Why We Love Train Travel in Ireland and Scotland
The beauty and history behind travel by train in Ireland and Scotland
The anticipation, excitement and comfort of travel by train in Ireland and Scotland is something everyone should experience in their lifetime. Train travel is better for the environment overall, with train travel trips in Ireland or Scotland involving only intermittent need for cars (train tracks can’t go EVERYWHERE as it happens, as much as we’d love that).
Here’s our top three reasons why we love train travel and why you should consider Locally Hosted Rail travel for your next visit to Ireland and Scotland.
Travel by train is: History in Motion
Trains revolutionized travel everywhere their tracks were laid, cutting down travel time, increasing the distance people could travel in a place where it was common to rarely leave the region you called home. To this day, historic icons of early train-linked tourism still stand ready to welcome guests into comfort, hospitality and adventure.
One of our favorites is the first thing you’ll see when you exit the station in Killarney: The Great Southern Killarney. The first of its kind in high-end hotels directly linked to train travel in Ireland, it was built in 1854 to ‘take the guest’s breath away’ it still stands as Killarney’s Premier Historic Hotel.
We love it for its classic grand elegance combined with the perfect contemporary updates for our modern world, and there’s few better ways to immerse in a charming destination like Killarney than to step off a modern train and into the halls of this Victorian-era beauty.
Travel by train is: Always Romantic
Travelling as a couple? You don’t have to keep your eyes on the road, only on each other.
Romanticizing your solo life? You’ll feel like the main character as you glide away from the cities and into the rolling countryside.
From getting a chocolate treat at the stations in the city before you board to getting the kind of quiet in-between your destinations to digest what you’ve seen, where you are going, trains offer a kind of romantic feel to travel when you are en route to your next stop.
Top tip for train travel and making it romantic and not a rom-com? Pack light – think smaller luggage and more versatile clothing options. Don’t worry – we’ll have your seat reserved and waiting for you.
Travel by train is: Environmental
Trains provide an economic mode of transportation for their passengers and while diesel has been the main source of power for train travel in Ireland and Scotland, the desire for switching to electric train travel has been strong.
So strong, is that the current (get it?) that train travel in Ireland and Scotland is on its way to more energy efficient is that more are being added to the Irish Rail fleet and more are on the way over the next decade and Scotland is working to decarbonize its own railways with battery power and hydrogen fuel cell trains by 2035.
We always stand by our love of train travel trips in Ireland and Scotland, and offer a wide array of Locally Hosted Rail trips handcrafted to showcase the best destinations, travel routes and places to stay whether classic and iconic or contemporary and modern.
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