Dublin & ferries

[mikeonabike]

I am planning a trip to Ireland from Rosslare westward and then back across to Dublin and ferry to Holyhead. Would be good to pick your brains for advice on the into/out of Dublin sections:
- Ferries: both Stena and Irish Ferries run to Holyhead. Are they equally bike-friendly?
- Accommodation: it may work best to stay in central Dublin and get an early morning ferry. Any recommendations for where to stay? I've been to Dublin a few times without bike and stayed in nice Georgian terraced houses which don't seem to have anywhere secure to put bikes.
- Route into Dublin. We'll be coming from Wicklow mountains. I recall the Dublin suburbs being a sprawl of traffic-clogged roads, any quieter routes?

Thanks

Mike

[bikepacker]

I have used both and they are very good with bikes so you will have no problem whichever you choose.

From Dublin I prefer Irish Ferries because the run a fast ferry service taking only 2 hours to Holyhead. Remember if you are using the train from Holyhead book a "Sail Rail" ticket it will work out much cheaper. Last year I used the early ferry from Dublin and had to check in about 7.30 am so I got a B&B The Shipwright Guesthouse, (it is on Booking.com) basic and clean it is the cheapest single room near the docks. Your bike is locked in a passage that doubles as a fire exit and no one can enter from outside. Don't worry about it being over a pub there was no noise after 10.00pm. Also it is only about half a mile over the bridge to the dock gates, you do have another mile to get to the terminal once inside the docks.

Can't help with the roads from the South I have only entered from the West and used the canal cycleway that takes you to the heart of the city.

[NUKe]

Irish ferries are bike friendly, I change that they are friendly regardless of your mode of transport, I think Stena are as well.
long time since I stayed in Dublin but if you head south of the river, area opposite the RDS are a few nice B&B's, long time since I stayed there but Hartley house was bike friendly in that they had a locked backyard, just checked its still there
https://www.bing.com/search?q=hartley++ ... rsationid=
I would stop in Dublin if you have the time,for a capitol its small and friendly and if you like music virtually every pub is a music venue It is my favourite capitol city.
take care on the road into the port unless they've changed it you are sharing the route with HGV ,and if you've time d it wrong there will be a long stream of them. like any port really
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.35152 ... 312!8i6656
As you can see its not the prettiest route

[molzor]

it might be worth looking at canal paths as a route into dublin

[mikeonabike]

Thanks for the quick responses.

The canal route from the west looks a good idea. Maybe adds about 10km if coming from the south, but I'll be aiming for the scenic routes. I've been to Dublin a few times so the point of this trip is to explore more widely, but Dublin isn't a bad place to end up (compared to say Rosslare I am told).

The rail/sail deal is very interesting. How does it work with Virgin trains bike booking facility?

[bikepacker]

Virgin do have a website for Sail and Rail https://www.virgintrains.co.uk/tickets/ ... ld/ferries.

You will need bike reservations for Virgin so it may be best to use a travel centre to book.

[Cyril Haearn]

Book recommendation
Towpath Tours, a guide to cycling Ireland's Waterways by John Dunne

[Antan1]

Don,t rely on all the canal towpaths to be completed, I rode a section around Sallins a few months ago and struggled on my MTB.
Rob

[Al Wright]

I am fairly familiar with the area.
If you are approaching Dublin from the Wicklow Hills (south) you probably plan to take the R115 route from Laragh via Sally Gap (300m climb) towards Rathfarnham, the roads should be quite traffic free until you reach the end of the downhill near Rathfarnham. After that it becomes the R114 - R137 and can be quite busy, but there are cycle/bus lanes along most of its length. On reaching the canal at Harold's Cross, cross the bridge and follow the northern bank, this leads to a pedestrian/cycle path towards Ringsend,
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/27174359

The other approaches to city from this side of Wicklow go via Bray on R119 -N11 approx 13km of busy dual carriageway with cycle path alongside, or Enniskerry on R117. The R117 can be busy at times but is a popular cycling route hence most drivers take care. After crossing the motorway it is best to turn right and travel 0.5k to the R825 which has cycle path all the way to city centre. Both of those routes cross the (Grand) canal and the pedestrian/cycle path mentioned above
The busiest part of route is likely to be the Liffey bridge crossing to the port. One can enter the port via Alexandra Road, however the pedestrian entrance to Tolka Road can be quieter.
Cycle paths in Dublin are shown on OSM cycle and Google maps, the paths vary from good quality dedicated paths to 800mm wide painted strips long the carriageways.

[mikeonabike]

Thanks Al, that is very helpful. My previous Dublin trips have involved taxi rides along the N11 to UCD and back, so I fancied something different.

By pedestrian entrance to Tolka Road, you mean the gate at the junction of East Wall Rd and Bond Rd? I wouldnt have thought of that!

[mikeonabike]

Just to follow up with my experience attempting to book the rail/sail deal. In principle it is a good deal: from London £60 (incl £10 bike supplement) pp each way, compared to £41 for the ferry alone. Standalone train tickets would be more than the difference, even the best advance fares (though no railcard discounts for rail/sail).

But to book this you need to go through the UK rail companies in order to reserve bike spaces on the trains. Their FAQs said tickets would be available 3 months before travel so i waited until then before trying to book.

For the outward trip via Fishguard/Rosslare the route is GWR to Swansea then Arriva to Fishguard. They schedule a service that arrives at Fishguard 40 minutes before the ferry leaves. But the Arriva train has only 2 bike spaces and for my desired date (this was just under 12 weeks away) those have been booked up. Arriva won't let me book on an earlier train, they say that the rail/sail deal is only for the specified combination. There are only 2 ferries a day, one of which is in the middle of the night, so I asked if I could book on the day before - bike spaces also already booked! So instead I gave up on Arriva, and booked a cheap advance ticket to Swansea on the day before the ferry. Total cost £57 and I get myself a nice ride across west wales

I then asked Virgin about the return leg via Holyhead. Bookings not yet available - "they'll be available 3 months ahead" "it's just under 3 months now" "oh yes so it is, well they'll probably be available soon, check the website".

[mjr]

I then asked Virgin about the return leg via Holyhead. Bookings not yet available - "they'll be available 3 months ahead" "it's just under 3 months now" "oh yes so it is, well they'll probably be available soon, check the website".

Latest current booking dates are here: http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_far ... 44703.aspx

[mikeonabike]

Belatedly thanks to mjr for that link, it helped me with the Virgin booking.

When it became bookable I went to Euston and the travel centre there were very helpful. They booked us on the direct train from Holyhead to Euston, which left about 2 hours after the ferry arrival (the normal connection would be on a train that left Holyhead sooner but required a change at Chester).

The arrangements for bikes weren't ideal. At Dublin you check in at the foot passenger terminal then go through a little gate and walk your bike up the car ramp into the boat. At Holyhead a shuttle bus picks you up with your bikes and all the foot passengers, then takes you to the passenger terminal next to the train station; fortunately they let us on first so we had space for the bikes.

Also a word of warning about the rail-sale deal. Unlike online booking, the ferry company don't have your contact details. Our sailing was brought forward 45 minutes because of adverse weather, and we only found out because we checked the website the previous evening for the check-in times.

But overall a good way of getting to-from Dublin, even if not the quickest.

Must be much cheaper than flying. We overheard one US tourist boasting about how she had found cheap flights to London by flying to Newcastle-upon-Tyne (which is in England right, so must be pretty close to London?). I didn't dare ask her if she had worked out how much getting to London would cost.

[Cyril Haearn]

It certainly -should- be cheaper than flying