Ferry to Northern Ireland / Ireland
Discussion
I know it has been covered before but nothing in the last few years so thought it was worth another mention.
We've been invited over to Northern Ireland by some old friends, and I’ve just been looking at ferries. Jesus Christ! I'm used to paying £100 for the Skye to Harris ferry which is a 3 hour journey. That's with CalMac who have a monopoly on ferry travel, although it is subsidised by the Scottish government.
Cheapest I can find for traveling from GB to Ireland / Northern Ireland is approx. £400! Looked at various routes as it makes little difference which port we travel from and too. We simply will not be going at those prices, such a shame when you can seemingly fly for much much less, but we would be taking the dogs and planned on doing plenty of exploring whilst we were over there.
I can't see anything reasonable but if anyone does have any ideas it would be much appreciated!
We've been invited over to Northern Ireland by some old friends, and I’ve just been looking at ferries. Jesus Christ! I'm used to paying £100 for the Skye to Harris ferry which is a 3 hour journey. That's with CalMac who have a monopoly on ferry travel, although it is subsidised by the Scottish government.
Cheapest I can find for traveling from GB to Ireland / Northern Ireland is approx. £400! Looked at various routes as it makes little difference which port we travel from and too. We simply will not be going at those prices, such a shame when you can seemingly fly for much much less, but we would be taking the dogs and planned on doing plenty of exploring whilst we were over there.
I can't see anything reasonable but if anyone does have any ideas it would be much appreciated!
OP, when are you planning on travelling? Any chance of shifting travel dates to non-peak days, i.e. Monday to Thursday?
It may seem as though you're stuck for choices with the ferries otherwise. Even a detour to a seemingly cheaper departure point can quickly add up when you factor in fuel, time, tiredness, inconvenience, engine and tyre wear etc.
Is there any possibility of bringing the dogs on a flight (may be a stupid question - apologies) and checking car hire prices for something small but big enough to accommodate you all for road trips? You're not going for long so it may be possible to find good deals on websites like skyscanner.
A tip for skyscanner is to just put 'UK' in the departure airport and then put a specific Irish one in there (or even 'Ireland'). It will do a search of multiple airports/destinations that way.
I'd be minded to do a price/time breakdown of taking your own car and crossing by ferry versus aeroplane and car hire as well. £400 may very well be the price of a hire car so you'll have flight and airport travel costs etc on top.
It may seem as though you're stuck for choices with the ferries otherwise. Even a detour to a seemingly cheaper departure point can quickly add up when you factor in fuel, time, tiredness, inconvenience, engine and tyre wear etc.
Is there any possibility of bringing the dogs on a flight (may be a stupid question - apologies) and checking car hire prices for something small but big enough to accommodate you all for road trips? You're not going for long so it may be possible to find good deals on websites like skyscanner.
A tip for skyscanner is to just put 'UK' in the departure airport and then put a specific Irish one in there (or even 'Ireland'). It will do a search of multiple airports/destinations that way.
I'd be minded to do a price/time breakdown of taking your own car and crossing by ferry versus aeroplane and car hire as well. £400 may very well be the price of a hire car so you'll have flight and airport travel costs etc on top.
My brother in law is from NI so he and my sister go across a few times a year.
They sometimes use Tesco vouchers as you can get 3 x the value I think on P&O, other than that the prices are what they are, expensive.
They have in the past flown and rented a car as it has worked out cheaper.
They sometimes use Tesco vouchers as you can get 3 x the value I think on P&O, other than that the prices are what they are, expensive.
They have in the past flown and rented a car as it has worked out cheaper.
I travel regularly over the Irish Sea, whether that it Cairyan to Larne/Belfast or Holyhead to Dublin or Rosslare to Fishguard, as the Outlaws are Oirish.
Sadly £400 seems to be the norm with a car. You can fiddle around and take a stupidly early ferry but the savings are rarely significant.
Sadly £400 seems to be the norm with a car. You can fiddle around and take a stupidly early ferry but the savings are rarely significant.
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