Sail Rail to the UK €44/£29 each way

Cool Mo D

A very well kept secret is that you can travel from Dublin to London by ferry and train for cheap each way, with no taxes or charges, unlimited availability, all the baggage you can carry, and you can buy your tickets on the day. You must buy the tickets either in person at a train station, or over the phone. The prices are €44 one way Dublin to London (buying in Ireland) and £29 London to Dublin, (buying in the UK). There are also similarly priced sail rail offers from Cork/Belfast/Galway/Limerick/Dublin to lots of different UK destinations

See here for details

Irish Ferries sail rail page is here

MunsterCycling

Would find it hard to sail with Irish Ferries after the way they treated staff.

MC

partyatmygaff

Would find it very easy to sail with them.

Thanks

Havent sailed for years.

MunsterCycling

Well then party you'd better hope that nothing happens coz not many of their new contract staff understand a word of english and will be of no help in an emergency.

MC

corcaigh07

stena line have the same service

acquiescefc

shame their sailrail websites knackered
cant select destinatrion

ch750536

Some 'gotchas' for you.

1. You can only buy on the day in Dublin, all other stations you need to call first to let them know what you want, 24hrs notice.
2. Some stations dont do them at all.
3. There is a free bus transfer on the Dublin route to the port but you have to get a specific train to Dublin.
4. It has taken me 30 mins to get the ticket, be plenty early for the train.

On the other hand...
The sail rail ticket is valid anytime on any route. If you are going to Wales from London in the morning you can save £100 by buying a sail rail and getting off where you want.

Likewise if travelling north, get a sailrail from Lonon to Dublin (via holyhead) during peak get off at Crewe (normally about £90) and then buying an off peak for the rest of the journey.

griffdaddy

I'm moving over to Holland next week and am considering doing the sail and rail, i think i could get from Dublin to Amsterdam for about €70 all in, but i'm having trouble booking it. Can anyone who's good with this kinda thing help me out? i need to be in amsterdam before 3pm on the 25th. Thanks in advance

marknoonan1974

I've done this trip a few times, its much better than flying. The tickets are flexible also. Ya can walk around on the boat, have a few beers, chill out and relax, the train is grand also. None of that airport hassle of being treated like a farm animal.

Bogger77

griffdaddy wrote: »

I'm moving over to Holland next week and am considering doing the sail and rail, i think i could get from Dublin to Amsterdam for about €70 all in, but i'm having trouble booking it. Can anyone who's good with this kinda thing help me out? i need to be in amsterdam before 3pm on the 25th. Thanks in advance

try seat61.com for guides on London to pretty much anywhere in Europe.

dingding

Used this at Easter.

Got the train about 7:00 AM, and I was in Dublin for about 2:30

Not much longer than the flight from Central London to Central Dublin

Kotek Besar

Sail Rail is great. Cost me £40 to go from Burton on Trent to Waterford (via Holyhead-Dublin, Irish Ferries).

Left Burton at 06:30, arrived Waterford at 20:50. Really pleasant journey and totally stress free, cheap as chips.

oneweb

I've scanned the leaflet I got at Connolly which is a hell of a lot easier to understand than the site!

Hope it's useful

SailRail2009.pdf

craichoe

griffdaddy wrote: »

I'm moving over to Holland next week and am considering doing the sail and rail, i think i could get from Dublin to Amsterdam for about €70 all in, but i'm having trouble booking it. Can anyone who's good with this kinda thing help me out? i need to be in amsterdam before 3pm on the 25th. Thanks in advance

NS are doing a 50 yoyo one way deal from London to Amsterdam with the Eurostar.
http://www.nshispeed.nl/nl/aanbiedingen/aanbieding-londen-met-de-trein

so you'd be talking 94 euros all in i think.

cashback

I'd be quite interested in this if I could go to Sheffield. It's in zone C but not listed as a destination. Maybe I'd have to make my own way from manchester which wouldn't be too hard I suppose.

Bogger77

cashback wrote: »

I'd be quite interested in this if I could go to Sheffield. It's in zone C but not listed as a destination. Maybe I'd have to make my own way from manchester which wouldn't be too hard I suppose.

You'll be able to request Sheffield on the ticket, no worries there. The stations listed are generally the more popular destinations.

Kotek Besar

cashback wrote: »

I'd be quite interested in this if I could go to Sheffield. It's in zone C but not listed as a destination. Maybe I'd have to make my own way from manchester which wouldn't be too hard I suppose.

Yes, there are a few different ways to get to Sheffield. Best way would be:

Holyhead > Crewe
Crewe > Stockport
Stockport > Sheffield

http://www.thetrainline.com

You can buy your sail rail ticket from any train station in Ireland. You need to tell them your destination station in the UK, but how you get there is up to you (which route). Needs to be Irish Ferries though (not Stenaline). You can take the cat if you want (only two hours, Dublin > Holyhead).

cashback

Thanks, sounds good. So basically the one ticket should suffice from the ferry all the way to Sheffield. I might give it a try sometime.

Kotek Besar

cashback wrote: »

Thanks, sounds good. So basically the one ticket should suffice from the ferry all the way to Sheffield. I might give it a try sometime.

Basically, yes.

consultech

I still think Ryanair's cheap flights current to London beat this, even if you paid for a checked bag.

Blisterman

Interestingly, it seems cheaper to book a London-Dublin ticket and get off at Crewe, than booking a ticket directly from London to Crewe.

Could I do this?

Kotek Besar

Blisterman wrote: »

Interestingly, it seems cheaper to book a London-Dublin ticket and get off at Crewe, than booking a ticket directly from London to Crewe.

Could I do this?

Absolutely!

A single train ticket from London to Crewe costs £41.
A single sail rail ticket from London to Dublin costs £29.

Buy the sail rail, get off at Crewe, throw away the rest of the tickets.

Brian CivilEng

benifa wrote: »

Absolutely!

A single train ticket from London to Crewe costs £41.
A single sail rail ticket from London to Dublin costs £29.

Buy the sail rail, get off at Crewe, throw away the rest of the tickets.

Do they check tickets on exiting the station in Crewe though? I was warned before when travelling in the UK on the Bristol to Manchester line that I couldn't buy the cheaper Bristol to Manchester ticket that was available at the time if I wanted to get off at an intermediate station which included Crewe.

Kotek Besar

abitofacomedian wrote: »

Do they check tickets on exiting the station in Crewe though? I was warned before when travelling in the UK on the Bristol to Manchester line that I couldn't buy the cheaper Bristol to Manchester ticket that was available at the time if I wanted to get off at an intermediate station which included Crewe.

What are they going to do? Physically restrain you and hold you captive for daring to try and get off the train? It's a free country. People are free to change their mind and cut their journey short if they so wish.

Brian CivilEng

benifa wrote: »

What are they going to do? Physically restrain you and hold you captive for daring to try and get off the train? It's a free country. People are free to change their mind and cut their journey short if they so wish.

They would make you pay a fine for having an incorrect ticket, the same as if you show up in Connolly with the wrong ticket.

Kotek Besar

abitofacomedian wrote: »

They would make you pay a fine for having an incorrect ticket, the same as if you show up in Connolly with the wrong ticket.

No. If you want to leave the train and cut your journey short - you can. You don't have to make use of the entire ticket.

ch750536

I frequently do this not an issue.

Also note that a sailrail ticket is valid at any time.

Means a journey to Liverpool from London becomes 30 quid rather than 109

ch750536

abitofacomedian wrote: »

They would make you pay a fine for having an incorrect ticket, the same as if you show up in Connolly with the wrong ticket.

Nope
Not the wrong ticket, you are allowed to break the journey

greendom

MunsterCycling wrote: »

Well then party you'd better hope that nothing happens coz not many of their new contract staff understand a word of english and will be of no help in an emergency.

MC

Nonsense, they would be as well drilled as any English speaking person.

mickoneill30

consultech wrote: »

I still think Ryanair's cheap flights current to London beat this, even if you paid for a checked bag.

I was in London yesterday with CityJet for €48 (each way). That was with a checked in bag and food on the plane. Not so cheap if you're booking less than a week in advance though.

Still the sail / rail way is a good day out and a relaxing way to get there. I'll be doing that with the missus as soon as we can.

radodroma

I'm just back from Chatham in Kent for 38 pounds!!!The conductor couldn't believe his eyes when hi saw how much I've paid for the trip.There was even free wi-fi on the virgin train from London euston to chester..sweet!