12 years living in Dublin without owning a car, and I still saw nearly every corner of Ireland by train. Heuston Station handles the south and west, Connolly covers the north. The train was definitely cheaper than renting a car, and you get to nap instead of navigating roundabouts.
Full route guide: https://travel.sidewalksafari.com/ireland-by-train/
What's the furthest you've gotten by train instead of a car?
Jul 4, 2026, 12:13 PM@sidewalksafari Is this a serious question, and are you interested also in responses from people who don’t live in Ireland? Does using a ship for a part of the journey count?
I have travelled from Helsinki, Finland, to Turkey, Sicily, and Portugal by train. Taking the ship between Finland and Sweden.
@tml I'm always interested in people's opinions on travel. You traveled from Finland to Portugal by train? 🤯 How long did that take and how many stops did you make along the way?
Jul 4, 2026, 12:31 PM@sidewalksafari It takes as long as you want, we were in no hurry, of course we made several stops along the way. I'd say that four or five days is a sane minimum duration for such a trip. You wouldn't drive in one go with a car either.
Checking it now, we left Helsinki in the evening on April 27, 2024, stayed a day (two nights) in a couple of places and a week in Madrid, and arrived in Porto on May 11.
(But please note that in general, the train connections to Portugal suck, and are even worse currently than in 2024, I have heard.)
@tml I hear you on the sucky connections to Portugal. I live in Lisbon and the trains are fine within the country, but it's basically impossible to take the train to Spain.
@sidewalksafari Edinburgh to Venice
@peterbrown that sounds like an awesome trip. How long did it take?
@sidewalksafari probably could have done it faster but took the Sleeper to London then Eurostar to Brussels then sleeper to Venice.
@sidewalksafari St Petersburg - Vladivostok and back, 41 days, 22 nights on trains
@humanhorseshoes What was your starting point?
@humanhorseshoes oops! I see it now. That's quite a journey!
@sidewalksafari briefly arrested in Biribidjan in the far east, only threatened with death once by a fellow passenger
@sidewalksafari the only trains that are truly lawless are the DARTs in Dublin
@sidewalksafari St Petersburg but I got there from Estonia by train, same with Finland
@sidewalksafari from Paris to Antibes in one day
@moredread that sounds lovely...
@sidewalksafari it wa but the food on the train was ghastly. We always bring our own food now.
@sidewalksafari Limerick <-> Dublin.
or maybe Koisce <-> Brataslava.
No West-Cork/Kerry or Donegal, so 2 corners (Larne & Waterford?) and 4 sides are possible?
Train much better than M7, but on early morning Limerick -> Dublin there might only be floor space. Shared floor between carriages with a top Lawyer in 2005.
@raymaccarthy ya, the crowds on Irish Rail can be a problem if you don't time it well...
nice! great achievement.
i've gone cross country in the US on three different Amtrak routes:
DC to LA and then onto Seattle,
Seattle to Baltimore
and San Francisco to DC,
also driven.cross country a few times.. train is v nice IMO.
i've also recreated the Orient Express route by going from Istanbul to London, tho you cant exactly do that by car ofc.
also did Beijing to St Petersburg
@rustoleumlove That sounds cool to criss-cross the U.S. The most I've done on Amtrak is the Northeast corridor between Washington D.C. and Boston
Jul 4, 2026, 7:08 PM@sidewalksafari Zoetermeer - (Tarifa - Tanger ferry) - Marrakech, Zoetermeer - Pozallo (ferry to Malta), Zoetermeer - Istanbul and Moscow - Amsterdam via Tallinn - Stockholm ferry
@eric what an extensive journey! What was your favorite stop along the way? Seems like an eclectic mix of destinations. Was there a reason you chose this route?
@sidewalksafari on my current summer vacation, I have travelled from Denmark to Slovenia by train and this is the longest train trip I have taken so far.
I must say, it hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows. DB managed to delay us enough to miss our night train through Austria, so we had to go and find a hotel to stay in and buy a new ticket for another train the next day. Not the greatest start to our vacation.
@arildsen Bummer! Train strikes are also a risk in Europe. I hope the rest of the trip goes smoothly 🤞