WHY USE THIS COACH SERVICE?? Expressway/Eurolines from London to Dublin with Irish Ferries

This used to be very popular in the 80's. I remember as a kid getting it with my parents over to Luton from outside Dublin. It was nicknamed the "magic bus" and was operated by Slattery's if I remember. I can still remember stopping at a Little chef and getting food. The reason it was so popular is because Ryanair didn't exist and Aer Lingus were charging €300-400 per person as there was no competition. That €300-400 was massive money at the time. Say what you want about Ryanair but without them you'd still be getting fleeced to fly.

This trip has the unusual ability to make travelling by Ryanair seem attractive!

Re: Why people choose this over flying? Much like the London to GLA/EDI coach trips, the coach is also an (uncomfortable) but free hotel for the night. You wake up in the morning at your destination! I've made a few trips that Scott has also completed. London to GLA by Megabus for £10 arriving in the morning, meeting friends for the day and taking the evening bus back to London for £10. That's £20 and 2 free hotel nights!

Little hint for Dublin airport - if you ignore the aircoach and diverse other services that depart right outside terminal 1 you can cross the zebra crossing, go through the multi storey car park little arcade to the other side to the other side you will find the bus station, buses 16 and 41 also go for the city (Takes twenty minutes/half an hour) at a fraction of the costs! ;-) Interesting video topic by the way, curious to see how it goes.

Great video Scott, I was the megabus driver of the grey coach adjacent in Victoria was nice to have a brief chat with you in Greenline before your trip

Ulysses is a fantastic Ferry. Try a virgin tilting train (all the way to Holyhead) on a summers day. Takes longer than a flight ,but less hassle/stress than airport security/delayed flight. The scenery on the train is lovely and a smooth ferry crossing with clear views of the Wicklow/Dublin coast and mountains coming into port is a sight to behold! This would mean an early morning start from Euston meeting a n early afternoon Ferry.

CityLink drivers are not allowed to play music while driving, shame it wasn't the same here! I was also speaking to a coach driver who said they use the trick of putting the heating up for the first hour of an overnighter to get everyone to fall asleep quickly. Great video mate, but once again 'rather you than me'! :D

I could also see this service being used for last-minute bookings when airfare and/or Rail&Sail are too expensive.

Done this trip loads of times, get on the coach, fall asleep wake up at the service stop, get out grab food, back on the coach for another snooze. Then you get to enjoy food aboard the Irish Ferry which is one of the largest ferries in the world, storms don't affect it. Cinema on board and everything.

I take this journey over and back to London a few times every year and the staff on Irish Ferries are very nice and friendly.

I once travelled on a freight only ferry and I liked it a lot. Fewer passengers, less public space and more utilitarian décor, but the food was good and cost less than on a tourist ferry, no screaming kids or shouty people. The ambiance was relaxed and peaceful - altogether a good experience.

I feel for you with the "music", having once had to endure a coach trip from London to Norwich long before the M11 existed with non-stop George Formby.

Ah memories of a twice a year trip. 18hrs door to door from home to the end point in the west of Ireland. Local bus, wait, coach, ferry, walk around the customs check block, coach, change at Rosslare / Waterford / Dublin (depending on route) then end at Limerick. Await car pick up. Ferry always the best bit. Regrettably, the service is a patch on what it used to be due to cheap flights and I think COVID nearly killed it off. Never used to have music - but then that's buses now! It's a reliable alternative to sail rail but I'd use flights at the moment. Suspect we will see a resurgence in these services with carbon emission controls. That said, occasionally I did have to go through old Digbeth bus station ... bleugh. Any return to that and I'll swim instead. Thanks for the video Scott. It's brought back some memories.

I often took the bus between London and Dublin over 30 years ago. Back then it was the cheapest option because BA and Air Lingus had no competition from Ryanair on the route. They both charged the same, about £150 minimum (I once paid £400 to attend a funeral) which wasn't an option for me at the time. I distinctly remember it reminding of the Fatima Mansions song, "Losers take the bus" during one particularly depressing journey.

Ive taken this service a good few times, the last time in Summer 2022 with that same driver, a lovely chap. The main reason ive taken it is because of how cheap it is. Despite the number and variety of options to fly between the UK and Ireland it is often very expensive, especially at short notice, and the bus has at times worked out at about 20% of the cost flying. Sailrail is a similar option, and more comfortable, but with the bus you have the advantage of being brought straight into Dublin city centre rather than having to get another bus. I used to take it in a time when I had little money but lots of time (i.e. on the dole) so this was the perfect option for me. Last time I took this bus I was returning to Ireland from Finland and wanted to travel overland the whole way so I opted for the bus. But in general I would fly these days, as I dont want to spend 12 hours travelling to London.

That service originally back in 80s was galway to london national exspress and cie expressway ran it. Big crowds used it then

I loved it when i went from dublin to London in 2001. Nice relaxing trip, would definitely do it again to visit UK wirh my car...

God bless your stamina. I made a trip much like this in the early 1990s when Slattery's were still on the go. The buses and ferries have improved since then but it's still quite a journey. Having said that, these videos are awakening some sort of sail and rail wanderlust in me!

11:50 remember the P&O Ferries controversy a year or two ago where they fired their ferry workers and replaced them with cheap overseas staff thru agencies??? Irish Ferries did this in 2005, hence the need for their ships to be registered as berthed in Cyprus.

Great video as always Scott. I used to use the national express/eurolines service from Victoria to cork which was 14-16 hours. Wish expressway/bus eireann would resurrect that service via the Irish ferries service out of pembroke. I used it only when the airlines were so expensive at the busy times of the year. Hope all is well, take care