Travelling to Wales...

[TomBoyNI]

I was looking any opinions of any of you guys who have travelled to Wales from Northern Ireland.

Briefly looking it seems the best crossing is Belfast Liverpool. Resulting in about 150 miles to Wales.

(It is that GS Trophy Event that I was thinking of heading over to for the craic)

Any other suggestions or is this the way to do it?

Cheers. (thumbs)

[PaulinBont]

Depending what the roads are like your side down to Rosslare, I'd consider going across to Fishguard and then over the Preseli mountains and take the B roads through Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire to the event. For some nice roads have a look at Best Biking Roads , or I'd be happy to suggest a few around south-west Wales to you.

[-Ralph-]

Ride down to Dublin, then either slow ferry to Holyhead, or another 1/2 hour past Dublin you can get a fast catamaran from Dun Laoghaire to Holyhead.

[-Ralph-]

Or yes, if you're going South Wales, Paulinbonts suggestion is a good one.

Depends how much time you've got and how much you want to see of Wales. The road from Dublin to Rosslaire isn't a bad one good few sections of it are dual carriageway. Or the road that runs Dublin to Wexford down the West side of the Wicklow mountains is a great biking road, well marked fast sweeping bends and good tarmac surface.

I'll google where this GS Trophy event of yours actually is.

[-Ralph-]

Yes, seen where the event is and I'd definitely ride down through ROI, but I much prefer riding and averaging 50 mph, than sitting on a ferry for 8 1/2 hours doing 20 mph.

[rwa.martin]

Personally I'd base it around the most convenient ferry times. You can travel from Rosslaire, Dublin and Belfast. There may be a best option based on your preferred time leaving home or wanting to arrive.

[92kk k100lt 193214]

Ride down to Dublin, then either slow ferry to Holyhead, or another 1/2 hour past Dublin you can get a fast catamaran from Dun Laoghaire to Holyhead.

This was a Stenaline summer route and they have now very recently pulled it altogether. All the ferries will now be from Dublin Port.

There is a fast option on the Jonathan Swift from Dublin Port with Irish Ferries www.irishferries.com

The other option is take M50 around Dublin and M11/N11 to Rosslare. Both Stenaline and Irish Ferries operate from here too.

The good option is go via Rosslare and come back via Dublin. Ralph has made a very good suggestion too.......and for what its worth the Rosslare routes tend to be a small bit cheaper and you pay no toll on the M50.

Prices and ferries tend to be similar but if you get caught out and need a booking change Stenaline will help you out of hours but Irish ferries close. To avoid this take the phone numbers of the port offices with you.

[threepot]

As a riding experience,North to south would be a better option. I could plan a route for you ok

[Heff]

A few years back Flintlock and myself used the Holyhead to Dublin route with Irish Ferries. The crossing was about 4 hours and I think it was around €60 with a few Euro for the tolls. I suppose the choice of crossing depends on your destination and how much riding you want to do (thumbs)

[suzivstrom650]

Recently done the Belfast-Liverpool ferry,boring beyond belief
So bad I rode all the way up to Cairnryan for the much more pleasant 2 hour crossing back!
I'd rather be riding the bike than sitting on a ferry trying to convince myself I'm getting some sleep.
Go for the shortest crossing you can find within reason(thumbs)