Today we traveled from Edinburgh to Belfast in Northern Ireland. To do so, we needed to get from the east coast of Scotland to the west coast and then catch a ferry. For the first leg, we chose to have a driver pick us up at our hotel and drive the 3-hour trip to the Stena ferry terminal instead of taking two buses or renting a car to drive on the left side of the road (yikes!) and onto the ferry. Having a Scottish driver was a wonderfully easy way to go. George from DayTrip picked us up at 9:30 and dropped us off at 12:30 at the terminal. Along the way, it was a cloudy, rainy day while driving on a freeway that took us through Glasgow and several small towns along the west coast, ending up at the terminal at Cairnryan.
We had to wait in the terminal for about 90 minutes before they issued us boarding passes, checked our suitcases, and let us into the shared waiting area with the car drivers and passengers, where there was a busy coffee stand. The ferry was named the Stena Nordica and was very large, 500 feet or more. We boarded about 3:15 and we were on our way by 4:00. The crossing took about 2 hours and was very smooth, with nearly no wind but very low clouds and drizzle. We ate a very late lunch in the restaurant area and then walked around the ship. There were lots of passengers, filling most all the tables and chairs. There was also a small movie theater (full), “hygge” lounge (full), premium (paid) lounge, and picnic tables outside in the drizzle. We couldn’t find a table after exploring the ship, so we sat on the carpeted floor for a while until Caroline found us a vacant table during the last 30 minutes.
After disembarking, we gathered our suitcases in the baggage reclaim area and walked outside the small terminal, then caught a taxi to our hotel, which is another Hilton only about 10 minutes away. The weather in Belfast was overcast but dry.
Our hotel is close to downtown and on the bank of the River Lagan. Caroline and I have a corner room with a spectacular view!
Leaving our luggage in the rooms, we met in the executive lounge for a drink and then went to eat light appetizers in the hotel restaurant because it was getting late and we weren’t so hungry.
Lori's Travels 