Cork - fly or drive?

jimogr

I'm going to Cork for the night of the 19th of Dec and trying to decide on mode of transport.

I'm thinking Christmas traffic around the country will be crazy so driving down might take forever.

Flying seems like a good option on paper, 40 euro return each (there are 2 of us) and I live close to Dublin Airport. Cost of petrol would be 50.

Anything I should know about flying? How much would a taxi from Cork Airport to city centre cost?

dcr22B

Personally, I'd drive as the only mental place would be the M50. Drove to Cork in 2h30m from Red Cow back in September with a minor hold up at Dunkettle.

Taxi from Cork Airport to the city should be between €10-€15 depending on where you're staying in the city centre.

crocro

You also have to pay €10 per person for using a credit card to pay for your flight.

Taxi to Cork from airport is about €15 max.

You must bring your passport - driver's licence not accepted.

Carry on luggage is frequently checked for size and weight limits so make sure you are within 10kg and 55cm x 40cm x 20cm. I see a lot of people pulled up on this recently and then shaken down for cash.

They charge €40 if you forget your boarding pass but this is going up to €100

DOC09UNAM

I'd drive, it's not a bad drive if you do it early.

Ham'nd'egger

jimogr wrote: »

I'm going to Cork for the night of the 19th of Dec and trying to decide on mode of transport.

I'm thinking Christmas traffic around the country will be crazy so driving down might take forever.

Flying seems like a good option on paper, 40 euro return each (there are 2 of us) and I live close to Dublin Airport. Cost of petrol would be 50.

Anything I should know about flying? How much would a taxi from Cork Airport to city centre cost?

Most late night rail tickets are just €10 per person one way with no baggage limit, no boarding cards, no checking in 90 minutes ahead, no massive hidden fees (just €2 for credit card bookings), reserved seats and last minute booking possible. At worse, a rail ticket is €36 single and it's city centre to city centre though I note that you are near Dublin airport and it may be less hassle to get here than to Heuston.

Cookie_Monster

I'd drive

Easier, more flexible and more fun than the other options

Stark

I'd drive. With the motorway, your only worry is Abbeyleix. Even then, I drive up and down for Christmas every year and haven't had problems.

crushproof

Train would definately be the most relaxing way for both of you. I doubt you'd be in much of rush? No hassle at all and there's usually plenty of €10 fares available.
City centre > City centre, sure you can't go wrong!

messrs

drive or train, defo not flying, as someone else mentioned the baggage allowance. train takes about 2.5 hours and goes into city centre so is handy location wise - well for getting there anyway, but if you live close to airport get 16a into oconnell st and get luas from abby st straight to heuston!

Colm R

I drive home mostly, but sometimes I fly if I get a really cheap flight - i.e. close to zero. For weekends I generally don't have to worry about baggage allowance. I don't live too far from Dublin Airport either, and to be honest - door to door, driving is faster.

Too many hoops to jump through with Ryanair.

dcr22B

Stark wrote: »

I'd drive. With the motorway, your only worry is Abbeyleix. Even then, I drive up and down for Christmas every year and haven't had problems.

There is a straightforward bypass route around Abbeyleix as well that I'll share by PM if you needed it.

Colm R

dcr22B wrote: »

There is a straightforward bypass route around Abbeyleix as well that I'll share by PM if you needed it.

No - too many people know that route.

I do feel sorry for some of the people living along this route. For what is a very quite country road, it does put up with a lot of traffic at peak times.

jimogr

Thanks for the input guys.

Don't care about the baggage allowance as its only for one night, but not many voices in favour of flying.

Stark

dcr22B wrote: »

There is a straightforward bypass route around Abbeyleix as well that I'll share by PM if you needed it.

Thanks, but I already know it, just didn't want to share

corktina

the only pinchpoint is Abbeyliex.To avoid this, continue down the N7 to Roscrea and then take the Thurles road from there.Quite a good road and comparitivley empty. Gain the M8 at Horse And Jockey....

Heroditas

jimogr wrote: »

I'm going to Cork for the night of the 19th of Dec and trying to decide on mode of transport.

I'm thinking Christmas traffic around the country will be crazy so driving down might take forever.

Flying seems like a good option on paper, 40 euro return each (there are 2 of us) and I live close to Dublin Airport. Cost of petrol would be 50.

Anything I should know about flying? How much would a taxi from Cork Airport to city centre cost?

Drive. Simple as that.
If you head down on the Saturday morning relatively early you'll have a clear run. You'll have 18 or 19 miles of single carriage road from Portlaoise to Cullahill and all the rest of the journey will be motorway/dual carriageway.
I regularly do the drive from Lucan to Cork and it takes an average of 2hrs 15mins now (even with bad traffic in Abbeyleix, it will stretch to 2hrs 30mins)
This time two years ago I'd have recommended flying. But now? Not a chance. Parking the car, getting the bus to the terminal, queuing, then waiting to board, then the flight and then making your way from Cork airport? Not worth the hassle! You'd be quicker driving and it'll work out cheaper too

Stark

corktina wrote: »

the only pinchpoint is Abbeyliex.To avoid this, continue down the N7 to Roscrea and then take the Thurles road from there.Quite a good road and comparitivley empty. Gain the M8 at Horse And Jockey....

Problem there is you have to go through Mountrath. Also, you've 72km worth of single carriageway driving to do, versus 30km on the Abbeyleix route. 72km to be stuck behind some dithering idiot(s) if the traffic is heavy.

Chris_533976

Drive it. Abbeyleix may hold you up a bit, but its the only place.

Think of it this way, you will take about 2h30m to drive it. Technically you're supposed to arrive at the airport 2h30m before most flights, probably similar for domestic flights around Christmas.

Just try not to hit the M50 or Abbeyleix at rush hour.

Carawaystick

I'd drive down, the're should be no issues on the M50, maybe a delay at Newlands and Naas and Abbeyleix as has been pointed out, but southbound there is an easy way around.

There were no 24hour carparks in Cork when I lived there, maybe there are now, but check it out. The pay parking zones reached further and further out of the city centre so you'ld need something to consider about this here.

others probably have more info on this.

dcr22B

Stark wrote: »

Thanks, but I already know it, just didn't want to share

Not much keeps up with me when I take the back route (all legally below the 80 km/h limit) as the sheep who follow me have no idea where they're going. It's amusing sometimes!

brettmirl

Don't forget that Aer Arann fly that route too, not just Ryanair.
So you'd have bigger luggage allowances, etc plus you can use your driving license for check-in.

Having said that though, I'd still vote for the train (off-peak and use website to book tickets) or drive it.

Howyadoing

Taxi from Dublin to cork would cost less than
€1 per km. Why not travel in style and have someone
drive u there and be able to stop of on the way
for a bit of lunch when and where u like. A little
more expensive I know.

Cookie_Monster

Howyadoing wrote: »

Taxi from Dublin to cork would cost less than
€1 per km. Why not travel in style and have someone
drive u there and be able to stop of on the way
for a bit of lunch when and where u like. A little
more expensive I know.