Traveling Between Ireland & Britain
By Rick Steves
Transportation Connections — Ireland and Britain
Spend a few minutes online researching your transportation options across the Irish Sea. Most airline and ferry companies routinely offer discounts (often as much as €10) for tickets purchased from their websites. Before sorting out rail/ferry prices with individual companies, try www.sailrail.co.uk, which deals with several companies and has fares low enough to compete with cheap airlines (some of the lowest: London–Dublin-£25, Glasgow–Belfast-£18, book in advance).
If you're going directly to London, flying is your best bet. Check Ryanair first (90 min, Irish tel. 081-830-3030). Other options include British Airways (Irish tel. 1-890-626-747, US tel. 800/247-9297), Aer Lingus (tel. 081-836-5000), and bmi british midland (Irish tel. 01/407-3036, US tel. 800-788-0555). To get the lowest fares, ask about round-trip ticket prices and book months in advance (though Ryanair offers deals nearly all of the time).
Dublin and Liverpool: SeaCat has ferries for car and foot passengers (weekly via the Isle of Man, 4 hours, €40 one-way for foot passengers, tel. 800-805-055). Check in one to two hours before the sailing time — call to confirm details.
Dublin and Holyhead: Irish Ferries sails between Dublin and Holyhead in North Wales. The dock is a mile east of O'Connell Bridge (5/day: 2 slow, 2 fast; slow boats: 3.5 hours, €32 one-way walk-on fare; fast boats: 2 hours, €35; Dublin tel. 01/638-3333, Holyhead tel. 08705-329-129).
Dun Laoghaire and Holyhead: Stena Line sails a huge catamaran between Dun Laoghaire (near Dublin) and Holyhead in North Wales (Fri-Sun 3/day, Mon-Thu 2/day, 2 hrs, €35 one-way walk-on fare, €4 extra if paying with credit card, reserve by phone — they book up long in advance on summer weekends, Dun Laoghaire tel. 01/204-7777, recorded info tel. 01/204-7799, can book online).
Transportation Connections — Northern Ireland and Britain
Belfast and Liverpool: You can sail from Belfast to Birkenhead (10 min from Liverpool) on Norfolkline Irish Sea Ferries (nightly at 22:00, 8 hrs, fares can include meals and a cabin, tel. 0870-600-4321).