Ireland 2026 - Day 8: Dublin to London
It’s always great to be riding a bike but it was sad to be finishing this trip and riding home.
Waking up in the hotel I got packed up and headed down for breakfast. We were booked onto the 10:15 Stena Line ferry which was really busy with quite a few coach trips but it’s always exciting to be taking a ferry somewhere, even if it was headed home.
The plan for the day was to take the ferry over to Holyhead and then ride back via the M40. I wasn’t really looking forward to the traffic, especially as the ferry was landing at 13:45 and we’d be hitting rush hour during the ride home. But it was just the last push home and a very small price to pay for an amazing week away with great memories.
The thing I love most about getting a ferry is chatting with other bikers in the queue and finding out where they’d been and all about their trips. It’s a lovely little part of bikes and ferries.
Drawing out of Dublin port I went out on deck to watch Ireland slipping away across the calm sea.
The ferry was really busy and pretty much every seat had been taken so we relaxed near the café. One of our group recognised some other women wearing bike gear from other rides via the FWLR group so we ended up chatting and got a photo together. Before this Ireland trip none of us knew each other so it was lovely going home as friends, and meeting more people on the ferry back who had been riding through Northern Ireland.
As I drove back down the motorway to London, cruise control on, I listened to the sound of the engine and thought about the next trip to Ireland…
Stop: London
Stage Distance: 450 km (280 miles)
Overall Distance: 2081 km (1293 miles)
Prev: Ireland 2026 - Day 7