Belfast & Dublin

[red.hell]

hello folks

I'm organizing with some friend a travel to Ireland from first January to 6th January, we arrive in Belfast the first day in night (at about 22pm) and depart to come back to Italy on 6th January at about 16pm (the first idea was to stay only in Dublin, but the flight is about 200€ more expensive)

So we want to sleep in Belfast first and last night and the other 3 night sleep in Dublin. We don't rent any car, we have plan to take the train from Belfast to Dublin.

Any suggestion about hostels where sleep, cheap resturant, pubs ( ), something to see that we can't find on turistic guide are well appreciated

[wolfden]

take me too!

I would love to see Ireland and take in it's culture

[red.hell]

well, if you want we can book one more bed for you

[xlnagla]

You may want to reconsider renting that car - Dublin's a great city but it's also not a American/European-standards big city. The Wicklow mountains are less than an hour out of Dublin on a good day, with lots of places to stop before you get there, and they're some of the prettiest things in the South-Eastern Irish area. Also, that train is going to take a little while (just as a warning). Irish infrastructure has gotten a lot better in recent years, so there are multi-lane highways, especially near the Dublin area. As for places to stay in Belfast, Bed and Breakfasts galore like everywhere else. Some let you book ahead, it depends on the season.

I've been there a couple times, absolutely adore it and hope to live there some day.

~xlnagla

[red.hell]

You may want to reconsider renting that car - Dublin's a great city but it's also not a American/European-standards big city. The Wicklow mountains are less than an hour out of Dublin on a good day, with lots of places to stop before you get there, and they're some of the prettiest things in the South-Eastern Irish area. Also, that train is going to take a little while (just as a warning). Irish infrastructure has gotten a lot better in recent years, so there are multi-lane highways, especially near the Dublin area. As for places to stay in Belfast, Bed and Breakfasts galore like everywhere else. Some let you book ahead, it depends on the season.

I've been there a couple times, absolutely adore it and hope to live there some day.

~xlnagla

Thanks xlnagla

We try to reconsider a car rent, I've just controlled Hertz website and for 5 days is about 220€, the same cost as the train (that's about 42€ each person). But I think that no-one of us have alredy drived in left side of the road.

We think to book the beds/rooms soon because we don't want problem when we arrive, because is late in night (the plane land at 10pm...).

[xlnagla]

Europcar. much cheaper. When you reach dublin (by train) you'll see a ton of places. If not, there are a lot of buses out to the surrounding areas anyway. Not the freedom of a car, but it's good enough.

~xlnagla

[ReemZ]

But I think that no-one of us have alredy drived in left side of the road.

My experience when driving (from The Netherlands, where I'm from) to England a few times: fifteen minutes max, and you're used to it.
Getting re-used to driving on the right hand side took me a lot longer
(But ok, maybe that's because the English tend to give way to every foreign number plates they spot and upon re-entering "the continent" you find that the French are...well...the French )