Sail and Rail ticket to Cardiff for the Ireland Wales game

oxygen

Hey

Im finding it a bit tricky to purchase a Sail & Rail ticket to Cardiff from Ireland. As far as I can see you cant buy them online, is this right?

Can anyone advise the best route. Preferably I would leave from Rosslare, but Dublin is no problem either. I'm looking to go over Friday the 1st of Feb and come back Sun the 3rd of Feb. (Heading over for the Ireland v Wales 6 nations)

Thanks in advance

Bogger77

train from Fishguard (Roslare) is direct to Swansea, with a train waiting to go onwards towards London, this stops in Cardiff. Only 2 trains per day from Fishguard, they go to Swansea, with connections toward London/Cardiff.

from Holyhead, there's a train at 4am or so direct to Cardiff, if you get the night ferry from Dublin, with a train every hour or so during the day.

Book online with stena (Rosslare and Dublin Port)
http://www.stenaline.ie/ferry/rail-and-sail/holyhead/
http://www.stenaline.ie/ferry/rail-and-sail/fishguard/

Irish Ferries (dublin port only)
http://www.irishferries.com/ie/sailrail.asp

happyfeet22

You can book online but its easier to just give them a call. Do it asap though as availability can be an issue on rugby weekends.

Hilly Bill

The Dublin Swift is out from today until the 5 of feb so your only options will be the 08.05 cruise ship and the 20.55.
The only prob with the 20.55 is that you have a wait in Holyhead of around 4 hours for the first train.

Irish ferries dont seem to be doing the Rosslare route for some reason unless its Cars only and no foot passengers.

Stena have roughly the same times from Dublin port but not sure if they take foot passengers as they dont seem to take them in Rosslare.

use http://www.qjump.co.uk/ to work out you train times in the UK. Click underneath were it gives you the changes and it will open up a box that will show you your train times and changes like this example


Outward Journey (03 Feb 2013)
Depart Arrive Travel by Train company Duration
11:25 Cardiff Central
16:15 Fishguard Harbour Bus ARRIVA TRAINS WALES 04h 50.

Irish Ferries out of Dublin looks your best bet if the train times work out. The 08.05 out and the 14.10 back. .

Actually scrap that, you wont get a train back in time for the 14.10.

Its the sunday service on the train thats the killer.

Cheapest flights are over €300 return.

oxygen

Bogger77 wrote: »

train from Fishguard (Roslare) is direct to Swansea, with a train waiting to go onwards towards London, this stops in Cardiff. Only 2 trains per day from Fishguard, they go to Swansea, with connections toward London/Cardiff.

from Holyhead, there's a train at 4am or so direct to Cardiff, if you get the night ferry from Dublin, with a train every hour or so during the day.

Book online with stena (Rosslare and Dublin Port)
http://www.stenaline.ie/ferry/rail-and-sail/holyhead/
http://www.stenaline.ie/ferry/rail-and-sail/fishguard/

Irish Ferries (dublin port only)
http://www.irishferries.com/ie/sailrail.asp

Thanks alot guys.

Doesn't look great, I think the only option I have is with irishferries for €100 return to Cardiff. I will call stenna line tomorrow, but more than likely just book this. Didnt think it would sell out this quickly. Rugby eh?

P_1

Another option could be to fly to one of the London airports, book a sail/rail from London to Rosslare and there you go.

Might actually be quicker than the ferry/train via Hollyhead.

oxygen

P_1 wrote: »

Another option could be to fly to one of the London airports, book a sail/rail from London to Rosslare and there you go.

Might actually be quicker than the ferry/train via Hollyhead.

Is that even an option? Do you mean fly to London Friday morning and take the train to Cardiff

P_1

oxygen_temp wrote: »

Is that even an option? Do you mean fly to London Friday morning and take the train to Cardiff

That's exactly what I mean

It takes just over 2 hours for the train to go from London to Cardiff, you'd have to change trains in Cardiff anyway to get to Fishguard so you can just get out in Cardiff (say you're going to get food or something if you're challenged but you shouldn't be). The sail/rail ticket from London Paddington to Rosslare (via Cardiff) costs £45. Skyscanner is telling me that Ryanair will fly you from Dublin to Stansted for €36. You just need to give yourself enough time to get from Stansted to Paddington.

Here's your site to buy your Sail/Rail ticket (you can pick up this ticket from the machines in any mainline UK train station).
http://railsaver.raileasy.co.uk/

Bogger77

Hilly Bill wrote: »

Irish ferries dont seem to be doing the Rosslare route for some reason unless its Cars only and no foot passengers.

No train from Prembroke Dock on the Welsh side.

Geog1234

The overnight trip via Holyhead is far from appealing due to around four hours wait between the ferry arrival and first train at 04.25.

If travelling overnight Rosslare is far better. Depart Rosslare with Stena at 21.00 and reach Cardiff at 04.52 (a change at Swansea is necessary but the train for Cardiff is ready for boarding when arriving from Fishguard).

Rosslare to Cardiff is 40 euro if bought ahead. 46 euro if bought on the day.

This ticket can also be bought to start at a station in Ireland, like Arklow (Arklow-Cardiff 50 euro single). Irish Rail telephone sales will sell these tickets. Pay by card and its posted out (no fees).
http://www.irishrail.ie/index.jsp?p=118&n=249#SailRail

Friday evenings there's a train out of Dublin at 16.37 arriving into Rosslare at 19.25 in handy time for the 21.00 sailing.

Returning on Sunday depart Cardiff 11.18 arriving Fishguard 14.00 (same train - no change). Ferry departs at 14.30 and back in Rosslare 18.00.

Or depart Cardiff Sunday night 22.30, arrive Fishguard 01.30 (same train - no change). Ferry sails at 02.45 and back in Rosslare at 06.15. There's a train at 07.20 to Arklow/Wicklow/Dublin.

Possible to buy a return ticket or, if one way you want to use the train this side, just get a single over and a single back.

The port and rail station at Pembroke Dock are about twenty minutes walk from each other unlike Fishguard where the port and station are the one and same place. Possible to travel as a foot passenger Rosslare-Pembroke but would have to make own way to station and there are no trains late at night. Train times for the West of WAles here:http://www.arrivatrainswales.co.uk/WorkArea/linkit.aspx?LinkIdentifier=id&ItemID=3707&libID=4142

The Idyl Race

P_1 wrote: »

That's exactly what I mean

It takes just over 2 hours for the train to go from London to Cardiff, you'd have to change trains in Cardiff anyway to get to Fishguard so you can just get out in Cardiff (say you're going to get food or something if you're challenged but you shouldn't be). The sail/rail ticket from London Paddington to Rosslare (via Cardiff) costs £45. Skyscanner is telling me that Ryanair will fly you from Dublin to Stansted for €36. You just need to give yourself enough time to get from Stansted to Paddington.

Here's your site to buy your Sail/Rail ticket (you can pick up this ticket from the machines in any mainline UK train station).
http://railsaver.raileasy.co.uk/

Warning: Short notice rail tickets from London to anywhere can be prohibitively expensive. You aren't in Kansas anymore Toto.

Not that I'd encourage anyone to fly with FR, but it may be possible to fly to Bristol with EI or FR and take the train from Bristol Temple Meads to Cardiff Central. You may not be the only person doing that so check the airfares. Train fares from Bristol to Cardiff usually reasonable and journey takes about an hour.

oxygen

Thanks for all the replies guys, appreciate it, helped alot.

Managed to book below this morning with IrishFerries.ie. Booked it in work, so haven't spent too long reviewing it, but as far as I can see it all looks fairly legit.

I think I need to start looking into train times. I'm hoping I can get a train from Holyhead fairly straight forward. Bogger77 above mentioned there is a train roughly every hour

Good value, €86 each way pp

SAILING

Departs : Check appropriate rail timetables for more information.
Arrives : Check appropriate rail timetables for more information.
Sailing with : Mainline Rail
Route : Dublin - Cardiff Central

Departs : 01 FEB 2013 at 08.05 Terminal 1 Dublin Port
Arrives : 01 FEB 2013 at 11.30
Sailing with : Irish Ferries
Route : Dublin to Holyhead - Ulysses
Passengers : 2 Adult;
Fare : Zone D
__________________________________________________________________________________
SAILING

Departs : Check appropriate rail timetables for more information.
Arrives : Check appropriate rail timetables for more information.
Sailing with : Mainline Rail
Route : Cardiff Central - Dublin

Departs : 03 FEB 2013 at 14.10
Arrives : 03 FEB 2013 at 17.25
Sailing with : Irish Ferries
Route : Holyhead to Dublin - Ulysses
Passengers : 2 Adult;
Fare : Zone D

The Idyl Race

nationalrail.co.uk is by far the best way to check British rail times.

LXFlyer

You really ought to check train times first.

Going over you are fine as there is a direct train at 12:32 from Holyhead to Cardiff, arriving 17:16.

However, coming back you have a problem. It is Sunday, so there's less trains.

The first train out of Cardiff on Sunday is 08:30. While this is scheduled to arrive in Crewe at 11:22, this is NOT a recognised connection into the 11:27 to Holyhead from Crewe (minimum connecting time is 10 minutes at Crewe).

The first recognised connection from Cardiff arrives at Holyhead at 14:53, 45 minutes after the ferry is gone.

In other words, you have no way of making that ferry from Cardiff on Sunday morning. You need to rebook onto a later ferry.

www.nationalrail.co.uk shows the only realistic option as the following:
Depart Cardiff 18:40
Arrive Crewe 21:21
Depart Crewe 22:29
Arrive Holyhead 00:49

Depart Holyhead 02:40
Arrive Dublin 05:55

Moral of story - ALWAYS check times before you book anything.

LXFlyer

An afterthought - You might be able to stay in Crewe or Shewsbury on Saturday night, breaking your journey there. This would enable you to get the early ferry that you have booked.

However I'm not sure what the break of journey clause is on sail/rail these days.

However there is definitely no guaranteed connection from Cardiff to that ferry.

oxygen

lxflyer wrote: »

An afterthought - You might be able to stay in Crewe or Shewsbury on Saturday night, breaking your journey there. This would enable you to get the early ferry that you have booked.

However I'm not sure what the break of journey clause is on sail/rail these days.

However there is definitely no guaranteed connection from Cardiff to that ferry.

****, 14:10 on Sunday is the last ferry for that day. I will have to look into it when I get home I assumed IrishFerries didnt let you book sail and rail without a connecting train.

LXFlyer

The next ferry is the overnight sailing as per my previous post.

exiledelbows

Just checked transportdirect.info for you and, provided you get up early, you can get a Megabus at 5.40 Sunday morning that will get you to Birmingham for 9am, then you can get the 9.20 train from there via Crewe to Holyhead, arriving at 12.43.

Whether you want to do that is your own choice...

Details here:

http://www.transportdirect.info/Web2/JourneyPlanning/JourneyDetails.aspx?cacheparam=1

(If link doesn't work, the search parameters were Cardiff to Holyhead Ferryport, 3rd Feb, arrive before 2pm)

oxygen

Thanks exiledelbows\lxflyer. I dont think I would be able to get up at 05:40 and if I'm doing the overnight, I might as well just come back Monday instead.

Phoned IrishFerries there, they're ok with me changing to Monday, so just going to stay an extra night in Wales. Sure it will make it a 4 day weekend instead of three. Not too shabby.

Its my bad for assuming that before they let you book a sail and rail ticket they actually have connecting trains

LXFlyer

Train back on Monday is:

Depart Cardiff 08:05
Arrive Crewe 10:29

Depart Crewe 10:49
Arrive Holyhead 12:50

This is the recognised connection into the ferry.

There is a direct train from Cardiff at 07:21 also, arriving Holyhead at 12:24.

P_1

Just a word of warning though, the return sail/rail journey from Cardiff to Dublin via Hollyhead is pure hell the morning after a rugby match if you're drinking.

I did it the morning after the Heineken Cup Final in 2011, the words 'never again' come to mind.

I see you're doing it on the Monday now, very good call

P_1

The Idyl Race wrote: »

Warning: Short notice rail tickets from London to anywhere can be prohibitively expensive. You aren't in Kansas anymore Toto.

Just thought I'd come back to you on that point, the sail/rail ticket is a way of getting around the short notice ticket problem (of course it only works if you're getting on a train that goes roughly in the direction of the welsh ports)

LeftBlank

P_1 wrote: »

Just thought I'd come back to you on that point, the sail/rail ticket is a way of getting around the short notice ticket problem (of course it only works if you're getting on a train that goes roughly in the direction of the welsh ports)

There are quotas in force for Sail/rail tickets too.