That One Time I was Stranded in Ireland Thanks to a Volcanic Eruption

During my Sophomore year of college, I studied abroad in Salzburg, Austria. This was one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life. It continued to spark my love of travel and created some amazing memories. During the semester, we had a 10-day spring break which my friends and I decided to spend in London and Ireland. We had a wonderful time until we became stranded in Dublin, Ireland due to the explosion of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland. This explosion caused the cancellation of all flights within Europe for the foreseeable future. We were left stuck in Dublin with a backpack full of dirty clothes and armed with our laptops to figure out how to get off the Emerald Isle.

The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull

The eruption happened 2 days before we were supposed to catch our flight from Dublin to Salzburg. At first, we did not think much of a volcano exploding and just shrugged it off. Then the eruption got worse and we were notified all flights were canceled until further notice.

No one knew when flights would be available again and the Chunnel from London to France was fully booked for several days. Therefore, I spent the entire day figuring out a plan to get us back. After endless hours of research, a plan finally came to fruition and everything for a lengthy and unforeseen journey home was booked.  

Dublin to Belfast

We would first spend an extra night in Dublin. We were so exhausted, we all passed out early that night. The next morning, we caught a 10-am train from Dublin to Belfast, Northern Ireland. This train ride was a little over two hours and we enjoyed the scenery along the way. Upon arrival in Belfast, we were left with 5 hours until our ferry we were catching left. We could not explore too much since we had our heavy backpacks with us. However, I was able to get a glimpse of the Belfast City Hall and a Titanic memorial.

Belfast to Scotland

After an uneventful 5 hours, we caught our 2.5-hour ferry from Belfast to Stranraer, Scotland. Stranraer is a tiny town located on the coast in southwest Scotland. There was not much besides the main street. Now, the ferry no longer connects Belfast and Stranraer but another town further north in Scotland instead. We arrived in the early evening and headed to our bed and breakfast. This B&B ended up being the cutest little place. We had a room that was over 250 years old and decorated in a Victorian style. We spent a little bit of time walking around the main street. We were amazed that we could see a bunch of the smoke and haze from the volcano!

That evening, we spent some time at the downstairs bar talking with the innkeeper. The innkeeper was super friendly and told us many hilarious and entertaining stories. This night is one of my favorite memories of this fiasco because we got to learn about life in Scotland and just hang out with the locals. I discovered one of my favorite sodas, Irn-bru, that night.

Scotland to Newcastle

Early the next morning we had a long 6-hour journey by train to get us to Newcastle, England. We had to change trains 4 times in order to get to Newcastle. In the late afternoon, we arrived in Newcastle and had over 24 hours to explore before we had to catch our next ferry. After checking into our hostel, we rested up to be ready for the next day.

Although I had never heard of Newcastle prior to this trip, it ended up being a city I thoroughly enjoyed. This city dates back to Roman times and was one of the Northernmost cities during the Roman Empire. It later became popular for the wool trade and mining coal. Hadrian’s Wall is a short trip from the city as well as Alnwick Castle, where they filmed some of the Harry Potter movies. We spent the following day exploring what the city had to offer from the Newcastle Castle and the St. Nicolas Cathedral to walking the Gateshead Millennium Bridge.

Newcastle to Amsterdam

That evening we boarded a 16-hour overnight ferry to Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The ferry ride was uneventful and we hung out and rested. The next morning we arrived in Amsterdam only to find out our parents were worried because they did not think we made the ferry. The ferry company had contacted them to confirm that we were going to come on the ferry and made it sound like we missed it. Thankfully that was not the case!

Amsterdam to Salzburg

We then headed to the Amsterdam train station. We knew this day would require a great amount of waiting due to the fact all trains were busy due to the grounding of all flights. I had a friend studying abroad in Amsterdam, so she came and hung out with us for a while. After several hours, we were finally able to get a reservation on a train and arrived back in Salzburg in the late evening after 10-hours and switching trains a couple of times.

What should have been a 3-hour plane flight, turned into a 4-day journey through the United Kingdom. Although it was a huge pain to be stranded somewhere with no idea how to get home, I ended up with some incredible memories and got to see some new super cool places I never would have known about!

Travel Times

Train from Dublin to Belfast: 2 hours, 15 minutes

5 hours to hang out in Belfast

Ferry from Belfast to Stranraer, Scotland: 2 hours, 30 minutes

One night in Stranraer, Scotland

Train from Stranraer, Scotland to Newcastle, England: 6 hours

One night in Newcastle, England

Overnight ferry from Newcastle, England to Amsterdam, The Netherlands: 16 hours

Train from Amsterdam to Salzburg, Austria: 10 hours

Overall time on 2 ferries and 7 trains: 37 hours

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