This was a whole lot of fun!
Definitely something you might want to put on your list of things to do if you are planning to visit both Ireland and Scotland. We were assuming that we would have to take a flight from Belfast to somewhere in Scotland to continue on with the exploration of our shared Celtic roots in these two countries.
But! We discovered there was a really fun way to do the journey… By taking a ferry! This is how it all unfolded.
We got on a bus in Belfast and immediately headed down to the dock area. The bus drove onto a very large ferry and headed out into the Irish sea. About 2 ½ hours later we pulled into the Scottish town of Cairnryan. We got back on the bus, which then delivered us to Glasgow.
We then hopped on a train in Glasgow and headed over to Edinburgh. The trip takes slightly over one hour. We could have walked to our hotel, but after a day of travel we decided to be lazy and took a taxi.
As you will see in the photos, this is a very relaxing and interesting way to travel between the two countries. We booked with the Hannon bus company. The complete trip from departure in Belfast until you get off the bus in Glasgow is slightly over six hours. We paid £44 per person… ~$74 CAD… for a one-way trip..
The crossing between Belfast and Cairnryan is provided by the Swedish shipping company Stena Line. It is one of the largest ferry operators in the world. They make the crossing 40 times every week and depart from Belfast seven days a week. They advertise that the crossing takes a maximum duration of 2 hours and 22 minutes.
A comparable ferry experience in Canada would be the run between Saint John New Brunswick and Digby Nova Scotia. Vancouver to either Nanaimo or Swartz Bay may be equivalent, but it’s been so many years since I have done that crossing, I don’t remember… The age thing…you know. 🙂
First Up, the Ferry Crossing
I had figured out that this would probably be our path long before we left home. That said, we didn’t book the passage until a couple of days before we left Belfast. I was quite confident that there was no way we wouldn’t get on. All in all, I would have to say that it turned out way better than I had anticipated.
The ferry itself was extremely well appointed, as you will see, and the ride over alone was probably worth what we paid for the whole trip. We had a relaxing and entertaining voyage to Scotland… Lots of shipping traffic to check out on the way. The drive up to Glasgow was very enjoyable as well with interesting vistas and towns.
When we got to Glasgow, the walk to the train station only took 10 minutes… And downhill all the way. J I don’t think we waited more than 15 minutes to board a train to Edinburgh after arriving at the station and buying tickets.
Let’s take a look at the trip.
The Road to Glasgow
The drive up to Glasgow was the second surprise on this trip. About a third of the route was right along the waterfront with lovely views out across the Firth of Clyde towards the Kintyre Peninsula. For those of you who remember Paul McCartney’s song “The Mull of Kintyre”, the Mull is the southernmost tip of the peninsula.
Musical Interlude – Paul McCartney’s Mull of Kintyre.
On to Edinburgh
Having done the Glasgow to Edinburgh run before, we knew it would be easy-peasy to quickly jump on a train and head across to Edinburgh. Yes, we could’ve stayed in Glasgow for a couple of nights before heading off to our next major destination, but Edinburgh is a much more interesting city.
Trains typically leave Glasgow for Edinburgh every half hour. During peak times and on Saturdays they leave approximately every 15 minutes. The run between the two cities takes just over an hour.
