The Best Way To Travel From Northern Ireland To Scotland - Stena Line
Вставка
- Опубліковано 28 січ 2023
- In this week’s video we took the Stena Line Ferry from Northern Ireland to Scotland and it was a great (and bumpy) experience! We crossed over the North Channel of the Irish Sea and saw some beautiful scenery. We also ran into some unexpected trouble… so we share some things to consider if you’re looking at booking the Stena Line Ferry.
If you're looking for a fun, relaxing way to travel between Northern Ireland and Scotland, we definitely recommend taking the Stena Line Ferry!
Have you taken a ferry from one country to another?! Let us know ⬇️
🛎 Subscribe to get notified of future content coming soon!
ua-cam.com/users/AndrewandMe...
__________________________________________________________________________
Check out the blog ✈️ Where we answer popular questions like -
“How do people travel the world indefinitely?!”
✈ www.indefinitetravel.com
__________________________________________________________________________
🎥 Curious About Our Filming Gear? Check it out!
- Vlogging Camera #1: amzn.to/3HK03wD
- Vlogging Camera #2: amzn.to/3fYkTbQ
- On-Camera Microphone: amzn.to/3bTJe4K
- GoPro: amzn.to/3LrCMyO
- Drone: amzn.to/3UPHQ3e
__________________________________________________________________________
🎵 Music from Epidemic Sound, check it out here:
www.epidemicsound.com/referra...
__________________________________________________________________________
Let's stay connected:
🛎 Subscribe Here: ua-cam.com/users/AndrewandMe...
Facebook: / indefinitetravel
Instagram: / indefinitetravel
TikTok: / andrewandmegan
__________________________________________________________________________
We're Andrew and Megan, and we left on a one way ticket for the first time in 2017. After years of people asking us, where’s the video?! We started this channel to capture our everyday adventures. On our vlog we share our unique travel experiences and on our blog we answer - how to create a life of spontaneous travel. We’re grateful you’re here and can’t wait to show you around the world!
__________________________________________________________________________
Affiliate Disclosure:
Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that we provide we may receive a small commission. For example, as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. There is no additional charge to you. Thank you for supporting the channel so we can continue to provide you with free content!
I can say from experience that ferries between Great Britain, ireland and Europe have dramatically improved over the years. Fifty years ago some of them were decidedly Spartan in their appointments, but they have had to dramatically up their game in the face of competition from the airlines and the Channel Tunnel to make the trip an "experience" instead of merely transport.
Interesting! I wonder if the US will ever do the same. It definitely was an experience that we would do again. Megan is eager to take the Channel Tunnel (Chunnel?!) next, haha!
Taken Stena line twice. Once with a tour from Republic of Ireland to Holyhead. Great trip. Sunny beautiful day. Second time took the train from London to Holyhead. Super train ride! However, Sea was really choppy so not such a great trip on the water. 🤢. Flew back to London from Shannon airport. Loved the airport there. I really think that unless we could be guaranteed good weather (not likely), we would rather fly. Still, it’s worth doing once. And I do really recommend the train from London to Holyhead. (Train goes THROUGH a castle!)
Very cool. I especially liked the sun deck in the evening. Love that ferry, I’ve never been on one that luxurious!
Converted into a moon deck! Haha. It was like a cruise. I could have been comfortable on it for several more hours!
I will be going on this ferry to Scotland in November. I will be spending 10-11 days in the uk doing a multi city trip.
NICE! If you haven't been, the Stena ferry ride is a great experience, and we hope you have an amazing time exploring the UK. Safe travels and enjoy your adventure!
What’s so refreshing about you two is you don’t keep comparing the differences between the US and abroad. Europe has so many different cultures and landscapes it could take a lifetime to see it all. But luckily it’s all so easy to travel around when your here. As a European I can recommend many countries worth visiting and my top 7 are 1 The Uk 2 Italy 3 France 4. Montenegro and 5 Greece and 6 Turkey 7 Spain..The other 37 countries are also well worth a visit too..
Totally agree! We love all of the cultures in Europe. I think you’re right that it would take a lifetime to see. Thank goodness for planes, trains, automobiles, and ferries 😆
Epic list! We have a few more of those to see still. Thanks for enjoying with us ☺️
Great video guys. It looks like you enjoyed the trip. I’ve taken that ferry many times over the years when going from Scotland to Northern Ireland to play golf and I’m doing it again in June. On a trip a few years ago my wife went for the neck and shoulder massage on the ferry and said it was possibly the best £10 she had spent in a long time.
Megan says we’re now booking a ticket back strictly for the massage 😂 Enjoy your time there in June. Thanks for watching!
So cool! I took a ferry from Bayfield Wisc. to Madeline Island in the Apostle Islands BUT it was NOTHING like your ferry Ride! that was amazing! You're right it's like a cruise ship! Andrew @ 5:00 "Americans and their Guns" lol 😂 and the kid dancing @ 5:39 he was happy to watch a movie! Great video Andrew & Megan thanks for taking us along and the Rental car tips for ferry crossing Country to Country! 👍
Thanks for joining us on the adventure! It definitely was an experience 😆 Sounds like US ferries could take some pointers from Stena Line haha.
Next month! Thanks for vid
Enjoy!
Very beautiful
Amazing guys love from Northern Ireland ❤
Thank you so much! Sending love right back to Northern Ireland! We're so glad you enjoyed the video.
Loved your video
Enjoy your travels
Stay safe Phil Belfast 🇬🇧👍😊
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it with us, we’re looking forward to coming back!
Taken Stena line twice. Once with a tour from Republic of Ireland to Holyhead. Great trip. Sunny beautiful day. Second time took the train from London to Holyhead. Super train ride! However, Sea was really choppy so not such a great trip on the water. 🤢. Flew back to London from Shannon airport. Loved the airport there. I really think that unless we could be guaranteed good weather (not likely), we would rather fly. Still, it’s worth doing once. And I do really recommend the train from London to Holyhead. (Train goes THROUGH a castle!)
I might agree with the weather part. Our journey back was slightly choppy and it was making my head spin. That sounds like an awesome train! We’ll have to look it up! Thanks for the tip. 😊
The next ferry video you have to do is take the overnight train from Milan or Rome to Palermo in Sicily, where the train goes onto the ferry. It’s the only remaining train ferry in Europe.
Then, after a couple of days in Palermo, take the overnight ferry from Palermo to Naples.
Or take one of the ferries from Sicily to the island of Malta or to Tunisia in Northern Africa.
That would make for a good series of ferry videos one after the other.
Wow! We love this idea. Hmmmm currently wondering if we can fit this into our June trip. Thanks for the suggestions! Stay tuned for a ferry series 👀😆
@@AndrewandMegan lf you do the train ferry, the train is normally split into three or four parts so be sure to remain on the train deck to record the shunting of the train onto the ferry.
Then, you don’t need to remain with the train. You can go upstairs and grab a coffee and then go onto the deck to watch the crossing across the Straits of Messina.
Maybe do a Sicily special. Rent Vespa scooters and go ‘Ciao’ at everyone as you ride past. Or rent a car and drive to the village of Corleone where the Godfather was supposed to originate from. I think they are used to tourists turning up so you won’t have the Mafia escorting you out of town.
Anyway, it would all be good content. Have a good summer !
@@AndrewandMegan This is a good video showing the Sicily train ferry.
ua-cam.com/video/fmLLeCRpcSg/v-deo.html
I guess if you wanted to you could just walk onto the ferry and then have like a cab come take you for a spin around?
Absolutely! There were tons of passengers that walked on.
I am in Ireland now
Amazing! Hope you’re enjoying it!
Great video and info! Thanks! Question: what rental car company did you rent with? We are planning our trip and it seems that only Enterprise Rent A Car allows renters to take their rentals from Belfast to Scotland via the ferry? (albeit with an added 150 euro charge and something called a "VAT" tax? Any thoughts or feedback on that? TIA!
Thanks, glad you enjoyed the video!
We rented from AVIS. We asked if we were allowed to take the ferry and they said “Yes, you are able to travel anywhere in the UK; (Wales, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland), but if you go to the Republic of Ireland you will need to pay a 23£ cross border fee.”
At the time we didn’t incur an additional fee to take the ferry. We did pay VAT on the overall rental - which is similar to what US citizens call sales tax.
Hope that helps and happy travels!
@@AndrewandMegan Excellent! Thanks!!!
@@justincorey9822 You're welcome!
If you thought that felt like a cruiseship? Wait until you try out ferries between Norway and Germany and between Sweden and Finland. 👀
Looking forward to it! All of those are on our list of countries to visit next so we just might have to take a ferry to one… or all 🙌
@@AndrewandMegan my recommendations are Viking Glory from Stockholm to Turku in Finland and Silja Symphony or Silja Serenade from Helsinki in Finland to Stockholm.
@@Markmeister1989 this is so helpful, thank you! We’re going to look at adding this into our itinerary.
@@AndrewandMegan what makes the Silja Symphony and Silja Serenade so special is that they were the first ships in the world fitted with a long midships promenade similar to the ones on real cruiseships like Royal Caribbeans Freedom of the Seas and Voyager of the Seas got 10 years later.
Is there anything to do on foot on the Scotland side? I plan on parking and just going without the car and coming pretty much right back.
As I recall, there’s not a lot within walking distance. While it’s a beautiful area, Cairnryan is quite a small village and really just dedicated to the ferries.
I’m from Florianopolis island Brazil 🇧🇷
Welcome and thanks for joining us all the way from Brazil!
I went a couple of weeks ago and we saw about 50 dolphins and one whale
Wow! That sounds like an absolutely incredible experience! I guess that's a benefit of traveling the ferry instead of flying, that I never thought about. It sounds like you had much better weather than us too!
How much is it to take a car rental into the Republic of Ireland? We are wanting to do a 2 week road trip from Scotland to Ireland and back to Scotland.
In our experience, each rental car agency charged something different. We saw rates from 12£/day, all the way to 216£ for a month. Some companies also have just a flat fee.
For example, AVIS told us they would simply charge a one time 23£ cross border fee. However, if you go through them you may need continental cover, which is a type of insurance that covers you from the UK mainland to the Republic of Ireland. So it's best just to verify with the company you're renting from.
Btw, that sounds like an EPIC road trip!
@@AndrewandMegan awesome! Thank you for the quick reply. I can't wait for it! I have it mapped out to a tee.
@@AndrewandMegan what was your average daily cost for food and lodging and gas. My husband was trying to figure out gas prices and what it would cost us.
@@sarita5572 Gas is definitely more expensive there compared to the States, however, we had a fairly eco friendly car. I think it cost us maybe $200 in gas for 2 weeks of driving through Scotland and Northern Ireland, however, that's a VERY rough estimate.
Did you get asked for ID /Passports was wondering if that was a thing now after Brexit for when I go in June.
When we booked online they asked for our passport number, however they didn’t ask for it when we arrived to either dock as we traveled to Scotland from Northern Ireland and both are part of the UK.
If you plan on going to Ireland while in Northern Ireland you may need your passport though.
Hope that helps and happy travels!
@@AndrewandMegan Thanks for getting back to me ye they never used to ask for ID but heard that changed recently We crossed form Scotland to Larne/ Belfast every year from 2001 to 2009 and we're never asked hope you have/ had a good time in Scotland where have you been / going if you don't mind me asking.
@@kecru2092 You’re welcome and oh, that’s interesting! We’ve really been all over Scotland; Edinburgh, Glasgow, Glencoe, Ft William, Isle of Skye, Inverness, Aberdeen, Stirling, North Berwick, and Kirkmichael. We’re coming back this summer to visit the North Eastern Isles and Shetland Islands. Know of any other places we should add to our list?
@@AndrewandMegan hello where did they check passports from north Ireland to Ireland ?
@@juanschaffer2899 Hi Juan! We didn't cross the border, however, we've been told and read that if you're driving they don't check passports at the Ireland/Northern Ireland border . When we rented our car, the staff told us that we would need our passport on top of our U.S. drivers license if we crossed over to Ireland just in the case we got into a car accident or if anything else happened while in Ireland that required additional identification. That may only apply to citizens outside of Ireland/the UK, however, I can only speak from the info I received as a US citizen.
you are technically incorrect. Northern Ireland is part of the UK, therefore you are not travelling from one country to another (in legal terms anyway).
YOU are wrong …..Two Separate Countries…..according to every Map and Tourist Info ever produced …..
Na that's not right
Technically, Two countries within the same country seeing its the U.K.
Absolutely, it's fascinating how within the UK, there are multiple countries, each having its own unique culture and identity. Then being able to take a ferry journey between Northern Ireland and Scotland yet still technically be in the same country is a great example of the diverse experiences you can find within the UK.
@@AndrewandMegan Yeah, The U.K., Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man & Channel Islands are also in the Common Travel Area so travelling, living or working in different parts shouldn't be too complicated.
Northern Ireland isn’t a country though.
That woman's glottal fry is so bad that frequently all you can hear is a rasping noise.
Thanks for the feedback. I believe what you're hearing is her puffer jacket. If so, super hard to separate that sound from her vocals in Premier Pro. But a good thing to keep in mind when recording videos.
I hate to break the news to you but Scotland and NI are the same country.
If you scroll through the comments you’ll see that this is a hot topic. Since posting this video I asked an English Heritage guide to share his subjective truth on the matter.
He said, “The UK is a country that consists of 4 countries; England, Scotland, Wales (which was once a principality) but since 2011 is considered a country, and Northern Ireland, which is a province, but can also be considered a country as its self governed. He also shared that it could be argued that Wales and Northern Ireland are not countries, bc they are part of the UK, but that England and Scotland have always been considered individual countries since Scotland joined the UK.
So when it comes to traveling from Northern Ireland to Scotland you could argue that you’re traveling within the UK, or you could say you’re traveling from within the UK to a country in the UK (Scotland), or you could say you’re traveling from a country (NI) to a country UK or Scotland.
It’s kind of like when you’re dreaming. You can say you move from one dream to the next dream, but you’re also considered in a dream state the entire time.