Hi
I am travelling to Dublin from Glasgow for business this Monday or Wednesday coming it will be a day trip only, I was wondering which is the best and cheapest way to get there. I looked at the airlines and they all seem to be quite expensive and then I looked at ferry's but I couldn't find any ports in Scotland that go to Dublin?
Can anyone recommend anything?
Thank you in advance.
Edited by: mandakasravi
Edited by: mandakasravi
It comes down to the fact that if you are only going for a day trip, flying is the only practical choice. It would just take too long by surface, even if the hoped for ferry from Dublin to Scotland did exist. After all, the ferry to Holyhead takes 3h30, so how long do you think a ferry to Scotland would take? There are ferries from Northern Ireland to Scotland, but the total journey just takes far too long for a day trip.
they all seem to be quite expensive
They often are rather more expensive when you try to book at short notice, they know that people travelling on business tend to travel at short notice and can usually be sponged for more money.
When you say "all", there are in fact only two that I am aware of, Aer Lingus who fly to Glasgow International, and Ryanair who fly to Glasgow Prestwick, (and the journey from Prestwick to Glasgow city will take you rather longer, you should be aware). Both those air lines are cheaper if you go to their own websites, in fact Ryanair cannot be found unless you do that. If you used a generic flight finder, no doubt it found indirect routings which were no doubt expensive.
Good shout for Aer Lingus.
£85 one way is the cheapest on your required dates, but it is closer to Glasgow - than Prestwick.
Thank you for your help, as it is a day trip i need to be there around 9-10am ryanair seem good on the way to Dublin but will create a problem coming back as I won't be able to catch the last train from prestwick to glasgow.
Looks like it will be air lingus there are a couple of flights per day but as i need morning and last flight those times are dearer it will cost just under 200 pounds :(
As you say this is what happens last minute.
Edited by: mandakasravi
You can get a one-way with Ryanair - and choose another option to come back.
You don't have to get a return with Ryanair.... In fact - you can't.
More essential question: why would anyone want to make a day trip to Dublin? Have you already seen everything worth seeing in Scotland?
I won't be able to catch the last train from prestwick to glasgow.
Ryanair generally ensure that their travellers are able to get to/from the airport in the style to which they are accustomed, so my guess is that there will be a bus available, but clearly you should check.
Hmmm I wrote a long reply to this yesterday but it seems to have disappeared or never appeared.
For your return journey, if time is not much of a consideration but money is, have a look at http://www.irishferries.com/ie/sailrail.asp or http://seat61.com/Ireland.htm for details of the sail-rail option.
If you follow the booking links on either of those websites (or, I imagine, on nationalrail.co.uk) you will be able to find the ferry and rail options, which costs €51 or GBP 38 provided you buy it at least a day in advance. Note that the Irish Ferries site charges no additional booking fees but it does not itself provide details of the rail connections.
This would involve sailing from Dublin at 14.30, arriving in Glasgow at 23.18, with changes at Holyhead, Chester and Crewe, so it would be a pretty arduous way of saving money.
However, the nationalrail.co.uk site does not provide this option, I'm not sure why - it only gives you one that will get you into Glasgow at 9.14 am the next day. That may be because it doesn't trust the 14-minute connection time in Chester, or because there's something wrong with one of the connections raileasy.co.uk is promising.
Even more arduous would be the later option, leaving Dublin at 20.55 and arriving in Glasgow at 10.36 am the next morning. This option costs €45 or GBP43 (no idea why one is cheaper on the UK site and the other on the Irish site, though I think the Irish one is more likely to be correct).
Unless the plane is ridiculously expensive, I would go for it - if it's a business trip, surely your employer will pick up the tab anyway?
Also bear in mind that the ferry terminal at Dublin Port is surprisingly far away from the city centre and you need to allow for check-in time - so you would have to leave the city centre by 13.30 to be on the safe side.
Bottom line is it's possible but you'd want to be desperate.
Edited by: fear_rua
