How to travel to Ireland by train and ferry

Although the default for many is to fly to Ireland, it’s really not that far away from Great Britain by train and ferry. And, as an Irish travel writer, based in the UK, I have travelled to Ireland by train and ferry so many times, I’ve lost count. So, if you want to reduce your carbon footprint by around 70% on one of our cycling or walking holidays in Ireland, there are several options open to you. Of course, if you are travelling from further afield than Great Britain, then you are more likely to fly, although there are plenty of ferry links from France and Spain to Ireland too. Here are our top tips on how to travel to Ireland without flying, some of which may inspire you to seek an adventure along the way in Wales or Scotland.

Stena Line ferry arriving into Holyhead in Anglesey, Wales, from Ireland.

Travel to Ireland without flying by Rail and Sail

Rail and Sail is one of the best kept secrets when it comes to travelling to Ireland by train. It’s a combined ferry and train ticket that connects some of the UK’s leading mainline train stations with Ireland, travelling via UK ferry ports of Holyhead and Fishguard in Wales, or Cairnryan in Scotland. You can book it at the Trainline or Stena Line, although there are more ferry services offered on the former. Don’t be confused by the fact that some people call it Rail and Sail, and others call it Sail Rail, as they’re the same thing.

One of the big advantages of Rail and Sail tickets is that they are fixed costs and don’t change for high season, weekend travel etc. In addition, children aged under four years travel free, and under 15 year olds are half price.

If you take the most direct route, travelling to Ireland can be very simple. If a little slow. But of course, you can take as much luggage and liquids as you like, including your own bike if you’re going on one of our cycling holidays in Ireland, and you don’t have airport stress en route (you can also rent bikes from us, of course.) If, for example, you leave London Euston station at 08.00, you’re in Dublin city centre by 17.45, with just one change at Holyhead ferry port in Wales to get on board. And then one quick bus journey into Dublin city centre from the ferry port. It’s a day, but it’s a delightful one.

Rail and Sail tickets are also a good price, at around £60 one way for this London to Dublin route and, as already mentioned, this is a fixed price. And you get to see three countries in the process. Please note that if you want to book a Rail and Sail ticket to travel from Ireland to the UK, you need to do so through Irish Rail.

Ferry leaving Larne in Northern Ireland en route to Scotland.

Ferry ports between Ireland and Great Britain

Taking the ferry to Northern Ireland

If you are travelling by car or on foot from Great Britain to the island of Ireland, you have several different options for ferry travel. If you are going on one of our Northern Ireland walking holidays, for example, you can travel from Liverpool in England or Cairnryan in Scotland to Belfast Port, the capital of Northern Ireland. Another option is to take the ferry to Larne port, which is 50km north of Belfast and suitable for our Causeway Coast and Glens of Antrim walking holiday.

Between Liverpool and Belfast, you can travel with Stena Line as a foot passenger or with a car, by day or overnight. Stena Line also has a service between Cairnryan and Belfast, a quick crossing of under three hours, so there’s no need for an overnight on board. Same applies to the service offered by P&O Ferries, which takes you between Cairnryan and Larne. It’s worth noting that if you aren’t familiar with the geography of the island of Ireland, Belfast is just 170km from Dublin.

Taking the ferry to the Republic of Ireland

There are several options for ferries to Ireland, with three international ferry ports in Dublin, Rosslare and Cork. Travel to Dublin with Irish Ferries, which runs two routes: one between Holyhead in Wales and Dublin Port and the other between Pembroke in Wales and Rosslare on the south-east coast of Ireland. Both are 4-5h crossings, although some speedy ones are only 2h. You can also travel speedily between Dublin and Holyhead in Wales with Stena Line with both operators offering an excellent service. Stena Line also has a service from Fishguard in West Wales on the Pembrokeshire coast, to Rosslare. This again is less than 4h, and there’s a railway station in both Holyhead and Fishguard, so you can travel by train to meet these ferries.

Stunning train journey towards the Causeway Coast in Northern Ireland.

Ferry ports between Ireland, France and Spain

If you’re travelling from mainland Europe direct to Ireland by car and ferry, then there are several options: take a ferry from Cherbourg in France to Dublin Port with Irish Ferries, which run six weekly sailings, all of which are overnight, as the crossing takes around 18.5-20h. You can also head to the south-west of Ireland from France, with ferries going into Ringaskiddy Port, just outside Cork. These services, also overnight, are operated by Brittany Ferries and Hibernia Line, and run from either Roscoff or Boulogne-sur-Mer respectively. So you could, for example, take on our walking holiday on Cherbourg’s Peninsula, and then head over to Ireland to walk the Sheep’s Head Way in West Cork, or cycle the West Cork coast.

Brittany Ferries also runs an overnight ferry service between Santander or Bilbao and Rosslare in Ireland, which are perfect for many of our Asturias and Picos de Europa holidays, including the Camino Primitivo walking holidays. Unlike Dublin Port, there is a train station in Rosslare, so you can easily connect with other Irish towns and cities from there, with tickets bookable through Irish Rail.

Travelling by train in Ireland

There is a relatively good network of trains in Northern Ireland and Ireland, although some lines were lost many years ago sadly. For more information, see Irish Rail for train travel in the Republic of Ireland, and Translink for train (and bus) travel in Northern Ireland. Both websites sell tickets for the train between Belfast and Dublin, otherwise known as Enterprise and which takes just over 2h.

We hope that this blog has inspired you to travel the green way to the Emerald Isle. You can see all of our Irish walking and cycling holidays here, and you may also enjoy our blogs, Top tips for travelling in Ireland, Best walking in Ireland and Best time to go to Ireland. For any more information, please don’t hesitate to contact our adventure specialists.