What's the cheapest way to travel from Belfast to Dublin? Translink Goldline X1 service via airport.
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- čas přidán 7. 09. 2024
- Booking and info on the Translink X1 service can be found here:
www.translink....
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We arrive at the bus station in Belfast’s Great Victoria St in the early in the morning to take the X1 Service from Belfast to Dublin. Our bus is the X1 Goldliner leaving at 8am. At 7.52 the bus pulled up outside to allow boarding. It’s described as an express service, which I suppose it is, although it does stop off at another 4 stops before we arrive in Dublin City centre as you’ll see.
You can book your tickets in advance online at the Translink site translink.co.uk, on buy on the day, but these buses often fill up, so I wouldn’t advise that. I’ll leave that web address in the description.
The seats, upholstered in leather, are quite comfortable. There’s a small space above the seat to but your bag or coat, while luggage needs to be stowed in the luggage space under the bus. The seats even have a USB charger, which is very handy.
At 8am we leave Belfast on the first leg of our journey. Some minutes later our first stop to pick up passengers is Sprucefield just outside Lisburn. After that we arrive in Banbridge to do the same. Our 3rd pickup point, still in N. Ireland, is in the town of Newry and this is where the bus tends to be at full capacity as our next stop in the route is Dublin Airport.
If you are buying your bus ticket cash then you’ll need to get your ticket 60 mins before departure time. In any case, what they call the Websaver ticket is cheaper and obviously guarantees you a seat in advance.
The online single fare starts at £8.50, (although sometimes rises to £10.99 depending on when you travel I guess, whereas you’ll pay £15.70 or more if you buy with cash on the day, so quite a difference there. Similarly, a websaver return ticket starts at £17 as opposed to £23 when bought with cash. Obviously these costs will rise, but that’s the cost now in Jan 2023.
This is the cheapest way to travel by public transport between the two cities and, while this may lack a bit of the comfort of the train, it’s actually quite a convenient way to travel intercity.
The service runs around the clock, although with less frequency in the early hours of the morning. This is particularly useful when you need to travel to the second last stop, Dublin Airport. Obviously flights may leave in the early hours and if you need to be at the airport a couple of hours in advance, this bus could be the answer. Most travellers will get off at the airport.
On heading into central Dublin from the airport, the bus takes advantage of the Dublin Port Tunnel, check out my separate film on this engineering feat. As we emerge from the tunnel we’re heading towards Dublin’s docklands, but the bus veers inwards towards the final stop in central Dublin.
Finally we see the interesting Busaras station designed in the International Modern style influenced by Le Corbusier with its clam shaped concrete canope overhanging the concourse.
Thought it might be interesting to fly into Belfast and out from Dublin .. seriously cheap flights and a scenic bus ride between the two cities.. perfect!!
Thanks Greg for the handy info there 🙂
Thanks Rue, I know you're not based in Dublin, so perhaps it's unlikely you'll ever use this, but you never know!
Newry's a city big man :)
Hmmmm, I guess. 😂
I got a bus from Belfast to Dublin 20 years ago but the bus was far from comfortable unlike the one you're travelling on, a handy wee video for the future
Yeah I recommend this bus for a cheap and comfy trip Dan.
Ooooh. I’ll give this a go one day… it looks less traumatic than aircoach
Yes I think I've use Aircoach once too. In fairness, it's another good option, but I've less experience of it. Thanks for watching.
Great video, I'll definitely try this out when I am next in Ireland. I'm on the shorter side at 5'3" so I always find there is lots of room on coaches. It might not be so great if you were closer to the average or tall.
I’m 6ft Simon, and it’s comfortable enough on the coach. Not as much room as on the train, but it’s cheaper.
@@nakedireland Thanks, it looks good value. Really useful video, it helps so much to see where you board and the to know the differences between the online and on the day prices. if it is comfortable for you at 6ft there must be room enough! I'm happy usually if I can sit back in a seat and my feet touch the floor 🤣
I use the service often Simon. It’s perfectly fine and good value.
good
Thanks Oliver, glad you liked it.
That's a serious piece of kit that coach, very nice. Scary to think I used to drive things like that once (though not as grand) and not bat an eyelid, these days my tiny car too much lol. How long did the trip take?
Hi Rob, the trip is just over 2 hours Belfast to the Busaras, so not bad, especially given the 4 stop offs. I think about 2 hrs 10 or something. Pretty quick. It's really the only way to get to Dublin airport from Belfast, so the train isn't even an option there.
@@nakedireland Not long at all and at those prices I imagine it beats the train hands down. I bet you snuggled own in those leather seats, headphones on and even caught a few zzzs along the way lol. Well thats what I would do, traveling by bus always sends me to sleep, which was not good when I was driving! hahahahhaha
Please don't catch any zzz's when you're driving Rob!
@@nakedireland 😁I'll try 🤣🤣
Do u have to show ur passport going into Dublin or can u just show British driving licence
Often you are not asked for any documentation - it’s an open border. However, I’ve been on the bus when the police have boarded to check passports. So that does occasionally happen.
Is there passport control or checks? thanks for the answer!
There are spot checks. The last time I travelled by bus from Belfast to Dublin, police got on and took a guy off the bus.
Does the X1 coach have an onboard toilet?
Yes it does.
@@nakedirelandermm......no it doesn't
I thought it did, though I’ve never used it so I could easily have got that wrong. Apologies if that’s the case.
Heya
Do we need to carry any identification document in order to show inspectors while we travel ?
As long as you have your ticket (digital or otherwise) you should be fine. I’ve never been asked for any identification. Theoretically, it’s possible that you could be checked crossing the border, but as I say, in my experience it doesn’t happen. I’d be interested to hear if anyone else reading this has ever been checked for ID?
@nakedireland I appreciate your help mate..cheers
No problem Samuel, thanks for watching.
Eh re ID, in the past going Belfast->Dublin on the express bus, just south of the Border, Gardai (Irish police) have occ pulled over the coach, boarded and checked ID. But NB if travelling from the Republic into NI (bus, train etc) and if not a UK or Irish passport holder (eg from any other EU country or say the US) the mad brexit Tory govt, may soon require a visa...
I haven’t been stopped crossing the boarder since 1998. Thanks for watching.
BusAHras ...the fada emphasises the first a
The fada was broken at the time of making this video.