Ireland England Vacation

November 27, 2006 1:00 PM

Need advise on travel options for an Ireland + England vacation.

My wife and I are taking a two week vacation in April 2007. First week in Ireland, second week in Engalnd. We're not getting a package deal, so I'm putting everything together from scratch. We'll rent a car and do the B&B thing. I have a good handle on the "where to go, what to see" part, but am still weighing transport options. Flights from Los Angeles to Dublin, and from London to Los Angeles are easy. But the part from Ireland to England has me unsure.

Do we fly between and then rent a car in each country?

Do we get a ferry for us and the car and then fly in and out of Dublin?

Other options?

Since I've never been on a ferry I have no idea how that might work. Will they let rental cars drive all over UK? Is the ferry a reasonable thing for confused American travelers to attempt?

I know flying or ferries will both work fine, but I'm interested in hearing some opinions from folks who some experience. We don't need to be cheap about things, but We're trying to save for a house. So I'm also looking for ways to save some money.

I'm just getting started on the planning for the trip, but it might be a good idea to book the flights well ahead. I've been to Ireland twice before, so I'm not a complete noob. That is - B&Bs, rental cars, local customs, etc shouldn't be an issue.

posted by WoWgmr72 to travel & transportation (18 comments total)

The SeaCat is a nice way to go, it's a big fast catamaran ferry thingy. Not too expensive.
posted by zeoslap at 1:06 PM on November 27, 2006

To answer the car question, you can certainly rent a car and take that over on the SeaCat not sure if it's a problem to rent from Hertz in Ireland and drop it off in London. I've rented in Liverpool and dropped off in London so you could always do that, probably best to call though with regards doing it between Ireland & England.
posted by zeoslap at 1:09 PM on November 27, 2006

Yikes, nix that, looks like the SeaCat is no longer running... I'd swim :)
posted by zeoslap at 1:15 PM on November 27, 2006

Don't even think about the ferry unless you already plan on spending time near a departure point. You're going to lose better than a day of your vacation travelling to and from and riding the ferry. I've only taken the one from Fishgard in South Wales, but I lived in central Wales at the time so it made more sense than trying to fly. It's a nice drive in parts (the drive to the North Wales Holyhead departure would be even better but even more remote) but airfare can be cheap between London and Dublin and won't be as stressful. It takes several hours for the ferry to reach its destination, and it takes around an hour to get on and off with a car.

Another tip-- get as small a four-seater as you possibly can. Plenty of space for you and the luggage but easier to manage. I got "upgraded" on my honeymoon a year ago, and it stunk because it was more car on the "wrong" side of what I'm used to. And I had driven in the UK when I lived there years ago.

Lastly, tell us where you're going and perhaps some people can recommend good places to stay. My trip was "We'll rent a car and do the B&B thing" and it amazing. You'll have an awesome time.
posted by Mayor Curley at 1:20 PM on November 27, 2006

It may be chance to get on the Worlds Largest Car Ferry!
The ferry may not be the best option for you. What part of the UK do you want to visit?
FYI, the Dublin-London international air corridor is the second busiest in the world... no problem to get a last-minute flight!
posted by rom1 at 1:32 PM on November 27, 2006

Don't be so sure the London-to-LA portion of your trip will be easy. I just flew out of Heathrow to LAX and their Byzantine, baffling and super-slow security policies made for the most chaotic, stressful and unpleasant airport encounter of my life. Allow four hours, consider carrying on NOTHING that you can't hold in your hands (put an empty plastic grocery bag in your pocket as a carryall for later), and take a sedative. Yep, that bad.
posted by Scram at 1:47 PM on November 27, 2006

Well...... I was sort of thinking the ferry would be faster and more convenient than exchanging cars and messing with baggage. Glad I asked.

In Ireland my folks already have a cottage in Connemara rented and we'll be staying there. But we're reserving the option to venture out and get a B&B for a day. In England the wife wants to spend a few days in London, but we're open ended other than that. I'd like to see some archeological stuff. And I'm a cheese fiend, so we'll be doing Neals Yard and such. We'll get it all locked down before we leave.
posted by WoWgmr72 at 1:48 PM on November 27, 2006

I'm sort of thinking the nasty LHR to U.S. security will die down by next April, although you never know. But that was one of the items in the plus column for the ferry. One car, one roundtrip flight.
posted by WoWgmr72 at 1:57 PM on November 27, 2006

If taking the car on the ferry seems like too much hassle, you could always drop one car off in Dublin then pick another up in Holyhead. I've taken a rental car from Holyhead to London and it was a great trip.

I personally think that the ferry trip is more fun than flying and no more difficult.
posted by nomis at 2:10 PM on November 27, 2006

If you're heading for Connemara maybe think about flying into Shannon instead of Dublin. Aerlingus are doing some direct flights in April from LAX, but they're not daily. Shannon is a small airport on the Western Seaboard so you'd avoid the big airport blues and the Dublin traffic (which is very bad). Aerlingus is quite a nice airline too.

The crossing - be advised, I have done Dublin-London via bus and ferry and it takes approximately 12 hours. It's awful. Flying is probably easiest, and quickest, because London is in the East of the UK landmass and unless you want to spend time in Wales and the middle of the UK crossing by land is just dead time. Everyone uses ryanair, whic is cheap as chips but don't expect a nice flying experience. Mind you, they do fly into Gatwick from Dublin which is a much nicer and more manageable airport than Heathrow, which is a real monster. For a little bit extra you can fly aerlingus but it's to Heathrow.

Finally, are you sure you want to rent a car in London? Public transport is their strong suit - the tube is very much equivalent to the Paris Metro or the New York underground, and the buses are fantastic (and a good way of seeing the city). The taxis are expensive though. Check the London Transport site to see what I mean. The journey planner is absolutely the business.
posted by tiny crocodile at 2:14 PM on November 27, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

Don't rent the car in Ireland and take a ferry and drop it off in the UK. The fees to do so will be really expensive; the UK branch of the car won't be able to rent out the car and you'll have to pay to have it shipped back. Imagine picking up a car in L.A. and dropping it off in Toronto ... It will be cheaper and easier to rent separate cars in both countries.

If your mad keen on a ferry you can catch ferries from Larne & Belfast in NI, Dublin, Dun Laoghaire (just outside of Dublin) and Wexford. All or most of the ports have car rental/hire places.

A flight might even be cheaper than a ferry, and a lot quicker.. Oftentimes, Aer Lingus, or Ryan Air (what an experience) will have flights on sale for 5 or 10 euro + taxes.

There are many regional Airports in Ireland, some with direct flights to parts of the UK. Hiring a car in Dublin and dropping it off elsewhere in Ireland could cost extra, but might be worth it as it would save you having to drive back to Dublin. As Northern Ireland is technically part of another country, the UK, don't drop the car of there!

Here's my advise: when U arrive stay a few days in Dublin, pick up the car when your ready to to go down the country. (repeat after me: you don't need nor want a car in Dublin nor London.) Drop the car off at Shannon or some wee airport on top of a bog somewhere ;) and fly to the UK.

Avis on the South Circular Road are great for car hire, not the cheapest but nice clean, safe, peppy, relatively loaded cars, and right beside all roads heading West. About 2 blocks from a nice 2-lane highway (a dual carriageway) that will get you used to driving on the "wrong" side". Plus, will save you having to drive through the city center while getting used to a right-hand drive car. Look at avis.ie and NOT avis.com for a cheaper rate.

Your probably used to driving a mid-sized car in the US, but don't try it in Ireland or the UK. A lot of people have a hard time adjusting to driving on the other side of the road, usually takes me a day or 2 and I'm from there! I'd suggest getting a step up from the economy size, such as a Ford Focus or a Renault Megan; they're great peppy cars over there and perfect size for some of the roads much better than most comparable cars sold here in the US.

Also, if you can drive a stick-shift get a stick, automatics cost up to twice as much. And it's much more fun taking those wee roads in the West at 90 in a stick, weeeeeeeeee!

Airlines to search for flights:
Aer Lingus
Ryan Air
Aer Arann

I prefer Aer Fungus ... er I mean Aer Lingus over Ryan Air, unless Ryan Air are really, really, cheap. They really cram people on, there is no boarding order and getting on a busy flight is like boarding a school bus. I've never flown Aer Arann, but heard they're grand and they fly from smaller Airports, such as Carrickfin in County Donegal, Sligo Airport, Galway Airport ...

Feel free to message me if you've any questions.
posted by zaphod at 5:31 PM on November 27, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

To add to zaphods (excellent advice):

You can fly Shannon or Cork to London or Dublin and Donegal or Sligo to Dublin but not Donegal or Sligo to London or Cork or Shannon. Got it?

AFAIK you cannot buy Ryanair flights originating in the UK with an American credit card, although this may have changed. Check Easyjet or zaphods other suggestions instead and remember that luggage allowances are significantly different on European flights. ie you may end up paying a bundle if you're not careful.

Shannon is the most convenient airport to Connemara by a factor of about a million. Personally I'd skip Dublin altogether and fly in and out of Shannon and pick up the car there. You will need a car in Connemara.

Taking the car from Ireland to the UK is akin to taking a rental car from Canada to Mexico. Just don't. The UK has it's own customs so you will have to go through the entire deal again as an American so it's doubly a hassle with a rental car. Plus the ferry trip is not that great, think a giant floating Motel 6 full of screaming children and drunks. Finally, taking the ferry means spending all day driving across from Galway to a horrible part of Dublin and then all day driving across Wales and hence to London. Or, god forbid, you could end up in Liverpool, although I think that ferry only runs in the summer. Go to Shannon, hang out in the West, then fly to London and only pick up a car when you leave. There is something to be said for taking a train out of London and picking up your car there too.
posted by fshgrl at 6:00 PM on November 27, 2006

Drop the car and fly to the UK.

If you're flying out of LHR to go back that's a fairly good argument for flying from Ireland to LHR and renting a second car there. Aer Lingus will take you to Heathrow, and if you book it early enough you can get from SNN or Cork for €1 plus taxes.

Do not even think about taking a rental car from one sovereign European country to another (you didn't say it but I rather get the impression that you've not figured out that Ireland's not part of the UK).

Do not even think about taking a boat between Ireland and the UK unless you fully acknowledge that it will cost you an entire day of your holiday -- *and* cost a ton more money.
posted by genghis at 7:54 PM on November 27, 2006

As everyone has said, don't take the car from Ireland to England. Sweet baby jesus, don't do it. It takes forever, and it's a huge pain in the ass. Flights from Ireland to England are SO CHEAP, and run SO OFTEN that it really makes way more sense to fly.

the Dublin traffic (which is very bad).

This is only true during rush hour. Driving to/from the Dublin airport is a *breeze* at any other time of day (except in special cases like when the All-Ireland matches are on).
posted by antifuse at 3:04 AM on November 28, 2006

Thanks all. I think I'll fly.
posted by WoWgmr72 at 6:27 AM on November 28, 2006

Wowgmr72, let us know how the holiday goes! I'm always interesting in non-Irish peoples expierences in Eire.

Luck! :)

PS: Make sure ye head up to Donegal and avoid all the real touristy bits! Also, Galway city is wile craic. well worth a night or two! ;)
posted by zaphod at 4:57 PM on November 28, 2006

My previous Ireland trips here - http://jonsullivan.com/misc/ireland.php. Tons of pictures.
posted by WoWgmr72 at 6:16 PM on November 28, 2006

Great, you've been to Donegal! You've even a picture of home:

http://pdphoto.org/PictureDetail.php?oldpg=2188

:D
posted by zaphod at 6:51 PM on December 1, 2006