REACHING THE ISLE OF MAN
My partner and I are going to the UK to visit family. We want to travel from Wales to the Isle of Man for a day or two and then on to Ireland. Please advise the best course of action from August 20 to September 13 2018. — Deon Wessels
There is no direct route from Wales to the Isle of Man, so whether you go by plane; car and ferry; or bus and ferry, you will have to go through either England, Ireland or Northern Ireland.
Since you don’t say where in Wales the first leg of your trip will be, I will assume the capital (Cardiff) as your starting point.
There is an airport on the Isle of Man, in Ronaldsway in the south, so it is possible to fly — via Dublin, Belfast or Liverpool. With the right combination, this can cost you quite little in terms of both money and time, compared to your other options.
For example, I found a flight to IOM on August 20 via Belfast (with Flybe and Easyjet) for R1 134, with a journey time of roughly eight hours.
You could then book a direct flight from IOM to Dublin for the next part of your trip with Aer Lingus, which will cost from about R700. The flight time is 50 minutes.
Since you plan to visit Ireland after your visit, you could of course also book a one-way flight from Cardiff to Dublin, then a return flight from Dublin to IOM.
Just try out a few combinations and see which works best for you in terms of pricing and timing. I used skyscanner.net to compare.
For a bit more scenery, however, you might enjoy driving a rental car (or taking a bus) from Cardiff to Liverpool, wherefrom you can catch a ferry.
The distance between the two cities is about 320km, which you can drive in roughly four hours, not factoring in stops.
Try rentalcars.com to see some pricing and vehicle picks if you’re interested in this option. As a test, I found you could book a basic car in Cardiff from 8am and drop it off in Liverpool by 3pm on the same day from around R800.
A bus will take about six hours but, if budget is a factor, you can get tickets from as little as £8. See nationalexpress.com.
As for the ferry, the Steam Packet Company has two daily Fastcraft services from Liverpool to the island, one leaving at 11.15am and arriving at 2pm; the other leaving at 8.30pm, arriving at 11.15pm.
Around your dates, they have a “footloose special offer” — for foot passengers — of £19.50 (about R320) per person, the condition being that you pay in full at the time of booking and book in advance.
For the outward journey, one can also sail with this company to Dublin at certain times of the year. The crossing is just under three hours with the high-speed option. See steam-packet.com.
The trouble for you is that these trips become far less frequent in August, with only one per week — and none anywhere near the dates you wish to leave the isle. Your best option therefore for getting to Ireland on your dates is to fly.
Given all that information, I would probably book flights for the entire trip — the exact cities are up to you — unless you want the adventure of going by sea, in which case take the ferry from Liverpool and then fly out to Ireland.
We can help with your destination dilemmas, visa puzzles and itinerary ideas. E-mail travelmag@sundaytimes.co.za