I was over in Ireland because of work, and wanting to see Claire, I chose to go by car so that I was a bit more flexible & we could go off and explore as the mood took us.
I caught the ferry over to Ireland from Pembroke Dock to Rosslare, and then went off to Cork for the boring part of the trip. I drove to Belfast on the Friday, stopping off to stretch my legs at Jerpoint Abbey, which looked beautiful but was unfortunately closed so I had to content myself with peering through the fence as best I could.
Finding my way around Belfast was a bit daunting, as with all cities, but I was lucky enough to have Claire to talk me down otherwise I might still be there!
I had to leave quite early in the morning on Sunday to get my ferry back (Dublin to Holyhead), an adventure that turned into a bit of a disaster as all of the Sunday drivers were out & I missed the ferry by a matter of minutes. I planned to catch the next ferry which should have been a fast one leaving about 4 hours later, so I headed off to Dublin centre for some shopping.
Unfortunately, the weather started to close in & the fast ferry was cancelled.
After reviewing my options (& paying a bit more) I choose to drive back down to Rosslare & catch the ferry over to Fishguard, as it meant driving down Ireland in mostly daylight as opposed to driving down Wales in the middle of the night.
It turned out to be quite a revelation as, though the weather was worse than on my trip out, the crossing felt much more stable; the Fishguard ferries have 'stabilisers' to keep them more steady. However, being a Pembroke girl, it had been quite a novelty to see the Haven from the other side.
My advice? The roads to Pembroke are much better than the ones to Fishguard (maybe saving you an hour?), but if you have a sensitive tummy, take the Fishguard option!