Bus To london from ireland!

RobitTV

Hi has anyone every been on the Bus from ireland to London! is it bad? or good? i will probaly be going from Waterford city if i hear good reviews!

wmpdd3

Did it years ago, it was 25 pound return!, think I was 16.

Think it leftat 7pm, 1.5 hrs from Waterford to Rosslare, then 4 hrs during the night on the boat.

5 hrs to london, thankfully slept most of the way to london.

There was a toilet on the bus and I think we stopped at a motorway stop during the 5hrs to london.

davocesque

i go to college in london, so i get the ferry from dun laoghaire then the train to london for 35euro, its a great deal cuz if ur goin for a long period, u can bring as much luggage as you want for free! 35 quid all in, not bad!!

Monkey61

I used to do it all the time...but now I just fly because it is generally cheaper since the price of the bus went up.

Things to note...

1. People queue up very early for the bus, so get there early to make sure that you get a window seat (very important for sleeping, leaning later on as I personally find it impossible to relax in the aisle with nothing to lean on) or if you are with someone else, you will want to get a seat together.

2. When you get off the bus to get on the boat, have a cheap jumper,newspaper or something to leave on your seat in case someone tries to steal it. People generally get back on the same seats for the drive across England but there is always someone who tries to steal a better seat and in the middle of the night it is rubbish to suddenly be separated from your friend or be stuck sitting beside a crying child.

3. There is often a lot of travellers on the bus, which is obviously fine, but in my experience (have done this trip about 30 times) there can be loud drinking, arguing on the bus and screaming, fighting amongst themselves etc on the boat by the time people get quite pissed. Grand if you stay out of the way though.

4.There is often a lot of young children and babies as well, so can be a bit noisy.

5. It can either get very cold or extremely hot on the bus so wear layers of clothes that you can easily remove and bring a blanket if you can for sleeping.

6. You have to get on and off the bus a few times, to go through customs with your bags and if you like at the rest stops - do not leave valuables on the bus, I have seen people getting really upset because they left phones etc down for 2 minutes and they were robbed.

Overall it is an experience. Much better if you are the type that can sleep on buses and just a bit boring if you aren't. Totally grand though..even though I have laid out all the cons, it is fine. Though flying is usually now cheaper and a lot less hassle.

Fratton Fred

Personally i would do as davocesque said and get the boat train, or sailrail ticket.

From Rosslaire you are better off getting the Stenaline to Fishguard and the train from there.

You have to change at Swansea (which is about 1:30 from Fishguard), but the train leaves there at about 4am and gets into Paddington at 7:30 and it is empty when you get on, so there are lots of nice comfy seats to get a few hours kip in, there is also a buffet car, so you can grab a cup of tea and a bacon roll.