Driving Finland to Ireland.

Mikko Mallikas

Hi I am an Irishman who has been living in Finland for the last 12 years, and in March will drive to Ireland for the first time and stay for 6 months. I will be travelling from Tampere to Baltinglass, Wicklow. I was wondering if anyone who has done a similar journey and has any suggestions for route, I am aware of the trade off regards long ferry journeys or long drives and accomodation, I will probably be traveling alone and budget is minimal. Any tips or advice welcome, and Mods feel free to move this if it would get more traffic somewhere else.

Tabnabs

My folks do the annual trek to Norway and go Dublin-Holyhead ferry, across England to Harwich and then DFDS ferry to Esbjerg before heading north to Hirtshals for the last ferry.

Driving on your own would be a long and arduous trek, you'd still have accommodation, food and fuel costs and as Ireland is an island there's no way to cut out the ferry option completely. But a ferry over to Tallin and it's about a 1000km drive to Cherbourg where you can get the ferry to Rosslare.

Time to get out the calculator and hit the various websites!

Rasmus

Hi,
My experience is driving to/from Estonia but from Tampere it's basically the same bar adding a ferry!

What works out the cheapest and most do-able in my opinion is this: (avoiding the capital cities by taking their ringroads)
Helsinki - Tallinn - Riga - Panevezys (LT) Olzstyn, Poznan, Dresden, Nuremberg/Leipzig (depending on which route you decide on taking) Liege, Amiens, Cherbourg.

Of course you will likely deviate and/or fancy stopping in different cities or different directions, but I find this the most direct.
Poland has well-lit rest stops where you can sleep in safety in your car, so that is a night or two without accomodation if need be.

If you DO want to avail f ferries, then the trucker one from Liepaja (I think it is, can't remember which port) in Latvia to Germany is cheap and takes a chunk off the journey while you sleep.


The transit visa for Kalliningrad is about 40 euro, and although I haven't done it, I wouldn't bother as the speed traps will cost you an arm and a leg, according to rumors.

An all ferry route would be to sail to Stockholm and drive down through Denmark and Germany and take a ferry to UK from Netherlands, but it gets really expensive.

Lady Chuckles

Tabnabs wrote: »

My folks do the annual trek to Norway and go Dublin-Holyhead ferry, across England to Harwich and then DFDS ferry to Esbjerg before heading north to Hirtshals for the last ferry.

Have you ever been on the ferry between Esbjerg-Harwich? What is it like?
I'm planning on driving over to Ireland this spring, taking that ferry, but a lot of fear for the Nordic sea (the motion of the sea) projected on to me by my parents is making me a wee bit nervous... :o

It's nothing to worry about, right? :pac:

Tabnabs

Lady Chuckles wrote: »

Have you ever been on the ferry between Esbjerg-Harwich? What is it like?
I'm planning on driving over to Ireland this spring, taking that ferry, but a lot of fear for the Nordic sea (the motion of the sea) projected on to me by my parents is making me a wee bit nervous... :o

It's nothing to worry about, right? :pac:

The good news is that it's the southern North Sea is shallower and less volatile than the northern half. So in theory it's not a particularly bad trip. It's a fine big modern ship and as you'll have a cabin, any motion sickness can be subdued by lying in your bunk. My mother is not a great traveller but has had no complaints about the trip. Happy days!

Lady Chuckles

Tabnabs wrote: »

The good news is that it's the southern North Sea is shallower and less volatile than the northern half. So in theory it's not a particularly bad trip. It's a fine big modern ship and as you'll have a cabin, any motion sickness can be subdued by lying in your bunk. My mother is not a great traveller but has had no complaints about the trip. Happy days!

Excellent! That calms me down anyway. Besides, there's little point in worrying too much before even trying it

Thanks, Tabnabs!

Mikko Mallikas

Thanks guys, I have been planning ferry to Stockholm and then drive south through Sweden into Denmark, Germany over into France, Channel tunnel to England and then ferry from fishguard to Rosslare or Holyhead to Dublin. My sister is probably going to meet me in Stockholm and travel from there with me. I am thinking I would prefer the long drives option rather than the long ferries, though I may be proven wrong.

Mikko Mallikas

Tabnabs, google maps states it is 2,857 km from Tallinn to Cherbourg, which is a bit of a difference.

Tabnabs

Mikko Mallikas wrote: »

Tabnabs, google maps states it is 2,857 km from Tallinn to Cherbourg, which is a bit of a difference.

I used AA route planner which is still telling me "1,056 km (about 15 hours 18 mins)". 2,857km on the other hand I'd be ferrying or flying and using a bike for 6 months

biko

I use www.viamichelin.com which also gives you an estimate of cost for petrol, tolls, etc.

Thomasofmel

I would prefer the 'Swedish' route - the roads from Stockholm towards south are good, as they are in Denmark etc. Used to drive often via Sweden to Finland when I lived in Germany

Mikko Mallikas

I will be driving Tampere, Finland to Baltinglass, Ireland next month. I will leave Tampere on March 8, taking roughly the route below, I was wondering if anyone has anything reasonably small or anybody needing collection or delivery on the route. Contact me if you have. http://g.co/maps/6tng5

wispyman

Mikko Mallikas wrote: »

I was wondering if anyone has anything reasonably small or anybody needing collection or delivery on the route. Contact me if you have. http://g.co/maps/6tng5

14 tonnes of fresh snow
7 reindeer
25 cases of Lapin Kulta
2 hot Swedish blondes

Anteeksi - I could not resist

Mikko Mallikas

I´ll bring 25 Koff and 2 hot Finnish blondes, much better of course

biko

Bring Kiira Korpi please.

deman

I did the trip from Finland to Ireland back in 2004. Took the ferry from Turku to Stockholm, drove to Gotenburg, ferry to Newcastle, drove to Stranraer, ferry to Belfast. I'd love to do it again but the Gotenburg ferry doesn't run any more.

Look luck with your trip OP.