apologies for digging up an old thread.

With the recent upgrades to the M3/M4 , two roads I am not at all familiar with, which of the two is the quickest to Donegal town from Dublin?

That travel time seems very quick, how much of that route is now motorway? Does the M4 go past Kells now?

Stonewolf

I normally go (to Killybegs which is through Donegal Town) via Sligo, makes for about a 3 hour trip. There are a few spots that still need attention but in general it's good road.

The other option is up the M3 and through the North via Pettigo or Ballyshannon. I haven't travelled this road in ages but my perception of taking the bus recently is that the M4 is still the way to go. This route is physically shorter but the roads are of a lesser quality.

Losty Dublin

The M/N4 would be quicker and handier as virtually every main town is by passed bar Sligo itself; also once you cross the border the roads are not that good with no by passes to speak of. There is a short cut cross country from Bellinaleck to Blacklion and Belleck that would match the Sligo road timewise but you'd need to be careful on it as it's easy to get lost on.

Diarmuid

Thanks! M4/N4 it is then