It looks like a friend and I will be going to Ireland and England in late July for about two weeks. I have traveled in England before, but always with someone who was British. This time it is two Americans who have no intention of driving.
Tons of questions, but I will start with:
We are thinking of flying into London (where we can get around on the Tube; I have done it before) and then taking trains. Anyone with any experience with this? Especially taking a train to Ireland, which I assume involves a ferry as well.
If you were going to Ireland, what would you want to see? We both like small towns, local charm, and typical stuff like castles, beautiful countryside, and historic sites.
I love B&Bs, and know of one site I like, which is www.smoothhound.co.uk. Any others you would recommend?
Trains in the UK are not cheap. With flight prices being what they are it’d probably be way cheaper to simply fly into Dublin. If I were you I’d take a train journey that started and ended in London, and get a London-Dublin round ticket. Particularly if you’re only going to be there for a couple of weeks. If you take trains and ferries you have to set aside another day or for going and coming back.
If you really want to take a ferry - I took one from Liverpool to Dublin, but the going can be pretty rough - only time I felt sick on a boat.
The west coast of Ireland is lovely. (I’m going to be in Ireland myself this summer!) Connemara Park is worth a visit. So are the Cliffs of Moher. (Doolin is a tiny village close to the Cliffs and known for its live music in the pubs.) Around Dublin, Glendalough is also beautiful - we took a bus tour there (a small one; only ten people) and had a lovely time. I’ve heard people rave about the Ring of Kerry as well, although I’ve never been.
It’s all lovely. Two weeks is not going to allow you a lot of time for much. I never particularly liked Dublin- Trinity College was great but the rest is just another large city.
I crossed the Irish Sea on a car ferry and as the previous poster said it can be a bit rough. Flying would certainly save you time.
I would suggest you try Schull and Clonakilty- not terribly far from Dublin but really nice.
If you take me, I will carry your luggage ( provided it is on wheels) and guide you every step of the way ( despite the fact I’ve been once and it was a day trip from Colchester area.)
I’ll sleep on the floor of your room and hold your hair if you barf if you drink too much. I’m a great traveling companion.
BOT,
See if buying your tickets for anything over HERE might be cheaper than over THERE. Train passes for Eurail are this way ( or use to be.)
Just fly to Ireland. A return train journey from London to Liverpool costs £66 each, even well in advance, and takes over two hours. You’re then either having to wait for the crossing from Liverpool that evening (21.30), or wait until the next morning. You can fly Ryanair for less than it takes you to get to Liverpool, if you book now.
You could, if you wanted, take the scenic rail route right along the north coast of Wales; the train terminates right at the ferry terminal on Anglesey and it’s a fairly short ferry across to Dublin.
And off course, you might choose to do it on a Bank Holiday like I did, with heavy seas and a storm blowing so that your ferry takes hours before it risks docking to let you board, and you eventually arrive in central Dublin after midnight without a room booked!
Can I suggest not using coaches? Cheap they may be but I would never seriously recommend somene get an 8-10 hour coach journey when they could get a two to three hour train journey. As long as you factor in the cost of train journeys before hand it doesn’t need to be a problem. Whilst I can see that travelling by coach for a while might be nice to see the landscape up close you’ll spend most of the time on a motorway.
I would not thank someone who had recommended I travel from Newcastle to London after stepping off the coach, as I’ve experienced by own share of long coach journeys in the past (8 hours from Cornwall to London - urgh).
Don’t get an eurail pass! They are a rip off. Sure, they are cheaper than walking up to the train and paying on the spot, but they are much more expensive than just booking your tickets in advance (try www.irishrail.ie and www.nationalrail.co.uk)-- seats become available about 8-10 weeks in advance.
Buying in advance (to travel on a specific machine) you get get 4 hour fast train rides for about $20. You pick up the ticket with your credit card at the station.
Trains within the UK can be expensive, but I strongly suggest taking the ferry between the UK and Ireland. There are ‘sailrail’ tickets for about £35 for travel from Ireland to any part of the UK, or vice versa. These tickets don’t need to be booked in advance. See http://www.seat61.com/Ireland.htm : the Dublin-Holyhead route in particular involves a lovely ride across North Wales.
Yes, you can. I have taken a night coach both ways and the only sleep I got London-Dublin was 1 1/2 on board the ferry. The other way was (slightly) better as the bar was open during the voyage and I could get a beer, but that was all.
I hate to be a pedant, especially with this not being GQ. But there is very little of the original Roman walls in York remaining. The almost intact walls that you see today are medieval, 12th to 14th century.
But York is AWESOME!!! I love it, and it is very definitely well worth a visit. Go see the Minster, the Castle Museum, and the Viking Centre.
You know, I nearly went back to post that there should really be a comma between “Roman” and “walled”, but decided nobody would be that pedantic…
It’s sort of my home town, in that it is the nearest city to where I was born and raised. I love it and wonder why I ever left. Oh yeah - there’s that weather thing.
If you are only here for 2 weeks I’d advise you to only try to go to 3 places. You said Ireland and England, but are you interested in the mountains and castles of North Wales?
Anyway, this might be tough without a car, but I’d suggest you spend a week in SW Ireland. Maybe base yourself in Cork. Then go to London for a week, and take daytrips out to places nearby: Bath, Oxford, Cambridge, Stratford, Paris, Brussels, Calais are all easily accessible for day or overnight trips.
I am actually the friend that is accompanying Brynda this summer overseas and I want to thank each and every one of you for your suggestions- keep them coming!
In dopers in Ireland/England that want to have dopefest?
You could easily spend a week in London. York is a great place to visit as well. I visited Whitby, a harbor town, while I was in York and it was a good place to wander around for a half-day or so (and it’s very close to York, maybe an hour or so by bus).
Cambridge and Salisbury are doable day trips from London, both very pretty towns. If you get a chance you should try to have tea at the Grandchester Orchard near Cambridge (you can cycle or walk there from Cambridge if the weather’s nice).
