Just to confirm. Return with Hanson is £78. Return with Citylink is £50. Living in NI I've travelled this route with Citylink many times. I found it excellent value. For an extra few quid you can travel on to Edinburgh, Fort William........Prior to covid you could book this route through translink and they even gave you complementary travel to/from Belfast from anywhere in NI.
Are you showing passport on that crossing? My friend claims he showed passport, but he was drunk, he could be also going from ROI. I have a suspicion that he was going from Derry to York through Dublin
@@yannikoloff7659 Every now and then police will be there to check suspicious travelers, I've never noticed any pattern to it, but if your friend got asked to show ID, then they thought he looked like a junky or potential terrorist.
Yes, I've done this journey and it was really good value. The ferry was delayed and they held the coach at Cairnryan. The journey along the Ayrshire coast on a summer evening was just beautiful. Nice ferry too.
The city link coach actually belongs to ulsterbus/translink as they run the route on behalf of city link and the vehicle is stored at ulsterbus’s Stranraer depot specifically placed for this route. The reason for the airport bus is they use what ever bus and driver allocated to that specific duty. Hope this helps
Yes you can see Translink's Great Victoria Street office address on the citylink coaches and the driver's high-vis vest and uniform have the Translink logo They use the airport bus as most passengers travelling on this route have bags and the Airport Express 300 bus is configured to carry bags with the fitted baggage racks unlike normal Metro/Ulsterbus fleet
To be fair Scott, the Ulster/Citylink runs more frequently than the Hannons. 3x a day vs 1 or 2 (depending on the day). There used to be a 920 to London which I used regularly. It was always pretty seamless.
Apparently National Express are bringing it back later this year - will be handy for me as I can get to Carlisle a lot more easily than Glasgow so I get to cut the corner
What I really don't understand is why you were up and about in central Belfast at 4.a.m, 2.5 hours before the departure time? And isn't there some hair-splitting going on here - one company takes you to the terminal, where a lift or escalator lets you board directly to the deck where you'll sit and eat. The other, after a wait, drives you onto the vehicle deck - from where you drag yourself up several flights of stairs. The difference at Cairnryan might be an issue as you say - but if the Citylink bus waits for up to 90 minutes it's not a huge area of concern.
@@roloduarte3100 tell you should try Ennis in Clare a total dump rough as anything not a guard in sight . That's the banana republic we live in But I suppose they can speak as Gaelige to the burglars and correct there grammar lo 🤭🤔
I seen your video on Hannon Coaches and decided to try them on December 2022 first class service the driver checked my reservation in Glasgow and it was totally hassle free I will be using them in future
One advantage, if you have an NEC (Bus Pass), is that the Glasgow/Cairnryan/Glasgow part of the journey is ‘free’, so there is a good cost saving there.
@@ajorngjdonaydbr we did that for a school trip. Glasgow to South of France, 30+ hours, a stop every 3 hrs (for driver breaks), 40 14-year old...lets go with interesting experience...
That was a tough journey for you considering the time spent standing around in the cold, and your absolutely right about your preferred choice of Hannon coaches who would want that messing around with separate transport, and finally I concur with your shock at the price of food on the ferry, I learned the hard way many years ago when taking my young family to France by ferry that food was a rip off on board so I always have prepacked supplies and a flask👍
I travel this way all the time to Belfast. When you arrive at the ferry terminal you have a choice to put your luggage into the hold or take it with you onto the boat. If you have mobility issues they offer an assistance bus that takes you directly onto the ferry. If the ferry is late arriving the coach that picks you up at the ferry terminal will wait for you. The Citylink bus will also take you on to Derry that is included in the £50 fare. They also go to Edinburgh. Hannon only go to Belfast or Glasgow. Citylink run 3 buses away. If they have no passengers to pick up or drop off at Ayr they just stay on the road to Glasgow. The difference between the 2 operating companies. Is hannon take there coach onto the ferry. Citylink you have to go on as a foot passenger. It is up to the individual if they want to pay an extra £28 for that privilege.
Did the outward journey Thursday, back to Glasgow tomorrow. Done this trip many times with City link, no issues. Actually do perth to derry return, £66! Cheaper than hannons Glasgow to belfast, and would have to add an extra £20 to £30 for the extra bits to the £78 hannons charge. So can nearly do it twice for same cost, with city link.
Fantastic video as usual, thanks for sharing! Did you know ScotRail also do a through ticket from anywhere in the UK to Belfast? Just pop it in a journey planner. It includes travel to Ayr by train, bus to Cairnryan, ferry to Belfast and then bus from the Port to the City Centre. Would be great to see you do that on one of your videos, and would make an interesting comparison to the two coaches you’ve done between these cities? 😊
And the bus between Ayr and Cairnryan is dedicated for that purpose - so if the boat is late, it will wait. It will wait a bit for the scheduled Glasgow-Ayr train f it is late, but I think it will leave so it can catch the boat.
The rail and sail is Glasgow to Belfast and the train leaves Glasgow at 11:34 which you get off at Ayr and get the bus direct to Cairnryan for the half past 3 sailing and gets to Belfast port at quarter to 6
I did this trip for the first time last summer going over to Ireland and it only cost £50 for the return fare this also included getting the 212 Belfast to Derry bus also, granted the journey is a little longer and having to get onto the ferry as a foot passenger than going straight on the ferry on the coach is only a slight inconvenience, in other words its what people prefer, cheaper fare for a slightly longer journey or slightly more for the convenience of the bus going on the ferry. the Citylink ticket is excellent value in my opinion as you could pay £30 for the ferry itself if paying for the journey in stages.
Never used citylink before, only hannon. Think I'll stick with them in future, despite being more expensive. Last time I was going for a concert, however, and the ferry was delayed by 6 hours. Just stuck at the port for hours. Missed a couple of bands but got there eventually. Coach driver was lovely and we all got free meal tokens for use on the ferry as reimbursement of some kind. Hannon coaches are unrivalled.
I have traved on Stenaline from Dublin to Holyhead, I have not payed that price for the standard breakfast. Also what items did you buy, I noticed that there was 3 items on your bill?
Their prices seem to gone up excessively even for the times and quality is diminished compared to a few years ago, so I stopped buying. The food service on the old Stena HSS was much superior IMO.. in the 00s they had a very extensive menu for a ferry service.
07:07 The receipt reads-- "Breakfast Grill £11.50 Nestle Black refill £3.00 Princess Gate Still £2.20" (The last item is bottled water) The fry is still expensive at that price.
I used Hannon Coach from Glasgow to Belfast after a cancelled flight, and it was perfect. This weekend we are using Hannon Belfast to Glasgow, a positive of Hannon is that it is direct and doesn't go via Ayr. I have used citylink in the past and going through Ayr is a pain and adds onto the journey. Other positive with Hannon is if you are bringing bags it is free and you can leave them under the bus, no need to be bringing it onto the boat.
An idea for a timetable challenge for you: Glasgow - Oban - Barra - up the outer hebrides by bus and ferry - Lewis - Ullapool - Inverness - Glasgow. Lots of train, ferries, everything. What could possibly go wrong and end up with you camping out at a very small ferry terminal? Perhaps not best done until the weather improves!
Airport buses showing up on the 923 Belfast Europa - Stena Terminal happens quite a lot normally the driver that does the stena run will then do several runs from Belfast Europa to Belfast International Airport after so taking the Airport vehicle on the short run to the Stena is perfectly fine it saves having to take the bus back to the depot and swap to a airport bus plus the driver will have to do a first use safety check etc on the airport bus which takes time you don't need a fancy coach on a short run from Belfast Europa to Stena plus the airport bus is perfectly acceptable for the stena run it has plenty of seats and luggage space. Plus the 923 services is jointly ran by Ulsterbus & Citylink the vehicle you travelled on to Glasgow is owned by Ulsterbus despite it being in Citylink livery there is several Ulsterbus coaches over on the Scottish side most in Citylink livery to operate the 923. And finally the bus will wait if the ferry is delayed as it's a guaranteed connection I have seen the bus on the Belfast side be delayed over an hour before cause the ferry was late.
Good video. Even before I watched it I would never have considered it over the Hannon offer which slick and luxurious compared to the service buses used by City Link and Translink. Hannon might be a bit more expensive but you more than get what you pay for.
I've done journeys with both companies and I would choose Hannon Coaches every time. Also with Hannon Coaches you're not dragging your suitcase round the ferry behind you. Quite hard to do when you're carrying a tray of food.
@@philbailey4605 but would you at least concede that dragging your bag off one bus, checking it in at the ferry terminal, then reclaiming the bag and transferring it onto the Glasgow bound bus is a little annoying?
@@j2simpso Not particularly. I've travelled on the 923 service for a number of years and had no problem with it. Booked with Hannons once and they cancelled the service with less than a week to go because there was insufficient passengers for the service to operate. Needless to say I will just stick to the Citylink/Ulsterbus service.
Hannons also let you bring a bike with you. Last time I travelled a woman turned up with a huge framed picture which was very carefully stored by the driver.
Thanks so much for this video. I'm traveling this route - It really helped me! PS: I really liked the Hanon journey too, and if they ran the same amount of busses per day on this route, I would of course go for them. In my case, this time I can arrive home 4 1/2 hours earlier by going Ulsterbus/City link...
Scott, I seen you again on Saturday a steward at hampden, was a very wet day indeed. Didn’t want to disturb you at your work but you were doing a good job of protecting the fence between the two stands 😂👍🏼
How the world is changing is crazy, i have 0 problem waiting 15 mins for a bus and i really couldn't care what name was on it as long as i caught my ferry on time and i get to my destination on time. I would be raging for paying £17 on that breakfast rather than complain about a bus
Very interesting Scott . I'm thinking of a short break to Glasgow sometime, so this was very relevant. By the way, read your book not long ago. Really enjoyed it!
Great easy to watch video as usual Scott, and you're dead right not to eat the tomato - when they say fry ups cause heart attacks, that's the bit they're talking about.
That was very useful. I actually booked the CityLink from Glasgow - Belfast in error after seeing your video about H coaches ( I only realised my error when we were disembarked at Cairnryan). I can't complain about CityLink. I understand they're more frequent than H and no journey is risk free. I would however like the experience of being driven on/off the ferry without having to drag my wheeled luggage off/on at Cairnryan and then Belfast.
all depends whether you have a noticeable amount of luggage... generally, if they run well, changing transports should not form a problem... otherwise however, problems easily build up.
Shows how everybody's different, I prefer to walk up myself on a comfortable walkway in stead of having to climb up several flights of stairs from the car deck.
nice to see you in my home City the Reason for the Airport Decker is the connection to the sterna line boat is work of an Airport Duty and as it can be very busy at Certain Times a Decker marks sense also the 923 is a Ulsterbus service but run in Conjunction with Scottish Citylink and the coaches are based at a small Depot in Stranner
Done the trip many times , never had a problem. I use my disabled bus pass on the Glasgow cairnryan , cost is exceptional value . In fact just waiting on the winter schedule to open and I will book my bus for Belfast Xmas markets
You know, personally....I'm going on 21 years as a bus driver in Scotland and after all the years that has passed and all the crap I've taken as a bus driver, I can honestly say that I f#####g hate travelling on buses. Imagine waking up after taking a nap and seeing Glasgow....I'd stay on the coach and go back to Ireland. This little adventure you say?? Arriving in Glasgow, I guess arriving in hell wouldn't be that much different.
@@Marc-so2cd to each their own, I guess. The city centre is nicely tidied up, there's some great architecture, both Victorian and modern, there's a very lively cultural scene, and the city feels a little less full of itself than Edinburgh. It's not a perfect city, far from it, but I like cities with just the right amount of grit.
I've done the citylink route before, it has always been a local bus to the ferry terminal then the citylink coach. As for the London National express/Eurolines bus I'm not sure. Before they reduced the service to 1 per day, the RailSail was also useful and relatively affordable if coming from the Highlands/Aberdeen
A very useful video! It is over 25 years since I went by coach and ship to England via this sea route so I can't remember the details. I have gone rail/ sail many times since then which works out cheap enough too. The problem with it is that there is no relaible means of getting from Belfast city centre to the port. As you have shown in this video, this isn't a problem with Citylink. The rail and sail is cheaper for someone my age as I have a national rail senior card so this would be one reason for going by rail, the other is that there's more legroom in a train.
As I have a disability and can't walk anywhere without walking sticks, it would have to be the Hannon Coach service as dragging a case and dealing with tickets etc would be a minefield. If you need assistance you have pre arrange and although I haven't used this service it's not always easy, even if you arrange it it's not always forthcoming.
You suffer for your art Scott. Hanging around in the freezing cold at 4:00 am in the morning waiting for a bus station to open Riding a weird airport bus to the ferry terminal, then coughing up over 16 quid for a lousy looking breakfast. But we appreciate your endeavours. Thank you.
I've made that same mistake. Last time I went on city link I didn't realise I was meant to be a foot passenger and sat at the port bus station waiting for my bus until it was too late. They did transfer the tickets to the next day when I asked them about it but I'm disappointed they haven't fixed that ticket yet.
I did this trip with National express during the day and enjoyed it even though you go on the ferry as a foot passenger but lovely trip up the west coast of Scotland.
I've greatly enjoyed your videos for some time, but I must say, I think this is a horribly unfair and pernickety take on the service, that (along with the "right on cue" Hannon Coach vehicle driving by at the end) makes me seriously wonder if you have received payment from Hannon Coach to talk the competition down. At 4:55, you're unhappy because you think the bus won't wait for you if the boat is delayed; but at 10:45 you're unhappy because it actually will? At 5:40, you say that being issued a ferry boarding pass when you travel with CityLink is an "inconvenience" and that this is a plus for Hannon Coach because you don't need one with them. Seriously?!? At 10:10, you claim that you can't think of can think of one advantage over Hannon Coach. I can - the price. CityLink charge £30sgl/£50rtn for adults, £24sgl/£40rtn for students and £23sgl/£39rtn for children. Hannon Coach charge £39sgl/£78rtn return for everyone. That's £9-16 extra for a single and £29-£39 extra for a return - hardly "very similar" like you claim. Even worse, Hannon Coach still to this day claim on their website that the increased price (which used to be a very reasonable £29sgl/£58rtn pre-Covid) is only temporary because of Covid restrictions on coach capacity and the old fares will return when they are lifted. Restrictions on coach capacity in both Scotland and NI were lifted eighteen months ago in August 2021.
It's like everything over here, half the lies you hear aren't the truth! You are right I would only ever travel if the coach was going on ferry as well.
Nice reportage, plus 1 for Hanson Coaches then. I can’t believe the price of the cooked breakfast onboard the Stena ferry was £16:70. I take it from the thumbs down sign that it wasn’t very nice? That’s daylight robbery!!
Actually it does wait as going to Glasgow a few years ago, the ferry was 1.5 hrs late and wen we disembarked there was bus waiting for as and in matter of fact it was Ulsterbus bus, which was strange as there was no ulsterbus but on board. Coming back to Belfast there was a cash on the route from Glasgow and we were stuck for around 3 hrs but we arrived one hour after the departure time of the ferry but the ferry was still there, well some said that the ferry was waiting for us other say that there was a lot of vehicles who meant to go on the boat stuck on the route and it had to wait for all of us.
Back in the '80's I used to use the National Express/Citylink/Ulsterbus combo. Travelling from Lincoln to Victoria Coach Station via Leicester & Milton Keynes. Then hang around Victoria for a while and then the service from Victoria to Stranraer via Birmingham, Manchester, Preston, Carlisle and all those little towns and villages that have since been bypassed like the aptly named Collin. All the connections worked seamlessly every time I travelled and luggage was transferred from coach to ferry to coach with no problems. If you haven't already done it; try the RailSail from Euston to Dublin. I've done part of the route, again from Lincoln (via Nottingham, Crewe, Chester) and it was cheaper from Lincoln to Dublin than the fare from Lincoln to Holyhead! Although the train from Chester broke down on the way and I missed the fast ferry and had to catch the next one three hours later. On the plus side though; I'd paid for a Club Class upgrade in advance, so had extra time drinking the complimentary beverages and because the ticket was Lincoln to Dublin; the whole £49 fare was refunded because of the three hour delay.
What an adventure! Good you worked out what was happening, because it seems easy to lose sight of the connections. Scott, why arrive at 4am when the coach doesn't go for 2 hours? Did you think their might be passport control and customs? Enjoyed every minute of this video, and over too soon 🙂
@@mattbosley3531 I got the ferry from Belfast to Birkenhead in Feb 2020 and had to go through customs at Birkenhead. I didn't to get to Belfast though.
@@ianrobertson2634 Are you sure it was customs and not just that rather intrusive police checkpoint Merseyside Police insist on doing at Birkenhead? You never seem to get hassled by police at the other end in Belfast.
@@rachel.mcgowan It might have been, it was three years ago but all I remember is having to go through barriers for passport checks and questions. It took me by surprise as I wasn't expecting it.
I just recently did the 923 for the first time last weekend and I did enjoy the experience of traveling to Glasgow. The service to Glasgow was early getting into Buchanan station by 10-15 minutes and the return was even earlier and getting to Cairnryan before the Hannon's coach. Next time I will be trying out Hannon's coach for my next trip back over to Scotland.
There is one more way of doing this journey and that is Scotrails Rail+Sail. That is train to Ayr, dedicated Rail+Sail bus from Ayr to Cairnryan and then ferry.
I also took the CItylink service from Glasgow to Belfast, but when I got to the Belfast ferry, I couldn't find the 924 bus, so I had to take a taxi to the city centre. There is also a No. 96 bus to the city center at the ferry, but we need to buy an extra ticket to get on the bus, and it will not wait for the late ferry.
I used to travel with them twice a year from Glasgow to Derry £50 return, it's handy for me to go and visit the family as hannon costs more and then you would need to buy a ticket for ulsterbus 212
Great video I love travelling by ferry it’s the best way to go. Have you tried that ferry to Amsterdam from Newcastle? Did that a few years ago we had a great time, live music, cinema and good food!
From a econmical standpoint it does not make much sense to have a bus (+ bus driver) board on a longer ferry crossing. There is really no need to transport the empty bus when you can just have one bus on each side. However from a passenger standpoint it makes the journey less comfortable.
Just to confirm. Return with Hanson is £78. Return with Citylink is £50. Living in NI I've travelled this route with Citylink many times. I found it excellent value. For an extra few quid you can travel on to Edinburgh, Fort William........Prior to covid you could book this route through translink and they even gave you complementary travel to/from Belfast from anywhere in NI.
Are you showing passport on that crossing? My friend claims he showed passport, but he was drunk, he could be also going from ROI. I have a suspicion that he was going from Derry to York through Dublin
@@yannikoloff7659 no, travelled this route with city link recently
@@yannikoloff7659 Every now and then police will be there to check suspicious travelers, I've never noticed any pattern to it, but if your friend got asked to show ID, then they thought he looked like a junky or potential terrorist.
@@filevans No, but you must be able to spell HANNON (Coaches)
@@filevans yes sorry, hannon.
The 923 Citylink/Ulsterbus always waits at Cairnryan for the ferry regardless of how late the ferry is running!
Thanks Scott, I like the content that you do and you inspire me to do this
Thank very much Andy. I really appreciate it. :-)
Yes, I've done this journey and it was really good value. The ferry was delayed and they held the coach at Cairnryan. The journey along the Ayrshire coast on a summer evening was just beautiful. Nice ferry too.
The city link coach actually belongs to ulsterbus/translink as they run the route on behalf of city link and the vehicle is stored at ulsterbus’s Stranraer depot specifically placed for this route. The reason for the airport bus is they use what ever bus and driver allocated to that specific duty.
Hope this helps
Yes you can see Translink's Great Victoria Street office address on the citylink coaches and the driver's high-vis vest and uniform have the Translink logo
They use the airport bus as most passengers travelling on this route have bags and the Airport Express 300 bus is configured to carry bags with the fitted baggage racks unlike normal Metro/Ulsterbus fleet
From one Scott to another here in Scotland I just love this content. Keep it coming. Always makes me smile.
That was a great video and really enjoyed seeing you on the bus, then then ferry followed by a bus to Glasgow.
Very enjoyable video. 💜 I learned a lot. Coffee on a cold morning is the best! ☕☕ Four in the morning I would need two coffees.
To be fair Scott, the Ulster/Citylink runs more frequently than the Hannons. 3x a day vs 1 or 2 (depending on the day). There used to be a 920 to London which I used regularly. It was always pretty seamless.
Apparently National Express are bringing it back later this year - will be handy for me as I can get to Carlisle a lot more easily than Glasgow so I get to cut the corner
@@patrickchampion8179 please please please. That will be very very useful for me too!
What I really don't understand is why you were up and about in central Belfast at 4.a.m, 2.5 hours before the departure time? And isn't there some hair-splitting going on here - one company takes you to the terminal, where a lift or escalator lets you board directly to the deck where you'll sit and eat. The other, after a wait, drives you onto the vehicle deck - from where you drag yourself up several flights of stairs. The difference at Cairnryan might be an issue as you say - but if the Citylink bus waits for up to 90 minutes it's not a huge area of concern.
He probably just arrived very early to make sure he wouldnt miss the bus
it takes a brave man to be hanging around belfast at 4 in the morning lol 🤣
At least he’s not there today, it’s snowing in Belfast today and bloody freezing 😂
Try hanging around Dublin at 4pm
What a sh**thole I'm Irish .
I regularly go to the north feel alot safer there than down south .
Good luck 👍
@@martinryan2370 yep i live in the south, was in belfast before, much safer there than any other city or town in ireland
lol
@@roloduarte3100 tell you should try Ennis in Clare a total dump rough as anything not a guard in sight .
That's the banana republic we live in
But I suppose they can speak as Gaelige to the burglars and correct there grammar lo 🤭🤔
I seen your video on Hannon Coaches and decided to try them on December 2022 first class service the driver checked my reservation in Glasgow and it was totally hassle free I will be using them in future
One advantage, if you have an NEC (Bus Pass), is that the Glasgow/Cairnryan/Glasgow part of the journey is ‘free’, so there is a good cost saving there.
Back in the 90's, I did Belfast-London by coach several times. That was a killer! The things you can only do when you're young.
I did a bus from Belfast to the south of France, 32 hours, stops every 3 hours for 30 mins to get food etc
And cheap
@@sergelondon916 lol look at you flexing 😂
@@ajorngjdonaydbr we did that for a school trip. Glasgow to South of France, 30+ hours, a stop every 3 hrs (for driver breaks), 40 14-year old...lets go with interesting experience...
@@MrMeerkat818 yeh that's what we did it as well, for a watersports trip down the Ardeche River. Then did it all the way back. Brutal
That was a tough journey for you considering the time spent standing around in the cold, and your absolutely right about your preferred choice of Hannon coaches who would want that messing around with separate transport, and finally I concur with your shock at the price of food on the ferry, I learned the hard way many years ago when taking my young family to France by ferry that food was a rip off on board so I always have prepacked supplies and a flask👍
Lovely video. Just subscribed. Really like the travelling vlogs
I do appreciate the research you do for us all. I don’t think I’d do the Citylink either based on your experience. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for the video 👍🏻
What is puzzling me is why you're standing around in the cold in Belfast at 04.00 am when the coach doesn't depart until after 6.00 am !
What puzzles me is why he didn't just ask a member of staff what the journey was like or go on google. 🤣
I travel this way all the time to Belfast. When you arrive at the ferry terminal you have a choice to put your luggage into the hold or take it with you onto the boat.
If you have mobility issues they offer an assistance bus that takes you directly onto the ferry.
If the ferry is late arriving the coach that picks you up at the ferry terminal will wait for you.
The Citylink bus will also take you on to Derry that is included in the £50 fare. They also go to Edinburgh. Hannon only go to Belfast or Glasgow.
Citylink run 3 buses away. If they have no passengers to pick up or drop off at Ayr they just stay on the road to Glasgow.
The difference between the 2 operating companies. Is hannon take there coach onto the ferry. Citylink you have to go on as a foot passenger. It is up to the individual if they want to pay an extra £28 for that privilege.
You are the man always love your video's
Did the outward journey Thursday, back to Glasgow tomorrow. Done this trip many times with City link, no issues. Actually do perth to derry return, £66! Cheaper than hannons Glasgow to belfast, and would have to add an extra £20 to £30 for the extra bits to the £78 hannons charge. So can nearly do it twice for same cost, with city link.
I love this kind of video, keep going !
Fantastic video as usual, thanks for sharing! Did you know ScotRail also do a through ticket from anywhere in the UK to Belfast? Just pop it in a journey planner.
It includes travel to Ayr by train, bus to Cairnryan, ferry to Belfast and then bus from the Port to the City Centre. Would be great to see you do that on one of your videos, and would make an interesting comparison to the two coaches you’ve done between these cities? 😊
And the bus between Ayr and Cairnryan is dedicated for that purpose - so if the boat is late, it will wait. It will wait a bit for the scheduled Glasgow-Ayr train f it is late, but I think it will leave so it can catch the boat.
The rail and sail is Glasgow to Belfast and the train leaves Glasgow at 11:34 which you get off at Ayr and get the bus direct to Cairnryan for the half past 3 sailing and gets to Belfast port at quarter to 6
4am in Belfast??? Another above and beyond the call of duty, keep the trips coming!
Really interesting video. Congrats on getting to 30k too.
I'm gonna use the Hannon, it's seems worth the extra. One bus no hastle.
I did this trip for the first time last summer going over to Ireland and it only cost £50 for the return fare this also included getting the 212 Belfast to Derry bus also, granted the journey is a little longer and having to get onto the ferry as a foot passenger than going straight on the ferry on the coach is only a slight inconvenience, in other words its what people prefer, cheaper fare for a slightly longer journey or slightly more for the convenience of the bus going on the ferry. the Citylink ticket is excellent value in my opinion as you could pay £30 for the ferry itself if paying for the journey in stages.
Really appreciated for what you recommend!
Never used citylink before, only hannon. Think I'll stick with them in future, despite being more expensive. Last time I was going for a concert, however, and the ferry was delayed by 6 hours. Just stuck at the port for hours. Missed a couple of bands but got there eventually. Coach driver was lovely and we all got free meal tokens for use on the ferry as reimbursement of some kind. Hannon coaches are unrivalled.
I love when you post a new video cant wait for polish adventures!!
Excellent video - as always, well researched and honest assessment.
I cannot believe that breakfast was £16.70. I've done this journey so many times and have never once paid their on-board cafe prices
I have traved on Stenaline from Dublin to Holyhead, I have not payed that price for the standard breakfast. Also what items did you buy, I noticed that there was 3 items on your bill?
i thought it would be £16.90
Their prices seem to gone up excessively even for the times and quality is diminished compared to a few years ago, so I stopped buying. The food service on the old Stena HSS was much superior IMO.. in the 00s they had a very extensive menu for a ferry service.
07:07 The receipt reads-- "Breakfast Grill £11.50 Nestle Black refill £3.00 Princess Gate Still £2.20" (The last item is bottled water) The fry is still expensive at that price.
@@pm_ordinarychap lol
"Don't think I'd ever do this again because it's just too risky"? The same could be said for any journey requiring a connection.
I used Hannon Coach from Glasgow to Belfast after a cancelled flight, and it was perfect. This weekend we are using Hannon Belfast to Glasgow, a positive of Hannon is that it is direct and doesn't go via Ayr. I have used citylink in the past and going through Ayr is a pain and adds onto the journey. Other positive with Hannon is if you are bringing bags it is free and you can leave them under the bus, no need to be bringing it onto the boat.
Take care man, keep yourself warm.
An idea for a timetable challenge for you: Glasgow - Oban - Barra - up the outer hebrides by bus and ferry - Lewis - Ullapool - Inverness - Glasgow. Lots of train, ferries, everything. What could possibly go wrong and end up with you camping out at a very small ferry terminal? Perhaps not best done until the weather improves!
I’ve done this😂
Hi Scott ,
Seen Hannon coach leaving behind before you ended the video in Glasgow.
Hannon. Can't people just copy letters?
Airport buses showing up on the 923 Belfast Europa - Stena Terminal happens quite a lot normally the driver that does the stena run will then do several runs from Belfast Europa to Belfast International Airport after so taking the Airport vehicle on the short run to the Stena is perfectly fine it saves having to take the bus back to the depot and swap to a airport bus plus the driver will have to do a first use safety check etc on the airport bus which takes time you don't need a fancy coach on a short run from Belfast Europa to Stena plus the airport bus is perfectly acceptable for the stena run it has plenty of seats and luggage space. Plus the 923 services is jointly ran by Ulsterbus & Citylink the vehicle you travelled on to Glasgow is owned by Ulsterbus despite it being in Citylink livery there is several Ulsterbus coaches over on the Scottish side most in Citylink livery to operate the 923. And finally the bus will wait if the ferry is delayed as it's a guaranteed connection I have seen the bus on the Belfast side be delayed over an hour before cause the ferry was late.
I did Glasgo to Belfast in September it was quite easy . Will be repeating the trip in mid February.
interesting thankyou for the advice it was very helpfull
Good video. Even before I watched it I would never have considered it over the Hannon offer which slick and luxurious compared to the service buses used by City Link and Translink. Hannon might be a bit more expensive but you more than get what you pay for.
Good advice, thank you.
I've done journeys with both companies and I would choose Hannon Coaches every time. Also with Hannon Coaches you're not dragging your suitcase round the ferry behind you. Quite hard to do when you're carrying a tray of food.
You can check your bag in at the ferry terminal and collect it at the other side. No need to carry it on board if you don't want to.
@@philbailey4605 but would you at least concede that dragging your bag off one bus, checking it in at the ferry terminal, then reclaiming the bag and transferring it onto the Glasgow bound bus is a little annoying?
@@j2simpso Not particularly. I've travelled on the 923 service for a number of years and had no problem with it. Booked with Hannons once and they cancelled the service with less than a week to go because there was insufficient passengers for the service to operate. Needless to say I will just stick to the Citylink/Ulsterbus service.
Hannons also let you bring a bike with you. Last time I travelled a woman turned up with a huge framed picture which was very carefully stored by the driver.
@@philbailey4605 I went with Hannon in December 2022 there was 7 on the coach going to Belfast and 5 on the way back 🤷♂️
Thanks so much for this video. I'm traveling this route - It really helped me!
PS: I really liked the Hanon journey too, and if they ran the same amount of busses per day on this route, I would of course go for them. In my case, this time I can arrive home 4 1/2 hours earlier by going Ulsterbus/City link...
Scott, I seen you again on Saturday a steward at hampden, was a very wet day indeed. Didn’t want to disturb you at your work but you were doing a good job of protecting the fence between the two stands 😂👍🏼
Citylink is by far better value at nearly £30 cheaper. Tip on ferry is take your own cup and make or take a 'piece' with you. Bon voyage.
How the world is changing is crazy, i have 0 problem waiting 15 mins for a bus and i really couldn't care what name was on it as long as i caught my ferry on time and i get to my destination on time. I would be raging for paying £17 on that breakfast rather than complain about a bus
Very interesting Scott . I'm thinking of a short break to Glasgow sometime, so this was very relevant. By the way, read your book not long ago. Really enjoyed it!
Great easy to watch video as usual Scott, and you're dead right not to eat the tomato - when they say fry ups cause heart attacks, that's the bit they're talking about.
thank you ..thumbs up & subscribed
That was very useful. I actually booked the CityLink from Glasgow - Belfast in error after seeing your video about H coaches ( I only realised my error when we were disembarked at Cairnryan). I can't complain about CityLink. I understand they're more frequent than H and no journey is risk free. I would however like the experience of being driven on/off the ferry without having to drag my wheeled luggage off/on at Cairnryan and then Belfast.
all depends whether you have a noticeable amount of luggage...
generally, if they run well, changing transports should not form a problem... otherwise however, problems easily build up.
Shows how everybody's different, I prefer to walk up myself on a comfortable walkway in stead of having to climb up several flights of stairs from the car deck.
Great video Scott
nice to see you in my home City the Reason for the Airport Decker is the connection to the sterna line boat is work of an Airport Duty and as it can be very busy at Certain Times a Decker marks sense also the 923 is a Ulsterbus service but run in Conjunction with Scottish Citylink and the coaches are based at a small Depot in Stranner
Done the trip many times , never had a problem. I use my disabled bus pass on the Glasgow cairnryan , cost is exceptional value . In fact just waiting on the winter schedule to open and I will book my bus for Belfast Xmas markets
Always enjoy your videos Scott. £16 is disgraceful for a breakfast, lukewarm or not!
I agree. I buy myself a pack of four smoked sausages from the supermarket and that's my breakfast. Or a pack of six sausages. Around $6.50.
You know, personally....I'm going on 21 years as a bus driver in Scotland and after all the years that has passed and all the crap I've taken as a bus driver, I can honestly say that I f#####g hate travelling on buses. Imagine waking up after taking a nap and seeing Glasgow....I'd stay on the coach and go back to Ireland. This little adventure you say?? Arriving in Glasgow, I guess arriving in hell wouldn't be that much different.
why, govan is nice
I quite like Glasgow, depends on where, of course.
@@barvdw The best part of Glasgow is the way out of it. It was cool when I was young but it's an absolute disgrace now.
@@Marc-so2cd to each their own, I guess. The city centre is nicely tidied up, there's some great architecture, both Victorian and modern, there's a very lively cultural scene, and the city feels a little less full of itself than Edinburgh. It's not a perfect city, far from it, but I like cities with just the right amount of grit.
@@barvdw Then I'm afraid you have poor taste, but hey....each to their own, right??
I have traveled this route with city link dozens of times, it’s fantastic value for money.
As an old geezer it only costs £50 return with citylink as opposed to nearly £80 with Hannah .
Or HANNON even
I've done the citylink route before, it has always been a local bus to the ferry terminal then the citylink coach. As for the London National express/Eurolines bus I'm not sure. Before they reduced the service to 1 per day, the RailSail was also useful and relatively affordable if coming from the Highlands/Aberdeen
A very useful video! It is over 25 years since I went by coach and ship to England via this sea route so I can't remember the details. I have gone rail/ sail many times since then which works out cheap enough too. The problem with it is that there is no relaible means of getting from Belfast city centre to the port. As you have shown in this video, this isn't a problem with Citylink.
The rail and sail is cheaper for someone my age as I have a national rail senior card so this would be one reason for going by rail, the other is that there's more legroom in a train.
As I have a disability and can't walk anywhere without walking sticks, it would have to be the Hannon Coach service as dragging a case and dealing with tickets etc would be a minefield. If you need assistance you have pre arrange and although I haven't used this service it's not always easy, even if you arrange it it's not always forthcoming.
You suffer for your art Scott. Hanging around in the freezing cold at 4:00 am in the morning waiting for a bus station to open Riding a weird airport bus to the ferry terminal, then coughing up over 16 quid for a lousy looking breakfast. But we appreciate your endeavours. Thank you.
I've made that same mistake. Last time I went on city link I didn't realise I was meant to be a foot passenger and sat at the port bus station waiting for my bus until it was too late. They did transfer the tickets to the next day when I asked them about it but I'm disappointed they haven't fixed that ticket yet.
Nice one Scott 👍
I did this trip with National express during the day and enjoyed it even though you go on the ferry as a foot passenger but lovely trip up the west coast of Scotland.
Scott's a steely-eyed solo traveling machine! We must be brothers from another mother 😁
Ah buddy I live 5 mins away from Europa in an apartment complex, I could have at least let you into the reception area to stay a little warmer!
I've greatly enjoyed your videos for some time, but I must say, I think this is a horribly unfair and pernickety take on the service, that (along with the "right on cue" Hannon Coach vehicle driving by at the end) makes me seriously wonder if you have received payment from Hannon Coach to talk the competition down.
At 4:55, you're unhappy because you think the bus won't wait for you if the boat is delayed; but at 10:45 you're unhappy because it actually will?
At 5:40, you say that being issued a ferry boarding pass when you travel with CityLink is an "inconvenience" and that this is a plus for Hannon Coach because you don't need one with them. Seriously?!?
At 10:10, you claim that you can't think of can think of one advantage over Hannon Coach. I can - the price. CityLink charge £30sgl/£50rtn for adults, £24sgl/£40rtn for students and £23sgl/£39rtn for children. Hannon Coach charge £39sgl/£78rtn return for everyone. That's £9-16 extra for a single and £29-£39 extra for a return - hardly "very similar" like you claim. Even worse, Hannon Coach still to this day claim on their website that the increased price (which used to be a very reasonable £29sgl/£58rtn pre-Covid) is only temporary because of Covid restrictions on coach capacity and the old fares will return when they are lifted. Restrictions on coach capacity in both Scotland and NI were lifted eighteen months ago in August 2021.
Ferry looked spotless.
Hannons 1st class service
That breakfast ! I'd have said it was daylight robbery but the sun hadnt come up and you were at sea so I'll settle for Piracy!
Another great video Scott, well worth a wee trip. I also love your wee Scotland/Europe badge 👌Those citylink buses are pretty comfortable.
It's like everything over here, half the lies you hear aren't the truth!
You are right I would only ever travel if the coach was going on ferry as well.
Nice reportage, plus 1 for Hanson Coaches then. I can’t believe the price of the cooked breakfast onboard the Stena ferry was £16:70. I take it from the thumbs down sign that it wasn’t very nice? That’s daylight robbery!!
Hannon, fer goodness sake!
A great video
Actually it does wait as going to Glasgow a few years ago, the ferry was 1.5 hrs late and wen we disembarked there was bus waiting for as and in matter of fact it was Ulsterbus bus, which was strange as there was no ulsterbus but on board. Coming back to Belfast there was a cash on the route from Glasgow and we were stuck for around 3 hrs but we arrived one hour after the departure time of the ferry but the ferry was still there, well some said that the ferry was waiting for us other say that there was a lot of vehicles who meant to go on the boat stuck on the route and it had to wait for all of us.
Was just in Belfast recently and I have also climbed Ben Nevis as well.
The things you do for UA-cam lol great video
The coach connection waits for a delayed ferry. It's the ferry that doesn't hang around.
The bus does wait for you in cainryan if your delayed the last 2 times I’ve been delayed by an hour and 2 hours both times the bus was there waiting
Good video
The Ulster bus and Citylink are based here in Stranraer and run a joint service to Glasgow/Edinburgh via the port starting at Stranraer and vice versa
Back in the '80's I used to use the National Express/Citylink/Ulsterbus combo. Travelling from Lincoln to Victoria Coach Station via Leicester & Milton Keynes. Then hang around Victoria for a while and then the service from Victoria to Stranraer via Birmingham, Manchester, Preston, Carlisle and all those little towns and villages that have since been bypassed like the aptly named Collin. All the connections worked seamlessly every time I travelled and luggage was transferred from coach to ferry to coach with no problems.
If you haven't already done it; try the RailSail from Euston to Dublin. I've done part of the route, again from Lincoln (via Nottingham, Crewe, Chester) and it was cheaper from Lincoln to Dublin than the fare from Lincoln to Holyhead! Although the train from Chester broke down on the way and I missed the fast ferry and had to catch the next one three hours later. On the plus side though; I'd paid for a Club Class upgrade in advance, so had extra time drinking the complimentary beverages and because the ticket was Lincoln to Dublin; the whole £49 fare was refunded because of the three hour delay.
What an adventure! Good you worked out what was happening, because it seems easy to lose sight of the connections. Scott, why arrive at 4am when the coach doesn't go for 2 hours? Did you think their might be passport control and customs? Enjoyed every minute of this video, and over too soon 🙂
Why would there be, when Northern Ireland and Scotland are both part of the U.K.?
@@mattbosley3531 I know, so why arrive so early and get cold?
@@mattbosley3531 I got the ferry from Belfast to Birkenhead in Feb 2020 and had to go through customs at Birkenhead. I didn't to get to Belfast though.
@@ianrobertson2634 Are you sure it was customs and not just that rather intrusive police checkpoint Merseyside Police insist on doing at Birkenhead? You never seem to get hassled by police at the other end in Belfast.
@@rachel.mcgowan It might have been, it was three years ago but all I remember is having to go through barriers for passport checks and questions. It took me by surprise as I wasn't expecting it.
Before Covid, I used to see buses coming from Belfast to Glasgow on shopping trips.
I just recently did the 923 for the first time last weekend and I did enjoy the experience of traveling to Glasgow.
The service to Glasgow was early getting into Buchanan station by 10-15 minutes and the return was even earlier and getting to Cairnryan before the Hannon's coach.
Next time I will be trying out Hannon's coach for my next trip back over to Scotland.
4am and not a single drunk in the background... That's something you don't see often.
Enjoyed that but 4am for a 6.20 departure wow!
There is one more way of doing this journey and that is Scotrails Rail+Sail. That is train to Ayr, dedicated Rail+Sail bus from Ayr to Cairnryan and then ferry.
Not a tomato fan then, Scott? 😅 Really enjoy your video-making style. You always get very beautiful B-roll footage 👍
It was nice when ferries were leaving from Stranraer itself as you could just take a train to there. ;-)
Great video. Why did you turn up to Europa at 4am? Did translink give you the wrong time for departure?
I also took the CItylink service from Glasgow to Belfast, but when I got to the Belfast ferry, I couldn't find the 924 bus, so I had to take a taxi to the city centre. There is also a No. 96 bus to the city center at the ferry, but we need to buy an extra ticket to get on the bus, and it will not wait for the late ferry.
Good one
I'm in the south west of England this looks cool
I used to travel with them twice a year from Glasgow to Derry £50 return, it's handy for me to go and visit the family as hannon costs more and then you would need to buy a ticket for ulsterbus 212
good video
Great video I love travelling by ferry it’s the best way to go. Have you tried that ferry to Amsterdam from Newcastle? Did that a few years ago we had a great time, live music, cinema and good food!
From a econmical standpoint it does not make much sense to have a bus (+ bus driver) board on a longer ferry crossing. There is really no need to transport the empty bus when you can just have one bus on each side.
However from a passenger standpoint it makes the journey less comfortable.