[thechat] Best way from London to Ireland?

[John Handelaar]

Matt Warden wrote:
> Will be in London in May for some business, and I'd like to take a
> little side trip to Ireland. I'm primarily interested in areas like
> Moher and other geological wonders:
> 
> http://www.ethmorger.ch/images/Europe/Bilder/Ireland%20Cliffs%20of%20Mohair.jpg
> 
> Any thoughts on the best way to get to these areas from London? 


Yes, you probably want to go to SNN (which is more or less
in the right county, give or take a couple of miles).

Ryanair goes to Shannon from Stansted and Gatwick (Stansted
much more frequent).  Shannon, in turn, is about 8 miles from
Limerick, which means it's also about 25 minutes from Ennis
in County Clare.

Apparently you can get a bus to the Cliffs from either Limerick
or Ennis railway stations.

This ain't really public transport territory.  I'll defer to
the other travellers on the driving license question, though
I'd be surprised if they didn't take an Ohio card at the rental.
OTOH (can't remember how old you are these days) there might
be more of an issue if you're still under 25.  If you're thinking
about renting, call ahead (there'll be someone who lets over-21s
rent a car, it just might involve a larger deposit).


Depending on your timetable,  you may choose to fly into Dublin
or Cork instead.  All trains (bar one) go to Dublin in this
rather screwed-up system - in this case you'd want Heuston Station.
 From Cork (where you would receive at least one free pint from us
at a local tavern) both the stations you're after are either
non-stop or (more often) one-stop-at-Limerick-Junction, journey
time between 1.5 and 2 hours.



My 'there's buses from the train' assertion comes from the
Cliffs' own tourist site:

http://www.cliffsofmoher.ie/TransportProviders.aspx


...they mention Bus Eireann services straight to the right place
but neglect to mention which numbered bus route they're on about.

A quick scout round the Bus Eireann site suggests that you'd want
to start in Ennis and not Limerick - the bus is Route 337 to
Doolin and while it starts in Limerick it takes over an hour
to make the 20-minute trip to Ennis on its way down.  Enter
'Cliffs of Moher' as a destination in the route planner.



</tourguide>


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