cycling in ireland
- Thread starter shades.5
- Start date
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Amanda P
Legendary Member
- Location
- York. Well, York-ish...
I was over there in the summer (well, I say summer...), and used the Rail and Sail service to get there. Went from Holyhead to Dublin. I can't actually tell you much about the stretch between Dublin and Rosslare, but...
What do you want to know?
What do you want to know?
HLaB
Marie Attoinette Fan
I used to live in Dublin and did a fair bit of cycling round there though i never ventured further south than the Wicklow mountains. They'll take a fair effort, good luck.
Uncle Phil said:
Just want to know when u check in at the port where d u go, check in with the vehicles or foot passengers ,when i went to ireland on a bike last time ( 20 ) years ago i checked in with the vehicles and cycled down onto the car deck , cant see that happening now with all the health and safety mularky about , so really would just like to know the procedure when u get to the port , also where did u put bike on train and was there much hassle
snorri
Legendary Member
- Location
- East coast, up a bit.
Best to phone the ferry company to confirm check in times and ask any questions then if you are concerned. Cycling on the car deck is still quite common.
I think you will find Ireland a trifle more expensive than last time
I did that trip a few years ago, enjoyed visiting the small harbours along the way.
I think you will find Ireland a trifle more expensive than last time
I did that trip a few years ago, enjoyed visiting the small harbours along the way.snorri said:Best to phone the ferry company to confirm check in times and ask any questions then if you are concerned. Cycling on the car deck is still quite common.
I think you will find Ireland a trifle more expensive than last time
did u do the same route as i am going , did u go on the back roads , how long did i take you
snorri
Legendary Member
- Location
- East coast, up a bit.
It's 10 years now since I did that trip, so my memory is failing a bit, but I usually follow the quieter roads closest to the coast so that I can visit all of the harbours. I used a Michelin or similar road map, these show all of the side roads. It's about 90 miles and took me two full days from Dun Laoghaire.shades.5 said:
Amanda P
Legendary Member
- Location
- York. Well, York-ish...
Hi Shades. Been away...
Last time I went from Holyhead, I arrived there on the train. The station is sort of built-in to the ferry passenger terminal, so it was natural to walk my bike through to the foot passenger check-in desk. The lady there directed me out to the car check in, and from there I got on the ferry exactly as if I were driving. Blokes in yellow jackets told me where to go, and one nice one stopped the lorry and trailer tug traffic for a moment so that I could cycle through to the front of the lower lorry deck rather than up the steep ramp to the car deck. No problems at all.
At other ferries, I've just cycled up to the car check-in.
No harm in calling into the foot-passenger terminal building to check the procedure if you're worried about it - no-one's going be bothered, and you can have a go with the loos while you're there!
Bike on train: no hassle. Make sure you get tickets for your bike. If you buy the rail and sail deal, tell them you're taking a bike when you book by phone. They should either send you a wad of tickets by post, or you put your credit card in a machine at the station which then spits all the tickets out. You get two copies of each bike ticket, one to go on the bike, and one for you to carry.
The train should have a place to put bikes, usually (but not always) indicated by a bike logo on the door of the carriage. Sometimes, station staff will know which end of the train it'll be at, so if you can find someone to ask, ask at the station. This may save you sprinting along the platform from one end of the train to the other trying to find it.
Some trains only have a couple of spaces for bikes, so book early to make sure you get one.
Last time I went from Holyhead, I arrived there on the train. The station is sort of built-in to the ferry passenger terminal, so it was natural to walk my bike through to the foot passenger check-in desk. The lady there directed me out to the car check in, and from there I got on the ferry exactly as if I were driving. Blokes in yellow jackets told me where to go, and one nice one stopped the lorry and trailer tug traffic for a moment so that I could cycle through to the front of the lower lorry deck rather than up the steep ramp to the car deck. No problems at all.
At other ferries, I've just cycled up to the car check-in.
No harm in calling into the foot-passenger terminal building to check the procedure if you're worried about it - no-one's going be bothered, and you can have a go with the loos while you're there!
Bike on train: no hassle. Make sure you get tickets for your bike. If you buy the rail and sail deal, tell them you're taking a bike when you book by phone. They should either send you a wad of tickets by post, or you put your credit card in a machine at the station which then spits all the tickets out. You get two copies of each bike ticket, one to go on the bike, and one for you to carry.
The train should have a place to put bikes, usually (but not always) indicated by a bike logo on the door of the carriage. Sometimes, station staff will know which end of the train it'll be at, so if you can find someone to ask, ask at the station. This may save you sprinting along the platform from one end of the train to the other trying to find it.
Some trains only have a couple of spaces for bikes, so book early to make sure you get one.
Hi,
I thought this might be worth adding to the above advice - If you're getting the train back from Pembroke or Fishguard, it could be worth making sure you get on a superferry from Rosslare. The high-speed ones are more likely to be cancelled in bad weather, (probably more frequent this time of year) and this stuffs up any train connections you've booked your bike on. If the guards on the next inter-city trains decide to stick by the rules this can be a real pain. (putting it politely)
I found this out the hard way.
(PS the Fishguard rail and ferry terminals connect like at Holyhead too)
I thought this might be worth adding to the above advice - If you're getting the train back from Pembroke or Fishguard, it could be worth making sure you get on a superferry from Rosslare. The high-speed ones are more likely to be cancelled in bad weather, (probably more frequent this time of year) and this stuffs up any train connections you've booked your bike on. If the guards on the next inter-city trains decide to stick by the rules this can be a real pain. (putting it politely)
I found this out the hard way.
(PS the Fishguard rail and ferry terminals connect like at Holyhead too)