How To Reach Ireland

Ireland, the land of the Irish - the country of all those pubs and beers and traditions and tales, but also of beautiful castles and sweeping isles, seas and caves and some very warm-hearted people. Ireland is technically a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain but its unique landscape and culture and history make it hold its own when it comes to holidaying. If you are planning to visit Ireland for any of these, do not delay and come straight to this place for a rich, Irish vacation. Reaching Ireland is easy enough, you can either take a flight to its capital city Dublin or fly into London and then go from there. Read on for other options. 

Ireland has four international airports - namely, Dublin, Cork, Shannon and Ireland West. When you fly from Indian cities like Delhi or Mumbai, you will reach Dublin via Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The major carriers running this route include Etihad, Air India, Jet Airways, Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines. Domestically, Ireland has many other airports for internal flights - Kerry, Waterford, Galway, Sligo etc. You can choose from Aer Lingus, Ryanair and Aer Arann to fly within Ireland, to Scotland or England.

You can take a road journey to Ireland from England or other European countries like Lithuania, Poland, Estonia or Latvia. Hired cars and coaches are available with chauffeurs as well as self-drive options. You can also board one of the Eurolines buses, or Eirebus from Eastern Europe. The roads are beautiful and sweeping with meadows; a real ‘Leap Year’ kind of experience, with local inns and small villages dotting your journey. And every few miles, you will find, a new tradition or superstition punctuating your experience of Ireland.

For train options in Ireland, you have the Enterprise Service, which is jointly run by Northern Ireland Railways and the Irish Rail, connecting Belfast Central and Dublin Connolly. You can also travel to Ireland from UK in a train, with routes like Dublin-Holyhead, Rosslare-Fishguard and Rosslare-Pembroke. Some of these are directly linked with sailing routes and include your boat fare as well

If you wish for a ‘Viking-like’ journey into Ireland then you better take the ferry or boat services from France or England. North Wales to Dublin and South Wales to Rosslare are two common routes, while there are also Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire and Fishguard to Rosslare operated by the Stena Line. Other ferries plying between England and Ireland include Norfolkline, Brittany Ferries, Irish Ferries, Irish Sea Express and Celtic Link.