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London to Belfast for £59
It's a secret! You can buy a combined train+ferry SailRail ticket between Belfast & any station in Britain in either direction via Cairnryan or Holyhead, see the route map below. It's the traditional way, through the countryside by train and across the Irish Sea by ferry, the eco-friendly alternative to a flight. Bring a bottle of wine with you on the train (try that on Ryanair), sit back with a good book & enjoy the ride. This page explains routes, timetables, fares & how to buy tickets.
Option 1: London to Belfast via Holyhead/Dublin
Option 2: London to Belfast via Cairnryan
Option 3: London to Belfast via Liverpool
- time-effective overnight service
Belfast to the Giant's Causeway
Which route to choose?
Option 1, London to Belfast via
Holyhead & Dublin
Take a morning train from London to Holyhead in Wales then the afternoon Irish Ferries sailing to Dublin, for just £53.40, or £60.10 on busy dates or when the cheaper tickets sell out. Then take an evening Enterprise express from Dublin to Belfast from €15.99. A SailRail ticket gets you from any station in Britain to Dublin, train+ferry all on one ticket. See schedules, fares, how to buy tickets.
Option 2, London to Belfast via
Cairnryan
London to Belfast for £59, any day, any date. Leave London on an early morning train to Glasgow, take an onward train to Ayr and the Stena Line transfer bus to Cairnryan for the ferry to Belfast. One ticket covers the whole journey, any station in Britain to Belfast. See schedules, fares, how to buy tickets.
Option 3, London to Belfast via
Liverpool
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the 'sleeper'
service!
Leave central London after 5pm, Birmingham or Manchester after 6pm by train to Liverpool, sleep in a comfortable private cabin with shower & toilet on the overnight Stena Line ferry from Birkenhead and arrive in Belfast in time for breakfast! This makes eco-friendly business trips or weekends away feasible without the pain of the plane. See schedules, fares & how to buy tickets.
Route map Click for detailed map
London to Belfast via Dublin |
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Leave central London on Avanti West Coast 09.00 Irish Mail to Holyhead (08:07 Sundays). It's a scenic journey along the North Wales coast. |
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At Holyhead, you board the luxurious 50,000 ton ferry Ulysses for the sea crossing to Dublin. |
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The crossing takes 3h15, arriving Dublin 17:25. |
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On board the ferry, it costs £18 (€21) to upgrade to the Martello Lounge on 11 deck, with complimentary red & white wine, tea & coffee, cheese & crackers, olives, smoked salmon canapés, muffins & fruit juice. The lounge is directly above the ship's bridge, giving a superb forward view of the Irish coast approaching. |
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Transfer from Dublin Ferryport to Dublin Connolly station & board the Enterprise Express to Belfast. Dublin to Belfast is 2 hours by train. |
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Spacious seating, a buffet car for tea, coffee & hot meals, and great Irish scenery. You arrive in Belfast at 20:58. 4 countries in 1 day! |
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Welcome to Belfast! No planes, no airports. |
London to Belfast via Dublin
The route via Holyhead takes you through Dublin, why not stop off for a while? The Holyhead route takes about the same time as the Cairnryan route, see which timetable suits you best. By all means go out one way, back the other!
London ► Belfast
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Step 1, travel from London to Dublin by train & ferry, leaving London Euston by train at 09:00 on Mondays-Saturdays or 08:07 Sundays for Holyhead, connecting with the 14:10 Irish Ferries sailing to Dublin port arriving 17:25. See the London-Dublin page for details.
Transfer by shuttle bus 2 miles from Dublin Ferryport to Dublin Connolly station, arriving around 18:15. Or take a taxi from the ferry terminal to Connolly station.
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Step 2, travel from Dublin to Belfast, leaving Dublin Connolly at 18:50 by Enterprise Express, arriving at Belfast's new Grand Central at 20:58. You can check times at www.irishrail.ie.
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Other options are available via this route, including an overnight London-Dublin service with morning train connection from Belfast. See the London to Dublin page for all London-Dublin options. Then see www.irishrail.ie for Dublin-Belfast train times. Allow plenty of time in Dublin for connections. There are Enterprise expresses from Dublin Connolly to Belfast every hour from around 06:00 to around 20:00, journey time 2 hours.
Belfast ► London
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Step 1, travel from Belfast's new Grand Central Station to Dublin Connolly by Enterprise Express, on any afternoon or evening train you like, they run every hour.
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Stay overnight in Dublin. In fact, there's an overnight Dublin-London ferry+train service, but without any sleeping accommodation so it's not great, but if you want to use it, it departs Dublin Ferryport at 20:55 and arrives London 09:35, see the timetable here. I'd get some sleep & travel; next day.
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Step 2, travel from Dublin to London by ferry & train.
You leave Dublin George's Quay bus stop 135111 at 06:45 by Nolan's bus or using a taxi to connect with the luxurious Irish Ferries Ulysses leaving at 08:05 and arriving Holyhead at 11:30. A train connection will get you to London Euston station at 16:37 Mondays-Fridays, 17:35 Saturdays, 16:39 Sundays. See the Dublin-London page for details.
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Other options are available via Dublin & Holyhead, including an overnight Dublin-London service with evening connection from Belfast. See the London to Dublin page for all options, then see www.irishrail.ie for Dublin-Belfast train times. Allow plenty of time in Dublin to make connections. There are Enterprise expresses from Belfast to Dublin every hour or two throughout the day, journey time 2 hours.
How much does it cost?
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London-Dublin costs £53.40
This is the one-way fare if you book by 18:00 the day before travel. It costs £60.10 if you buy your ticket on the day, or if the £53.40 rate has sold out. A return = two one-ways.
This is a SailRail fare, train & ferry combined on one inclusive ticket. Fares are available from any British station to Dublin, see the London to Dublin page for prices from anywhere in Britain to Dublin.
As they are so cheap anyway, there are no railcard discounts on SailRail tickets.
Children aged 5 to 15 travel at 50% of the fares shown above. On SailRail journeys, children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult. Unaccompanied children 16-17 years old must have written authority to travel from their parent or guardian.
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Dublin-Belfast costs €15.99
Tickets starting in Dublin cost €15.99 each way. Advance-purchase fares start at €13.99 each way.
Tickets starting in Belfast cost £33 one-way or £48 return. Advance-purchase fares start at £14.99.
How to buy tickets
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Step 1, buy a SailRail ticket to Dublin at tfw.wales
This is the Transport for Wales website, they manage SailRail fares on behalf of all National Rail operators and can sell tickets to Dublin from London or any station in Britain.
For Dublin, type station code DFP and select Dublin Ferryport.
You can book days, weeks, maybe a month or two ahead. You can't book months and months in advance and don't need to. More info.
Or buy by phone on 03333 211 202, lines open 08:00-20:00 Mondays-Fridays, 0900-1700 weekends.
You collect tickets from the ticket machines at any main British station, or tickets can be sent to any UK address including Northern Ireland for £0.95 by 1st class post or £8.88 Royal Mail next-day tracked.
Important: tfw.wales can sell tickets in either direction, but tickets cannot be collected in Ireland. To book journeys from Dublin to anywhere in Britain with ticket collection at the Irish Ferries desk at Dublin port, book with Irishferries.com as shown here.
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Step 2, buy a Dublin-Belfast train ticket
For one-way or round trip tickets starting in Dublin, buy at www.irishrail.ie. For one-way or round trip tickets starting in Belfast, buy at www.translink.co.uk.
Or buy in person on the day of travel at Dublin Connolly or Belfast Grand Central.
Dogs, cats, bikes...
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Bicycles go for £10 each way on Irish Ferries. Pre-booking is recommended, email Irish Ferries at info@irishferries.com. Bikes are carried free on trains to Holyhead, but a bike reservation is compulsory on Avanti West Coast trains (3-bike limit), recommended for TfW (2-bike limit).
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Dogs & cats go free on the trains. Irish Ferries & Stena Line allow foot passengers to take small dogs or cats if they're in a container which you can carry onto the ferry. The dogs or cats must travel in their container on the car deck or in the kennel area, see www.irishferries.com or www.stenaline.co.uk/faqs for details. Guide dogs can be taken into the passengers areas, other dogs cannot.
What's the journey like?
London to Belfast via Cairnryan
The traditional, historic route to Belfast was always via the Scottish port of Stranraer. It takes about the same time as the Holyhead & Dublin route, and shows you a lot of wonderful Scottish scenery on the way. Until 2011, you took a train from Glasgow to Stranraer in southwest Scotland and walked straight onto the Stena Line ferry to Belfast in Northern Ireland. In 2011 Stena Line moved their port from historic, rail-connected, integrated Stranraer to a new port at Cairnryan with a 1h15 coach connection to Ayr for trains to & from Glasgow and the rest of the country. See the journey in pictures & watch the video guide.
Timetable northbound
How to read these timetables: Each column is a service you can take, and you read downwards. You change trains at each of the grey bars.
You take a 125 mph Avanti West Coast Pendolino train from London to Glasgow. In 2011, Stena Line stopped using Stranraer and switched to Cairnryan, so you now need to take a train from Glasgow to Ayr, then a special Stena Line connecting coach from Ayr to Cairnryan to connect with the Cairnryan-Belfast ferry. Times may vary on Saturdays & Sundays due to engineering work, so always check train & ferry times for your date of travel using tfw.wales or www.nationalrail.co.uk.
Belfast Port Stena Line terminal is at the far end of West Bank Road, see map showing Stena Line terminal. A taxi from central Belfast costs around £15. Translink's Metro 96 bus links Belfast Upper Queen Street with the Westbank Road Stena Line terminal for £2.30, card payments accepted, see www.translink.co.uk click 'Routes & timetables', 'Metro' and search for Metro 96. The bus connects with most ferry arrivals & departures, but not the 07:30 departure on Sundays, you'll need a taxi for that. Note that Stena Line has two terminals in Belfast, one for Cairnryan, one for Liverpool. The Cairnryan terminal is slightly further from the city centre than the Liverpool one.
Edinburgh to Belfast? Edinburgh to Glasgow takes 51 minutes with a train every 15 minutes, then use the Glasgow-Belfast timetable here. Simply book Edinburgh - Belfast Port at tfw.wales.
Timetable southbound
From any other station in Britain to or from Belfast, simply use tfw.wales to find train+ferry times for your date of travel.
How much does it cost?
These are Advance fares, you must book by 18:00 the day before travel, only valid on the specific trains booked. Only Advance fares exist on this route now.
From Edinburgh, Glasgow & some other stations there are also flexible Anytime fares which can be bought on the day, at the same price as these Advance fares.
Return fares are simply two one-ways.
Check fares at the Stena Line website by selecting Rail & Sail and then using the journey planner.
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Senior or young persons railcard holders get a 34% discount on these fares. No discount with family railcard.
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Children aged 5 to 15 travel at 50% of the fare. Children under 5 go free, no ticket necessary.
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You cannot stop off with a SailRail ticket, except as necessary to make connections. If you want to stop off, you'll need to buy separate tickets for each stage.
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Remember, these fares are centre to centre, not airport to airport. When comparing, add at least £15 one-way or £30 return to the cost of the flight to cover the train ride from London to Heathrow, Luton, Stansted or Gatwick airports, plus baggage fees, airport taxes and more!
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Londonderry/Derry: Change in Belfast for the Belfast to Londonderry train.
How to buy tickets
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Buy online at tfw.wales.
This sells SailRail tickets between Belfast and any station in Britain via Cairnryan, in either direction, no booking fee.
Select Belfast Port (BFA) for journeys via Cairnryan, you can save time by just typing station code BFA.
Tickets can be collected from the self-service machines at most stations in Britain including London Euston, but they cannot be collected in Ireland. Alternatively, tickets can be sent to any UK address for a fee with next day delivery, including to addressed in Northern Ireland.
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You can also buy tickets from key stations in Scotland to Belfast online at the Stena Line website, www.stenaline.co.uk (tickets posted to UK addresses only, no collection option).
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Buy by phone, call 03333 211 202. Lines are open 08:00-20:00 Mondays-Fridays, 0900-1700 Saturdays & Sundays.
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Buy in person in Britain at most British railway stations, including the main ticket office at London's Euston Station.
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Buy in person in Northern Ireland, in advance or on the day of travel at the Stena Line ferry terminal in Belfast, look for the 'travel centre' counter as you walk in.
What's the journey like?
Video guide: Belfast to Glasgow & London via Cairnryan
London to Belfast via Liverpool
Overnight in comfort with private cabin with shower & toilet
Stena Line offer a time-effective overnight ferry from Liverpool (in fact, Birkenhead) to Belfast with comfy en suite cabins making an eco-friendly business trip or weekend away feasible without the pain of the plane, see the photos below & watch the video guide here. There's also a leisurely daytime service. Brand new energy-efficient ships Stena Embla and Stena Edda were introduced on this route in 2020-2021.
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Leave Belfast by ferry after 10pm in a private en suite cabin arriving Liverpool 06:30, arrive by train in Manchester 9am, London or Birmingham 10am.
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Leave London after 5pm, Birmingham, Manchester or Leeds after 6pm, sail from Liverpool after 10pm, sleep in a private en suite cabin, arrive Belfast 06:30.
Timetable northbound
Timetable southbound
How much does it cost? How to buy tickets See map showing ferry terminal, Hamilton Square & Lime Street stations
If you're coming from Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds or anywhere else, simply look up train times to Birkenhead Hamilton Square at www.nationalrail.co.uk, with an arrival at least 90 minutes or so before the ferry sails.
You can double-check ferry times at www.stenaline.co.uk. Train times are guides only, even the ones shown on the Stena Line site are a guide only, always check them for your date of travel at www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk. You usually need to change at Liverpool Lime Street for Birkenhead Hamilton Square.
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There are no SailRail tickets on this route now, so you buy separate tickets for the train and ferry.
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London to Liverpool by train starts at around £27 each way if you book ahead, only good for the specific train you book.
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Liverpool to Belfast by ferry costs from £36 each way per person, check fares at www.stenaline.co.uk.
Cabins are optional, but typically cost around £60 per cabin for a 4-bed inside cabin with shower, toilet & free WiFi, rising to £90 for a Comfort Class outside cabin with shower, toilet, satellite TV, tea & coffee making facilities, complimentary fruit bowl & soft drinks, free WiFi.
On the day boat, treat yourself to the privacy of a cabin with shower & toilet at a reduced rate from £30 per cabin, or to the Stena Plus lounge with complimentary tea, coffee, snacks & red or white wine for £25 extra.
How to buy tickets
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Step 1, book the ferry with cabin at www.stenaline.co.uk.
Or call Stena Line on 03443 350 027, lines open 08:30-20:00 Mondays-Fridays, 09:00-18:00 Saturdays, 09:00-17:00 Sundays. In the Republic of Ireland call 01 204 7744.
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Step 2, book a train from your local station to Birkenhead Hamilton Square (if taking local train & transfer bus from Liverpool to the ferry terminal) or to Liverpool Lime Street (if taking a taxi from Liverpool to the ferry terminal) at any train operator website such as tfw.wales (no booking fee) or www.thetrainline.com (small booking fee, but also checks for split ticket savings).
If you buy a train-specific Advance ticket for the return leg from Liverpool to home, make sure you allow plenty of time between ferry and train in case of delay. If you buy a flexible Off-Peak or Anytime fare you can of course take a later train if you need to.
About the journey to Belfast
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You travel by train to Liverpool Lime Street Station. From London, this is a smart Avanti West Coast 125 mph pendolino taking a little over 2 hours with on-board shop selling tea, coffee, drinks and snacks. From Manchester or Leeds it's a smart air-conditioned Trans-Pennine Express. You can look up train times at www.nationalrail.co.uk.
At Liverpool Lime Street, go downstairs to the Merseyrail platforms and hop on a Merseyrail train to Birkenhead Hamilton Square. There's a train every few minutes and it's just 3 stops.
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At Birkenhead Hamilton Square, take the lift to street level, exit the station. It's a 1-mile 20-minute walk from Hamilton Square station to the Stena Line ferry terminal, see walking map, or a 5 minute taxi ride.
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Or taxi from Lime Street to the ferry: Alternatively, you can take a taxi direct from Liverpool Lime Street rail station to the Stena Line 12 Quays ferry terminal in Birkenhead, journey time around 15 minutes, taxi fare around £20.
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At the ferry terminal you check in at the Stena Line desk and are given your boarding card and cabin key.
The terminal building has vending machines toilets and free WiFi. When the ship is ready for boarding, a minibus shuttles you from the terminal building right onto the car-deck of the ferry from where an escalator takes you up into the passenger accommodation. If you have a cabin you can ask to keep your bags with you, but normally they ask you to check in your larger bags at the terminal building and pick them up again on the other side, leaving you free to use the ferry's restaurants, bars and cinema un-encumbered.
The ships are the Stena Embla (day crossing) and Stena Edda (night crossing), brand new in 2020/21 with excellent on-board facilities and private cabins.
You'll get great views of the Liver Building and the Liverpool waterfront from the deck of the ferry as she sails from the Mersey.
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On arrival into Belfast, you'll see the famous Harland & Wolff cranes Samson and Goliath on the skyline as you sail up Belfast Lough.
You disembark at the stern of the ship, taking the escalator from the passenger deck to the car deck, where you step on board a minibus which transfers you to the ferry terminal. If you have checked in your bags, you collect them here.
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A taxi from Belfast Stena Line terminal to any hotel in central Belfast costs around £15 and takes less than 10 minutes. There may be taxis waiting, if not there's a taxi freephone at the terminal.
About the journey from Belfast
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A taxi from a hotel in central Belfast to the Stena Line VT2 terminal costs around £15 and takes less than 10 minutes. Note that Stena Line has two terminals in Belfast, one for Cairnryan and one for Liverpool. The Liverpool terminal is slightly closer to Belfast city centre than the Cairnryan one.
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Check-in for the overnight ferry opens at 20:00 Tues-Sat, 19:30 Mondays, with boarding from 21:00 Tues-Sat or 20:30 Mondays, giving you plenty of time to settle into your cabin. Check-in closes at 21:30 Tues-Sat, 21:00 on Mondays. For the day crossing, check-in opens 08:00 and closes at 09:30. The Stena Line terminal building has vending machines, toilets and free WiFi while you wait to board.
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When the ship is ready for boarding, a minibus transfers you from the terminal building straight onto the car deck of the ferry, you step off the bus at the foot of an escalator at the stern of the ship which takes you up onto the ferry's passenger deck. If you have a cabin you can ask to keep your bags with you, but otherwise you can check them in by placing them on a luggage trolley at the terminal building and picking them up again at Birkenhead, leaving you free to use the ferry's restaurants, bars and cinema un-encumbered.
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The ships are the Stena Embla (day crossing) and Stena Edda (night crossing), brand new in 2020/21 with excellent on-board facilities and private cabins. You sail out of Belfast Lough with the two giant Harland & Wolff cranes disappearing astern on the skyline.
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As the ferry arrives in Liverpool, watch for great views of the Liver Building across the Mersey. When disembarkation is announced, foot passengers descend the escalator at the ship's stern and board a minibus on the car deck which transfers them to the terminal building. If you have checked in your bags, you collect them here. The night boat docks in Birkenhead at 06:30, you'll be at the terminal building by 06:45.
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It's a short bus ride from the Stena Line ferry terminal to Birkenhead Hamilton Square station, Stena Line usually provide a free bus in this direction, using the same bus that took you off the ferry. Alternatively, it's a 5-minute taxi ride or 1-mile 20-minute walk, see walking map.
Enter the station and descend to the platforms by lift. Hop on the next train to Liverpool, they run every few minutes and are usually shown as going to Liverpool Central. This train is included in your SailRail ticket. Get off at Liverpool Lime Street, just 3 stops and take the escalators to Liverpool Lime Street mainline station above ground.
Or take a taxi from the Stena Line ferry terminal to Liverpool Lime Street station, journey time 15 minutes, fare around £20.
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Travel from Liverpool Lime Street station to your final destination by train. If that's London, you travel on one of Avanti West Coast's 125 mph air-conditioned Pendolinos, taking just over 2 hours to central London. You can look up train times at www.nationalrail.co.uk.
The journey in pictures
Video guide: Belfast to London overnight
The video shows how good the journey can be. Since the video was made, Avanti West Coast have taken over from Virgin Trains and Stena has introduced new and even better ships on this route.
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Holidays & breaks to Belfast
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Short break packages from the UK to Ireland always involve flights, don't they? No they don't! Tailor Made Rail can organise a short break to Belfast by train & ferry starting from your local station, with hotels and transfers included as a package.
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Call their dedicated seat61 phone line 020 3778 1461 and quote seat 61 when booking. From outside the UK call +44 20 3778 1461. Lines open 09:00-17:30 Monday-Friday. Their website is www.tailormaderail.com/destinations/ireland.
Hotels in Belfast
More history than most hotels 3 times its age: The Europa
Opened in 1971, Belfast's famous Europa Hotel has more history than most hotels three times its age. It was the hotel used by journalists such as Trevor MacDonald, Kate Adie, John Simpson during the Troubles in the 1970s and 80s, when it earned the title of Most Bombed Hotel in Europe. Indeed, it suffered so many bomb attacks and had so many windows boarded it up, it was also known as the Hardboard Hotel. Yet it stayed open in spite of everything, a true survivor. And today it's a fabulous place to stay, ideally located a stone's throw from Belfast's new Grand Central Station and across the road from the famous Crown Bar. You'll find a book about the history of the hotel in your room for you to read, and a display case on the first floor near the piano with some hotel memorabilia. There's also a railway connection, as it was built on the site of the Great Northern Railway terminus.
Other hotel sites worth a look
www.tripadvisor.com is a huge resource, a good place to browse independent travellers' reviews of all the main hotels in Belfast & NI.
Backpacker
hostels
If you're on a tight budget, don't forget the hostels. For a dorm bed or an ultra-cheap private room in backpacker hostels in Belfast and most European cities use www.hostelworld.com.
Rent a cottage
Sometimes renting a house or cottage for a week or two is what you need, I can recommend www.sykescottages.co.uk for this.