My trip to Belfast

[Lrd]

With everyone taking up the amazing offer that is Rail & Sail, I opted to take up the deal myself last month and here is my trip report.

It's got a few piccy's in and has made the PDF a whopping 19MB which is a little over 2MB limit, so I uploaded it to my site.

http://trains.lewisrday.co.uk/Belfast.pdf

I hope it is interesting to some of you.

 

[table38]

Thanks; it's one of those trips on my "todo" list so I found it very interesting and informative!

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

At 22 pages long, including the photographs, you have put together a very detailed personal account of your journey, which saw outward travel via Holyhead/Dublin and return via Ulster/Stranraer.

It was not a good start with your ticket problem at your local station. Incidentally, if you intend to go to Belfast during the marching season, be aware of the fact that they can be quite noisy affairs...I am surprised your mother did not make you aware of the fact in advance. I see that you enjoyed your first experiance of an "Ulster Fry", which are the best value for money you can get, with very good sized portions.

Your photographs of the interior and exterior of the hostel brought back memories of such premises that I experianced in the early 1960's on the continent.

TIP : Do not look at "yummy mummies" too much on vessels at sea

 

[4SRKT]

Initially I thought 22 pages would be impossible to read, but it's mostly pictures so that was a relief! i always trim my bashing blogs to be no more than 4 sides of A4 to try to ensure readability. Incidentally I was told be ScotRail that Rail & Sail tickets aren't valid on the Sleeper. Is that not the case then?

I'm off to NI again next week for another intensive DEMU bashing session. I had originally intended to go on the sleeper from Crewe to Westerton on the cushions to pick up the 08:42 Glasgow > Stranraer, but when I rang up ScotRail to reserve a seat he wouldn't let me because Sail & Rail tickets aren't valid. This smells like bull***t to me because they're just open returns. I'm now doing the 03:30 boat off Stranraer (23:10 off Kilmarnock ) instead.

Now that my last living relative in NI has died (last year), and the Troubles are finished, the DEMUs are the last thing connecting me with my memories of childhood holidays there, and my university career from 1990-93. It's sure to be an emotional trip, as I certainly won't be going there again while DEMUs are operational

 

[Lrd]

Cheers for the replies guys.

I booked my tickets online with ScotRail and they let me reserve a seat on the sleeper, it took a bit of a fiddle to get the sleeper to show up in the itinerary, I didn't actually get ticket checked on the sleeper, but as you said, it was an Anytime single so it must be okay! (Economy single for Holyhead - Dublin).

I didn't actually tell my mother where I was off to, just told her I was going away for a few days, she didn't know about anything the Marching season until she told her friend where I was going, and she let her know.

 

[4SRKT]

Well, I'm English and my parents let me go to University in Belfast 21 years ago, when it was very considerably more lively than it is now! IMHO if you're going to go to NI you might as well go during the marching season as that's when it's at its most interesting.

 

[Techniquest]

Well it took a while to read, but nicely detailed, about the same level as I've gone into in my ALR report in my A4 book. So I'm glad to see someone else does the same level of detail!

Glad to hear you enjoyed your trip to Belfast, staying in your room all day seems a waste of a day though to me!

Thanks for sharing, I'll admit to being a bit envious at your having got on a HSS, something I've not managed and doubt I'll get a chance before they get withdrawn.