Transportation from City Center to Cardiff Airport
Cardiff Airport (CWL) is Wales' busiest airport and there are many vehicles operating from the city centre.
If you want to go to the airport by train, you can take the trains that leave from the main train station every hour on weekdays and every two hours on Sundays to Rhoose Station.
If you buy your ticket from the box office at the main train station by saying “Cardiff Air Bus”, they will give you a single discounted ticket, including the connection of bus number 905.
There are multiple buses and shuttles from the city to the airport. One of them is bus number 304. This bus leaves from the Customhouse stop very close to Cardiff Central Station and goes to the airport via Barry and Llantwit Major. The journey takes about an hour under normal traffic conditions.
For more detailed information, you can browse the official websites or mobile applications of the companies.
In addition, the T9 bus line operated by TrawsCymru, a company owned by the Welsh government, also carries passengers from the city center to the airport with flights departing every 20 minutes. The bus goes to the airport with passengers it picks up in front of the Travelodge hotel in Cardiff Bay and behind the Cardiff Central Library in the city centre.
For a more comfortable journey, you can prefer taxis that you can easily find in crowded places such as Mermaid Quay or Cardiff Central. As a more economical option, you can use the Uber application, which is frequently used in the city. The airport is approximately 24 km away and the journey takes an average of 25 minutes by passenger cars.
If you are leaving Cardiff as a large group, or if you want a comfortable journey from your hotel to the airport, you can also book a private airport transfer through your hotel or through a trusted website. So you can focus on the flight ahead without having to worry about anything before your journey.
Transportation from Belfast International Airport to City Center
Since Belfast is one of the largest cities in Ireland, there are various transportation options from Belfast International Airport to the city. The fastest of these is to take the taxis of The International Airport Taxi Company, the official taxi operator of the airport.
These taxis operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. When you exit the arrival terminal and turn right, you will see this taxi stop area. The price tariff applied to various parts of the city is hung in various parts of the terminal building. You can also check the company's website for the size of the car and the price schedule.
Another slower but certainly more economical option is the Airport Express 300 airport bus. This bus leaves every 15 minutes during rush hour, every day of the week. The bus fare is paid to the toll booth at the terminal or to the driver on the bus, or it is purchased directly from the smartphone application. The vehicle can be boarded from the platform directly opposite the main exit gate of the terminal.
Depending on the road traffic conditions, it takes between 30 and 40 minutes. There may be delays in departure times, especially on public holidays with heavy air traffic. You can check the hours of the airport shuttles operated by Translink, the operator of these buses, on the website at the link.
If you have used Belfast Airport to go to Londonderry, you are lucky because vehicles to this city depart directly from the airport. These minibuses, which depart every 30 minutes during busy hours, cover this distance of approximately 100 km in 1.5 hours on average. Minibuses leave from the bus stop in front of the terminal building.
I've come this far, if you say you wouldn't go back without seeing the sights in Belfast, the most logical move would be to rent a car. Thus, you can both see Belfast with your own rhythm and skip the airport transfer. There are 5 car rental companies in the terminal building and almost all of them are located on the arrival floor. You can find the contact information of these companies on the airport's website. By the way, keep in mind that traffic flows on the left in Ireland.