How to travel to Ireland from Mainland Europe
Europe to UK
We looked for the best way to make it as easy as possible for our dog to travel with us to Ireland. Therefore, we chose to drive from the Netherlands to Calais (France) and there take the Eurotunnel to Folkestone. It takes about 2,5 hours to drive from our hometown in the Netherlands to Calais.
In 30 minutes you will arrive in Folkestone. From there you can travel on again. For more information about this way of traveling to England, click below.
Drive from Folkestone to Holyhead
UK TO IRELAND
Unfortunately, most ferries do not allow you to bring dogs onto the deck. There are some crossings where you can rent a cabin with overnight stay where your dog can come along, but we wanted to go for the fastest way by boat.
We considered several options, but finally opted to drive from Folkestone to Holyhead and take the ferry to Dublin. The drive from Folkestone to Holyhead takes about 6,5 hours.
We arrived in Folkestone late in the evening and chose to drive a few more hours and book a hotel halfway to England so that the following day we only had to drive 3,5 hours to the ferry. We slept in this cute castle hotel in Birmingham, which was affordable, dog-friendly and great for a night.
Ferry from Holyhead to Dublin
Ferry options Holyhead - Dublin
The boat ride from Holyhead to Dublin is the shortest crossing to get to Ireland. And even with that crossing, there are differences in the length of the crossing, depending on which ferry you book.
Options:
– Irish Ferries – duration 2:15h
– Irish Ferries – duration 3:30h.
– Stenaline – duration 3:15h
Note: there are more options, but these were the ones between which we could choose. You will find other options at the bottom of the page.
Our ferry experience overall
Our experience of the outward journey is better than the return journey. We thought the shortest crossing would be best, but in hindsight, next time we would opt for the longer trip from the start. Read why below.
Inbound Holyhead - Dublin
We opted to take the fastest 2:15h ferry so we would be without Shampoo for as short a time as possible. We booked a kennel for him in advance (see photo below) and bought a lock for the kennel ourselves. By the way, you can also choose to leave your dog in your car. Info on this can be found below.
The day before our boat was supposed to leave, we received word that the fast ferry had been cancelled and that we could alternatively take the boat that took 3.5 hours. We did this and ended up being very glad we took this ferry on the way to Ireland.
On the deck is a separate room containing the kennels. You can lock these kennels yourself with your own lock or you can rent one. The door of the room is closed by a staff member during the crossing, but we were able to take a look downstairs several times.
Note: this is a picture of the kennel on the ferry that takes 3,5 hours to cross.
I have to admit, the kennel does not look very cozy. We put Shampoo’s pillow in the kennel along with a cuddly toy and his water bowl to make him feel at ease. Luckily, Shampoo was the only dog in the kennel when we had our crossing. We asked the staff a few times during the crossing if we could go see him (the door to the room locks during the crossing) and this was not a problem. Someone then walked with us to open the door. We just listened to see if Shampoo was quiet and fortunately this was the case every time.
When we almost arrived in Dublin, we walked down to the area with the kennels. We then played with Shampoo for a while before heading to our car. Shampoo was immensely happy and did the crossing super well. In the end, the owners are often more nervous about how things are going than the dog himself 🙂
Outbound Dublin - Holyhead
On the return journey, the 2:15h fast crossing did go ahead. When we arrived on deck by car, we went to see the space with the kennels. It was quite different from the ferry that takes 3.5h. In fact, the kennels are just on the deck where the cars are also parked. This means, firstly, that you absolutely cannot reach your dog during the crossing and, secondly, there is a lot of noise when your dog is in the kennel. We therefore chose to leave Shampoo in the car during the return trip. These were two really long hours for me, but when we finally got back to the car, Shampoo was just happy again and nothing was wrong.
Other ferry options
Of course, it depends on the round trip you are going to make what are the best options for you for the crossing. We started and ended in Dublin, but you can also make other choices and arrive somewhere other than where you are going to leave.
Possibilities
– Drive to Fishguard and take the ferry to Rosslare (duration between 3:30h and 4h)
– Drive to Pembroke and take the ferry to Rosslare (duration 4h)
– Drive to Liverpool and take the ferry to Belfast (duration 8h)
– Drive to Cherbourg (France) and take the ferry to Rosslare (duration between 18h and 20h)
– Drive to Cairnryan (Scotland) and take the ferry to Belfast (duration between 2h and 2,5h)