As a result of Leinster reaching the Heineken Cup final in Cardiff on Saturday, 21st May (KO: 5pm), the OLSC has put together some travel information to assist those planning trips to see the boys in blue…
Air Travel Options
Aer Lingus and Ryanair serve both Cardiff and Bristol, both of these are quite expensive already therefore we would recommend flying to another UK airport and make your way to Cardiff (or wherever you choose to stay) by either train, sharing a rental car or www.megabus.com / www.nationalexpress.co.uk who operate cheap buses across the UK.
Options could include either flying from Belfast or fly to a London airport, Southampton, Exeter, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle or Manchester (travel distances can be found at www.aaroadwatch.co.uk)
Charter Flights
Joe Walsh Tours, official travel partner of Leinster Rugby are running day same day trips (incl transfers but excluding match ticket) from €;365 pp, there is also an overnight option (departing Friday returning after the game from €;534) – visit www.joewalshtours.ie for information or to book.
Ferry
At the time of writing Irish Ferries had a special offer of €;181 for a car, its driver and up to three passengers (leaving Dublin on Friday evening returning the early hours of Sunday morning). This can be booked by calling 0818 300 400
Accommodation
Cardiff accommodation is pretty much full at this point, some rooms may become available as supporters from teams knocked out of the Amlin and Heineken Cup cancel their plans. As at the time of writing we would suggest nearby places such as Newport, Bridgend, Swansea, Bristol or Llanelli. You can get to/from Cardiff using a rental car or trains, details of the driving distances in minutes and last trains on the Saturday are as follows;
Penarth – 11 mins – 11.12pm
Newport – 25 mins – 11.20pm
Bridgend – 29 mins – 11.07pm
Swansea – 52 mins – 11.07pm
Bristol – 54 mins – 10.00pm
To hire a car we would recommend www.arguscarhire.ie and for trains www.thetrainline.co.uk, for accommodation try www.booking.com or www.bedandbreakfasts.co.uk
Rail works often take place on Sundays in the UK, further information on these can be found at www.nationalrail.co.uk
Car Parking in Cardiff
If hiring a car make sure your hotel has parking, the city centre of Cardiff can be very busy on match days, public car park information can be found HERE
Sleeping under the stars in Cardiff
The OLSC had teamed up with Llandaff RFC who are opening their grounds for camping, this is now full and we are looking for an alternative option.
Coach and Ferry inclusive options
We are receiving a number of enquires about the OLSC running buses to/from Cardiff. By law we are unable to do this as we are not licensed, nor are we a bonded travel agent.
Eurolines re running a coach/ferry service that departs Busarus on Friday afternoon, arrives Cardiff early Saturday morning. You then depart Cardiff late on Saturday evening returning to Dublin just before lunch on Sunday, with this option there is no need for overnight accommodation.
Return bookings are from just €;84 inclusive of all coach/ferry costs, bookings should be made directly with www.eurolines.ie
Match Tickets
All season ticket holders who entered the ballot for final tickets have now been notified, there may be further tickets on sale at www.ticketmaster.co.uk
Away Guide / OLSC Base
The week of the final the OLSC will publish a guide with all the information required for the weekend including the ever important supporter’s HQ, this will be available via the official website as well as our Facebook and Twitter pages.
Those not travelling to Cardiff
The club will be publishing ‘Blue Planet’ a guide of where to watch the final around the world, this will includes RFCs and pubs in Ireland showing the game with details of any specials for supporters. This will be released the week of the game.
Keeping up to date with travel and other important information
Whilst we are volunteers we will be providing updated information as frequently as possible, the first place to see this information is on Facebook and/or Twitter
Facebook: Official Leinster Supporters
Twitter: OLSCRugby
