Travelling from NI to Poland

Hello,

I am planning to travel to Poland (Wroclaw) from Belfast, Northern Ireland by a car which is Nissan Qashqai 2.0 (Petrol) and my question is which way is the quickest and most economical including ferrys.

I thought about from Dublin to Holyhead (but as I see on the map is Holyhead connected with England by a motorway that I can easily drive through ?) , then from Holyhead to Dover (England) and from Dover I have another ferry to Calais (France) and then from Calais straight to Wroclaw. Is that a good route ?

Thx in advance

I would get ferry to Hollyhead then A55 across to the M6.

Down M6 and onto the A14 to Harwich.

Harwich to Esbjerg in Denmark.

Get on the E45 south to Hamburg

A7 Autobahn in Germany to Hamburg

A24 to Berlin then go round the A10 Berliner ring towards Dresden.

A13 towards Cotbuss which ends up as the E36 on the A15

Cross the border into Poland and stay on the A18 into Poland.

The A18 merges into the A4 to Wroclaw.

Maybe a bit shorter route... Belfast to Liverpool...M62 motorway all the way to Hull...ferry to Rotterdam... E30 motorway all the way to Szczecin Poland...

E30 goes to Poznan, Lodz and Warsaw.

Wroclaw is on the A4 which is the E36 from Berlin.

Esbjerg is a shorter drive to Wroclaw than driving from Rotterdam.

Google Maps will solve this problem quickly.

Ive driven both numerous times. Denmark is less driving than from Rotterdam.

Speed limits for a start.

grrr.... you think I didn't use google maps ? Peoples experience is always more reliable than some site... so plz.

Hideously expensive though!

The most sensible in my opinion is to do Harwich-Hoek van Holland - it's 6 hours on the ferry, but you can do this overnight. Wroclaw is easily doable in a day from the Hoek too :)

Holyhead-Harwich is a doddle too.

Especially if you actually want a flat surface to sleep on!

Personally I think I would rather pay extra on a ferry to drive less.

I would not call it hideously expensive. The Harwich to Hoek overnight ferry is very poor.

Dutch speed camera's and unmarked traffic cops are bad.

The dutch can impound your car and sell it at auction if you cant pay your on the spot speeding fine.

Germany does not have this.

Really? i had a great experience on it not that long ago.

The problem with the Esbjerg connection is that you lose an exceptional amount of time and money to not get that much closer to your destination. Looking now -

Harwich to Esbjerg - 18 hours 15 minutes.
Esbjerg to Wroclaw - 932km

Harwich to Hoek Van Holland - 6 hours 30 minutes.
Hoek van Holland to Wroclaw - 1029km


It does the job if you just want to sleep overnight. The boats are dull, but functional. Nothing wrong with the facilities though.

The useful thing with the Hoek connection is that you can take it as a day ferry too and then do the driving at night - and of course, if you miss the Hoek ferry, you're not waiting 2 days for the next one.

I like Wildrover's suggestion of Hull-Rotterdam too though - Stranraer to Hull is a doddle of a drive.

If I recall correctly, there are special fares for doing Belfast-Liverpool and then Dover-Dunkerque by ferry too as it's the same operator. There may very well be some sort of promotion on Stena too.

As I said, the distance is irrelevant.

The speed limits in Holland means you take 6 hours to get to Berlin.

From Esbjerg its 3 hours to Berlin.

I have tried every Ferry to the continent, I like to miss out driving in Holland. There is way too much traffic on Dutch roads.

Yes, i used to it quite regularly, but to Warsaw and not Wroclaw. O/N ferry landed you at 7:00 am and the drive was fine

3 hours? That must be absolutely nailing it through Denmark!


True, but you're also facing an extra 12 hours on a ferry - by the time the ferry docks in Esbjerg, you could already be in Wroclaw.

It's a shame they cancelled the Harwich-Hamburg connection, it would be perfect for trips like this...

uhm....I dont want to interrupt but my topic is gettin kind of messy.

Who asked you to speak ???

One word of advice: A4 from Goerlitz/Zgorzelec is the only serious motorway connecting Poland and Germany. So if it won't destroy your plans better enter Poland via Zgorzelec and from there go A4 straight to Wroclaw. A18 (if you drive from Berlin) has only one line finished.

PS. If you go A4 remember to fill up your fuel tank, because it is relatively new parts of this highway don't have fuel stations yet (but maybe that changed in recent months, my data are a few months old)

Szerokiej drogi ;-)

I drove over the border at Zgorzelec in June last year and the Motorway was not open.

In April the A18 was 2 lanes but very bumpy, are they resurfacing the road now?

If the A4 is open and all Motorway now the best crossing would be to Hoek and then follow the E30 until Magdaburg. Just before Magdaburg switch to the A14 towards Leipzig then join the A4 before Dresden.

If its a sunny day it is a very nice drive, going over the Minden Ridge on the A2 is a great view. Watch out speeding in Holland, I've been caught a few times. They have sneaky Camera's on the Motorway and Unmarked cars.

They are known to close motorways and make you drive through the services to check for anything illegal. Every car is stopped by a Policeman when they do this.

Don't do anything illegal and you will be fine, don't worry.

How nice, i,ve a 19 year BMW if anyone cared to know

Yep, all opened now.

Thank god this is what it was like last year on the A4 in Poland just across the boarder.



My advice is make sure to get on the A2 in Germany as soon as possible you can stay on that for about 260 miles, start looking for the A4 when youre nearing Berlin and that'll take you straight to Wroclaw.

If he go via Berlin then the closest crossing would lead him into halffinished A18. In my opinion it would be better if he from begining will direct at Dresden, and from then straight into recently finished A4. I was driving it in last November and it was ok. The only problem was that petrol stations wasn't there yet by then.


I never drove by it myself. I've read somewhere that this road is in or just before tender phase. So couple of years before it became a highway.

just get plane man, 140 euro max with aerlingus return warsaw, far easier

Ive taken the A4 route and A2 i find the A2 quicker and less hassle, i made the trip Southampton UK - Wroclaw PL in just over 13 hours but then again i have a fast car.

The A2 is an awesome road.

The A2 is not an awesome road. Wait until some idiot has smashed his car and you are sat still for 9 hours. You hear it on the radio about 25km Stau (Traffic Jam) A2 Dortmund to Hanover quite often.

I have been stuck on the A2 a few times when it has come to a halt.

However, from Rotterdam you head for the A1 at Amersfoort (E30). This takes you to the German border near Rheine an the A30 (E30). Follow the A30 to Bad Oyenhausen, watch out, the A30 ends on the edge of Bad Oyenhausen and there is a 50km/h speed limit, its still 2 lanes. There is a speed camera about 100m after the sign. The other side of Bad Oyenhausen get on the A2 (E30) to Hanover. Stay on the A2 to Magdeburg (Not Berlin) at Magdeburg join the A14 towards Leipzig and Dresden. At Dresden join the A4 to Wroclaw.

Berlin is another 100 mile from Magdeburg and will take you onto the A18 which you dont want.

I drove the A2 last Monday.

Isnt that the case with all roads? maybe it wasnt awesome for you but it is for me. Im well aware that when they bang in Germany on the autobhans they really bang.

I should have been clearer.

Sometimes its awesome. When you drive it every weekend it is not an awesome road.

I was mainly trying to say its A2 to Magdeburg not A2 to Berlin. I drive to Lodz via Wroclaw sometimes to see a friend in Polanica zdroj and its the route I take. Now the A4 motorway is open it will be a better drive.

I think we have misunderstanding. I was talking only about Polish part, so I meaned A4 vs A18 in Poland. I suppose you are talking about German roads. I assumed that German highways are more or less ok, and the only bottleneck could be Polish part of the journey. To avoid that bottleneck one should choose A4 (in Poland), that's all.

I think you missed the time difference here.

I just drove the A2 on Friday and was stuck in a 2 hour 14km traffic Jam before Hanover.

Padi, how much are you budgeting for that trip? would be a great drive to try :)