Travel

There are many means to travel to Coleaine (apart from walking which can be pretty long...). The most common transportation means are car and plane.

You all have many ways to travel from your country to Great Britain, so we will only give some information on the travel between Great Britain and Ireland.
You can go through Eire or directly to Northern Ireland.

To Eire, you can cross the Irish Sea using the following liaisons : Holyhead-Dublin, Holyhead-Dun Laoghaire, Pembroke-Rosslare, Fishguard-Rosslare or Swansea-Cork.

From Great Britain to Northern Ireland, choose either Cairnryan-Larne or Liverpool-Belfast.

Ferry companies on these lines are :

• Brittany Ferries
• Irish Ferries
• P & O European Ferries
• Norse Irish Ferries
• Euro-Mer
• Seafrance/Sealink (Telephone: 00 33 803 04 40 45)
• Seacat (Telephone: 00 33 3 21 46 14 14)

Once on the Irish island, you just have to drive to Coleraine. If you arrive in Eire, the simplest way is to drive from Dublin to Newry and Belfast. It is about 160 km. Then drive to Coleraine through Ballymena. You will have to drive for about 80 km between Belfast and Coleraine.
Extremely important : in Ireland as well as in Great Britain, DRIVE LEFT !!! Don't worry, you get the habit quite rapidly, especially if you want to survive...

Most students fly to Belfast via London. Most connections are between London Heathrow or Gatwick airports and one of the two airports of Belfast. It is also possible to fly to Dublin Airport.

You can choose between several possibilities for going to the University, depending on which airport you arrive in :

• Dublin Airport
• Belfast International Airport
• Belfast City Airport

From Dublin Airport to Coleraine

You can choose between train or buses. By train, from Connelly Station, take the train to Belfast and change in Belfast to Coleraine. It takes approximately 2 hours. By bus, the way is the same but it takes 3 hours and it is cheaper. The bus station is near Connelly Station.

From Belfast International Airport to Coleraine

There are three means for going to Coleraine :

• The AIRporter service:

  It is a direct bus service from the airport to Coleraine. The journey takes 1 hour. It is possible to book a seat in advance. For further information, contact the Coleraine office: 044 2870 32933

• By bus:

  From the Laganside Bus station in Central Belfast, take a bus to Portrush and stop at Coleraine. Buses leave Belfast 6 times a day.

• By train:

  Take a taxi to Antrim Railway Station, then a train for Londonderry, stopping at Coleraine.

From Belfast City Airport to Coleraine

The possibilities for going to Coleraine are almost the same as from Belfast International :

• The AIRporter service:

  It is a direct bus service from the airport to Coleraine. The journey takes one and half hours. It is possible to book a seat in advance. For further inforamtion, contact the Coleraine office: 044 2870 32933

• By bus:

  From the Laganside Bus station in Central Belfast, take a bus to Portrush and stop at Coleraine. Buses leave Belfast 6 times a day.

• By train:

  By train: The Sydenham Station is close to the airport. Take a train to Belfast Central, then change to Londonderry, stopping at Coleraine.

From Coleraine to the University

The University is situated north of Coleraine. To go there, you can take a bus from the station in Coleraine. During University terms school time, there is a special bus service dedicated for the University. Another way is to take a train from Coleraine to the University Station.

You will find detailed information in the Handbook of International Students that you will receive about two months before you leave.

In any case, take the ISIC (Internationnal Student Identity Card). It gives you some special rates for transport services (up to 50% rebate on the train or bus ticket). For futher information, visit the Website: www.istc.org