Kylemore Abbey Castle, Ireland
© 123rf.com / Nico Smit
Travel to Ireland
Flying to Ireland
The national airline is Aer Lingus (EI) (www.aerlingus.com).
From London to Dublin is 1 hour 20 minutes, and from New York to Dublin is 7 hours 30 minutes.
€10 at Knock International Airport only, payable by everyone over 2 years.
Travel by rail
Rail links serve Ireland from all the above ferry ports, as well as from Northern Ireland.
InterRail: Offers unlimited first- or second-class travel in up to 30 European countries for European residents of over six months with two pass options. The Global Pass allows travel for 22 days, one month, five days in 10 days or 10 days in 22 days across all countries. The One-Country Pass offers travel for three, four, six or eight days in one month in any of the countries except Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro.
Travel is not allowed in the passenger's country of residence. Travellers under 26 and over 60 years receive a reduction. Children's tickets are reduced by about 50%. Supplements are required for some high-speed services, seat reservations and couchettes. Discounts are offered on Eurostar and some ferry routes. Available from Rail Europe (www.raileurope.co.uk/inter-rail).
Eurailpass: Offers unlimited first-class train travel in 22 European countries. Saver tickets are valid for 15 days, 21 days, one month, two months or three months. The Eurailpass Saver ticket offers discounts for two or more people travelling together. The Eurailpass Youth ticket is available to those aged under 26 and offers unlimited second-class train travel. The Eurailpass Flexi allows either 10 or 15 travel days within a two-month period.
The Eurail Selectpass is valid in three, four or five bordering countries and allows five, six, eight or 10 travel days (or 15 for five countries) in a two-month period. The Eurail Regional Pass allows four to 10 travel days in a two month period in one of nine regions (usually two or more countries). Children aged 4 to 11 years receive a 50% reduction. The passes cannot be sold to residents of Europe, Turkey, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia or the Russian Federation. Available from the Eurail Group (www.eurail.com).
Getting to Ireland by boat
The main ports accessible by ferry are Baltimore, Dublin (www.dublinport.ie), Galway, Kinsale and Wexford. In addition to conventional ferry crossings, many ferry companies now offer high-speed services as well as upgraded, state-of-the-art craft on many Irish sea routes. Fares will vary by season and promotional offers are available.
Irish Ferries operate at least four direct ferry crossings a day between France and Ireland. The routes are Cherbourg-Rosslare (journey time - 19 hours); Roscoff-Rosslare (journey time - 18 hours); Roscoff-Cork (journey time - 13 hours 30 minutes).
For information on routes, fares and reservations, contact one of the following: Brittany Ferries (tel: 0870 907 6103, in the UK; www.brittany-ferries.com); Irish Ferries (tel: 0870 517 1717, in the UK, or 0818 300 400, in Ireland; www.irishferries.com); Isle of Man Steam Packet (tel: 0871 222 1333; www.steam-packet.com); P&O Irish Sea (tel: 0870 242 4777, in the UK; www.poferries.com); Stena Line (tel: 0870 570 7070, in the UK; www.stenaline.co.uk); and Swansea-Cork Ferries (tel: (01792) 456 116, in the UK).
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