Tuesday 6 September
This was the big day of our trip to Ireland via train and ferry. I discovered the day before that the rail timetable had changed and now required a change of trains at Crewe resulting in a later arrival at Holyhead with only 20 minutes to catch the ferry. With fingers crossed we checked out of the hotel and headed for Euston where things seemed to be running ok at least for operator Avanti West Coast.
Our 0910 train was actually headed for Edinburgh with Crewe as the first stop. We boarded carriage B toward the front and found that our seat reservation was already occupied by someone whose ticket also showed the same numbers. We took another pair of seats hoping no one would show up to claim them as the train was not totally full. We lucked out, perhaps the seats had been reserved by someone further down the line. Train departed on time and the ride was very smooth. Like the Acela they seem to use active tilting to allow them to speed through curves.
We arrived Crewe in time and had almost an hour for the Holyhead connection. The connection is across platform (6 to 11) so is fairly convenient even with luggage. Our 5 car DMU set pulled up and we departed on time.
As you can see the train was only sparsely occupied and most of the people had gotten off by Bangor leaving just a few for the ferry connection.
The ride to Holyhead is very scenic along the North Wales coast. I missed seeing the sign for the station with the longest name in Britain, usually abbreviated Llanfair P. G.
At Holyhead things were a bit confusing due to construction; fortunately there were several that had done it before we could follow. Got to the Irish Ferries desk to find they had closed ( you have to be there 30 minutes before departure) and directed us to Stena. The lady at Stena had no problem in booking us on their sailing which was in about an hour, and accepted our RailSail tickets. We checked in our luggage then waited in the lounge for departure.
Upon departing you board a bus that takes you out to the ship and actually drives on board along with many tractor trailers making the crossing. There you unload and go up the stairs to the passenger areas.
The ferry was well equipped with a lounge where you can buy food and drink, another area where people were watching a football match, and a game room. You can also rent cabins for the 3+ hour voyage. We first went up on deck to get one last look at Britain as we departed.
The ride wasn't bad as the Irish Sea was fairly calm that day, the sun even peeking out a few times. We arrived at Dublin port on time at 1800. The disembarking was a little confusing as initially they never said where to go. Fortunately again there were those that had "been there done that" and knew to go to deck 5 where a bus would pull up and take us off the boat. The bus arrived and took us to the ferry building where we had our passports checked and stamped then picked up our luggage from a carousel like at the airport.
I was expecting taxis outside but there were none. The Stena people advised us that it was hard to get a taxi here, best bet was to wait for the Nolan bus that would take you to Connolly station and get one from there. While we were waiting for the bus, I saw two English men getting into a taxi they had likely called for ahead of time. I asked them if it was ok to share the cab and they agreed. We went off on a somewhat breakneck ride into the city. The two gentlemen were there for a short trip to sample the pub life in Dublin before returning home and had obviously done this a few times.
Once we pulled up to our hotel I tried paying for the fare with my card but the driver wouldn't accept it. I was not expecting this since all the cabs in London had had no issues doing card payments. The two gentlemen said no problem it's in us, you can pay us back if we ever meet in the US. I thanked them profusely and we headed for the hotel.
We had booked the Gresham on O'Connell st not far from the spire and the historic GPO, now owned by the Spanish RIU chain. It seemed to us the nicest of all the hotels we had stayed in so far. We ended up having dinner at the hotel and settled in for the night.
This was the big day of our trip to Ireland via train and ferry. I discovered the day before that the rail timetable had changed and now required a change of trains at Crewe resulting in a later arrival at Holyhead with only 20 minutes to catch the ferry. With fingers crossed we checked out of the hotel and headed for Euston where things seemed to be running ok at least for operator Avanti West Coast.
Our 0910 train was actually headed for Edinburgh with Crewe as the first stop. We boarded carriage B toward the front and found that our seat reservation was already occupied by someone whose ticket also showed the same numbers. We took another pair of seats hoping no one would show up to claim them as the train was not totally full. We lucked out, perhaps the seats had been reserved by someone further down the line. Train departed on time and the ride was very smooth. Like the Acela they seem to use active tilting to allow them to speed through curves.
We arrived Crewe in time and had almost an hour for the Holyhead connection. The connection is across platform (6 to 11) so is fairly convenient even with luggage. Our 5 car DMU set pulled up and we departed on time.
As you can see the train was only sparsely occupied and most of the people had gotten off by Bangor leaving just a few for the ferry connection.
The ride to Holyhead is very scenic along the North Wales coast. I missed seeing the sign for the station with the longest name in Britain, usually abbreviated Llanfair P. G.
At Holyhead things were a bit confusing due to construction; fortunately there were several that had done it before we could follow. Got to the Irish Ferries desk to find they had closed ( you have to be there 30 minutes before departure) and directed us to Stena. The lady at Stena had no problem in booking us on their sailing which was in about an hour, and accepted our RailSail tickets. We checked in our luggage then waited in the lounge for departure.
Upon departing you board a bus that takes you out to the ship and actually drives on board along with many tractor trailers making the crossing. There you unload and go up the stairs to the passenger areas.
The ferry was well equipped with a lounge where you can buy food and drink, another area where people were watching a football match, and a game room. You can also rent cabins for the 3+ hour voyage. We first went up on deck to get one last look at Britain as we departed.
The ride wasn't bad as the Irish Sea was fairly calm that day, the sun even peeking out a few times. We arrived at Dublin port on time at 1800. The disembarking was a little confusing as initially they never said where to go. Fortunately again there were those that had "been there done that" and knew to go to deck 5 where a bus would pull up and take us off the boat. The bus arrived and took us to the ferry building where we had our passports checked and stamped then picked up our luggage from a carousel like at the airport.
I was expecting taxis outside but there were none. The Stena people advised us that it was hard to get a taxi here, best bet was to wait for the Nolan bus that would take you to Connolly station and get one from there. While we were waiting for the bus, I saw two English men getting into a taxi they had likely called for ahead of time. I asked them if it was ok to share the cab and they agreed. We went off on a somewhat breakneck ride into the city. The two gentlemen were there for a short trip to sample the pub life in Dublin before returning home and had obviously done this a few times.
Once we pulled up to our hotel I tried paying for the fare with my card but the driver wouldn't accept it. I was not expecting this since all the cabs in London had had no issues doing card payments. The two gentlemen said no problem it's in us, you can pay us back if we ever meet in the US. I thanked them profusely and we headed for the hotel.
We had booked the Gresham on O'Connell st not far from the spire and the historic GPO, now owned by the Spanish RIU chain. It seemed to us the nicest of all the hotels we had stayed in so far. We ended up having dinner at the hotel and settled in for the night.
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