Directions from Cork to Ballyshannon

jharr100

Hi folks,,
hope I'm in the right place here..

I'm driving to Ballyshannon, Donegal from Cork on Friday for the Rory Gallagher festival..

Can any body tell me the fastest, cheapest and easiest route?

Is there many tolls on the way?

Any help gratefully received!

Thanks!

Leonard Hofstadter

Head for Galway and as you get to Oranmore follow the signs for Sligo. As you get into Sligo follow the signs for Bundoran/Ballyshannon.

It's very well signposted, so you'll be fine:)!

It will take you up to five hours, so best of luck! There is a toll for the Limerick tunnell.

Grolschevik

Two routes here; the "cheaper" one will add an hour to your journey, according to: http://www2.aaireland.ie/routes_beta/#

bregina

Check out AA route planner, it will tell you distance, tolls, estimated time, even cost of petrol! have always found it reliable,
http://www2.aaireland.ie/routes_beta/

ValerieR

captainspeed wrote: »

Head for Galway and as you get to Oranmore follow the signs for Sligo. As you get into Sligo follow the signs for Bundoran/Ballyshannon.

It's very well signposted, so you'll be fine:)!

It will take you up to five hours, so best of luck! There is a toll for the Limerick tunnell.

+1
This is your best bet indeed. The Limerick tunnel is EUR1.80 for cars - well worth it rather than going through the city.
Enjoy the festival !

Redsoxfan

'Fastest' and 'easiest' would be M8->M7->N7->M50-M3->N3->A509->A46, i.e. head to Dublin, then take the Cavan road, on towards Enniskillen and finally Ballyshannon. Will be motorway more of the way than the Western route. But, you'll have quite a few tolls, so won't necessarily be the cheapest (cost will also depend on your speed as well)

Leonard Hofstadter

The Shore Road is an absolutely shocking road (the A46 between Ballyshannon and Enniskillen) - you'd want to be mad to even consider using that road unless absolutely necessary!

-Corkie-

Madness going by Enniskillen. Go Limerick-Galway-Sligo and you should make it in 4.5 hours off peak.

shanec1928

just to give you a bit of an idea who long it will take we done sligo to cork via galway and limerick in 3.40 on Friday arriving near mitchelstown at 7 pm and that was doing all speed limits. so add another 40 minutes on to that to get to ballyshannon.

Redsoxfan

Enniskillen to Ballyshannon is around 30 miles of the total journey in fairness. Isn't Cork - > Limerick a bit of a mare and you hit a lot of towns through the West as well?

ValerieR

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Enniskillen to Ballyshannon is around 30 miles of the total journey in fairness. Isn't Cork - > Limerick a bit of a mare and you hit a lot of towns through the West as well?

:eek: The Cork to Limerick road is waaaaaay better than the stretch between Ballyshannon and Enniskillen !

blackwhite

Redsoxfan wrote: »

'Fastest' and 'easiest' would be M8->M7->N7->M50-M3->N3->A509->A46, i.e. head to Dublin, then take the Cavan road, on towards Enniskillen and finally Ballyshannon. Will be motorway more of the way than the Western route. But, you'll have quite a few tolls, so won't necessarily be the cheapest (cost will also depend on your speed as well)

What sort of lunacy is this? From one point in the West to another point in the West, and he should travel via Dublin?? Looking at a min 5 hr 30 min journey that way.

As most others have suggested, Cork - Limerick - Galway - Sligo - Ballyshannon is the way to go. Most direct, fastest and decent roads for most of it. Only bit I would consider poor is from Tubbercurry to Colooney in Co. Sligo, but that should only take you 15-20 min. Total journey this way should be anything from 4 hours 30 to 5 hours.

Lando Griffin

If it was me I would go to Portlaoise on the motorway and head to Tullamore - Athlone - Roscommon - Boyle - Sligo - Ballyshannon at 252miles and approx 5h17mins.
Via Limerick is 229miles and 5h26mins.
If you go off peek easily done and good road as far as Roscommon town.
Roscommon to Boyle is a disaster but once past Boyle your flying on the N4.
Or when in Athlone head towards Longford and join the N4 there and this takes 262miles at 5h40mins.
All according to the AA.

shanec1928

Redsoxfan wrote: »

Enniskillen to Ballyshannon is around 30 miles of the total journey in fairness. Isn't Cork - > Limerick a bit of a mare and you hit a lot of towns through the West as well?

go off at oranmore which will miss all of the galway traffic, road works are finished in Tuam and like someone said the only bit of poor road would be after tobbercurry to ballinacarrow after that its grand. that road to Ballyshannon form Enniskillen is terrible as is the road from Athlone to Boyle.

mountain

Lando Griffin wrote: »

If it was me I would go to Portlaoise on the motorway and head to Tullamore - Athlone - Roscommon - Boyle - Sligo - Ballyshannon at 252miles and approx 5h17mins.
Via Limerick is 229miles and 5h26mins.
If you go off peek easily done and good road as far as Roscommon town.
Roscommon to Boyle is a disaster but once past Boyle your flying on the N4.
Or when in Athlone head towards Longford and join the N4 there and this takes 262miles at 5h40mins.
All according to the AA.

was in ballyshannon about 3 weeks ago, and this is the way we went,
no problems at all,

munchkin_utd

mountain wrote: »

was in ballyshannon about 3 weeks ago, and this is the way we went,
no problems at all,

am headin to Sligo (Enniscrone/ Easkey) and will use this way too (EDIT: meaning via Portlaoise/ midlands).
Went via Limerick last summer and nearly went spare.
In both directions.
Its a HATEFUL road aside from the small bits of dual carraigeway.
Always gettin stuck behind slow trafic.
The road is busy with oncoming traffic so you cant overtake and may go for dozens of km at a time at 60km/h REGARDLESS of it being wide enough to land a plane.
Isanely wide roads with hard shoulders and side roads on flyovers are useless if the culprit in the 20year old ford escort will not pull in to let past the trail of traffic they are slowing them.

If you go via the midlands (Tullamore - Mullingar too) you avoid a lot of those muppeteers and retain your sanity. And if you do get an odd auld lad with 2 bales in the boot doing 50kmh theres far less oncoming traffic so you arent stuck behind them for remotely as long.