An Irish Trio – Cobh, Cork and Dublin

Having arrived at Cork airport on an Aer Lingus flight from Heathrow, I made a very quick exit from the aircraft with it taking just seven minutes from touchdown to reaching landside. Unfortunately, this quick exit was then slowed down by the wait for a bus into the city centre, with me waiting more than 20 minutes for a 225 or 226 bus to appear. Signs around the bus stops and in the terminal suggest buying your bus ticket on an app, however I couldn’t get this to work and ended up buying a physical ticket from the machine just inside the terminal by bus stop A. Physical tickets are €2.20 instead of €1.35 on app, however make sure you buy before you board as the buses themselves only take cash.

LHR to ORK Aer Lingus AerSpace

Back in September I had decided to attend a railway related event to aid in my professional development, something I do fairly regularly, however on this occasion it required a bit more travel than jumping on a train to London or Birmingham as the talk was being held in Cork. Deciding to make the most of the trip to Ireland, I planned to spend some time exploring Cork and the surrounding area, as well as trying out Iarnród Éireann before flying back from Dublin. Before all that though, I had to get to Cork and so Thursday 12th September saw me waking up at a Heathrow hotel ready to fly across the Irish Sea.

PMH-WAT South Western Railway – 1st Class

After a few days on the south coast exploring the railways, visiting friends and crossing the Solent to the Isle of Wight, it was time to head home. On my way down to the coast I’d travelled with South Western Railway (SWR) from London Waterloo to Dorchester South, but on the way back I was travelling via the quicker Portsmouth Direct line from Portsmouth Harbour through to London. As such I started my day in Chichester, catching a southern service along the coast to Portsmouth, where I’d start the journey back towards the capital in earnest.

Ryde Esplanade to Southsea Hoverport – Hovertravel Hovercraft

Having enjoyed a day on the Isle of Wight exploring both the Island Line and the Isle of Wight Steam Railway, it was time to head back to the mainland. On my way to the island I had caught the Wightlink Catamaran from Portsmouth Harbour to Ryde Pier Head, and so for my journey back across the Solent it only seemed right to try out the competitor, Hovertravel. Whilst Wightlink’s Catamaran is pretty speedy, Hovertravel do one better, with their Solent crossings being operated by the UK’s only commercial Hovercraft.

Portsmouth Harbour to Ryde Pier Head – Wightlink Catamaran

A bit of a shorter post for the final one of the year, partly due to struggling to find time to write in a packed December schedule and partly as I’m sure you’ll all be busy with the festivities so won’t have much time to read my musings. Nonetheless, the show must go on and so this post is all about my journey onboard Wightlink back in August, as I travelled from Portsmouth Harbour across the Solent to Ryde Pier Head on (well just off) the Isle of Wight.

WAT-WEY South Western Railway – 1st Class

The August Bank Holiday weekend saw me without any firm plans and, wanting to do a trip somewhere but not wanting to pay the peak air fares, I decided to visit some friends in Sussex, whilst building in some rail days of the south coast whilst I was down there. Having previously ticked off the majority of the line between Brighton and Portsmouth, Dorset and the Solent were my targets and so on the Bank Holiday Saturday, my trip started at London Waterloo with a South Western Railway (SWR) service to Weymouth.