Fly to Belfast from Liverpool or Get the Ferry – What’s Best?
Liverpool is a melting pot of people from all over the world, with the accent influenced by the likes of people from Scandinavia and the island of Ireland.
As a result, there are numerous people who live and work in the city from Northern Ireland, wanting to head home every now and then to catch up with friends and family. Equally, there are many Scousers who feel an affinity with their Northern Irish brethren, wanting to head to Belfast for a night out and to enjoy ‘the craic’.
There are options of how to get there from Liverpool, but which one is the best for you will depend on your own personal circumstances.
Flying from Liverpool John Lennon Airport
If you want to get to Belfast by plane from Liverpool, one of the best places to head to is the city’s John Lennon Airport. Named after a member of The Beatles and bearing the slogan ‘Above us only sky’, which is a reference to a line from his famous song Imagine, the airport is located in the Speke area.
Although you can’t get a train straight to the airport like you can with the likes of London Heathrow and Manchester Airport, you can get one to Liverpool South Parkway, from where there is a simple enough bus service to take you the rest of the way on your journey.
@grahamjudge Liverpool South Parkway Please stay seated until the bus is at a complete stop!#stagecoach #stagecoachbus #alexanderdennis ♬ original sound – Bus Driver Graham
If you’re only heading over to Belfast for a short period of time, the likelihood is that you won’t have a great deal of luggage with you. This means that you can all but walk straight through the airport security and into the lounge, especially if you’ve already checked in online, reducing your journey time markedly.
That is the good news, with the bad news being that EasyJet is the airline that will take you over to the Emerald Isle. Prices start from as little as £12.99 if you manage to book early enough, with the actual flight taking less than an hour to move you to an entirely different country.
Getting the Ferry
There are numerous reasons why someone might not want to fly out of Liverpool. Being scared of flying is an obvious one, whilst the idea of being able to drive to a ferry terminal, drive onto a ferry and then drive off at the other end is also one that appeals.
The ferry is also a much more relaxed experience, which isn’t all that surprising when you bear in mind the fact that it takes eight hours to make its journey over to Belfast. The first thing that you need to bear in mind, though, is that you won’t be sailing out of Liverpool itself if you choose to get the ferry over to the island of Ireland.
Three years ago today we waved goodbye to England and moved to County Fermanagh.
Photo taken at 21:42 on the deck of the overnight ferry from Liverpool to Belfast just after setting off.
#OnThisDay
— Occasionally Lost (@mostlyrambling.bsky.social) Oct 19, 2025 at 8:40
Instead, the Stena Line operates out of Birkenhead, which is on the Wirral peninsula. Anyone who has ever been to the Wirral will know that getting there is nice and easy, thanks to the presence of two tunnels under the River Mersey as well as the Merseyrail train option and the Mersey Ferry.
Which one you will opt for will be a matter of personal choice, but those driving are limited to the tunnels. Getting the Stena Line ferry to Belfast is more expensive, with passage costing around £85. There are two trips a day, offering at least a little bit of choice in terms of when you go.
Pros & Cons of Each
Which option you will choose will come down to numerous different factors. For starters, you might be forced to pick one over the other because of budgetary constraints. In that sense, flying will nearly always win, although it should be noted that the price of the ferry can be brought down if you’re just a foot passenger.
Equally, speed might dictate the necessity to fly, given the fact that it is likely to take less than four hours from leaving your door on Merseyside to arriving at your destination in Belfast. Get the ferry, on the other hand, and you’re talking more like ten hours door-to-door.
The ferry does offer overnight sailing, which is obviously ideal if you’re hoping for a nice, relaxed journey that you can essentially sleep through. That is liable to be significantly quieter than flying, given the fact that numerous hen and stag parties will be on virtually each plane you take.
If you want to take a lot of luggage, though, you might find that the ferry is a cheaper option than flying. Ultimately, only you will know which option is best suited to what you want to do with your time and what you’re hoping to achieve, but hopefully this has given you more of a sense of what your options are.
