All aboard! Inishowen man embarks on bus trip of a lifetime from Redcastle to Warsaw
Ryan all set for 3,200-mile door-to-door round-trip, starting with Local Link to Letterkenny and ending in East Poland
While most people heading to a wedding abroad would simply hop on a plane, one Inishowen man is taking the scenic route – all 100 hours and 3,200 miles round-trip of it!
Ryan Doherty (32), from Drung, Quigley's Point, is preparing to embark on what can only be described as the bus journey of a lifetime as he travels door-to-door from Inishowen to Warsaw in Poland entirely by coach and ferry to attend a friend’s wedding.
The journey from Inishowen to the Polish capital is just under 1,600 miles and will take approximately 50 hours each way.
A passionate advocate of public and coach transport, Ryan hopes his epic adventure will prove that with a little planning, you really can get almost anywhere in Europe from the Inishowen peninsula without ever setting foot on an aircraft.
“I know I could have flown, but coach travel is my favourite way of travelling,” Ryan explained. “Basically, I want to prove you can get anywhere from Inishowen if you plan it out properly.”
Ryan has regularly travelled by coach from Dublin to London Victoria Coach Station and became fascinated by the vast network of European coach services available from the British capital.
“Coach travel has always been my favourite way to travel,” he said. “When I noticed you can basically travel anywhere from London Victoria to anywhere across Europe by coach travel, it got me thinking – could I get from my doorstep in Inishowen to these places?”
The answer, it turns out, is a resounding yes.
Ryan will leave home on Friday, July 17, beginning his journey on the 8am Local Link 953 service to Letterkenny before catching the 10.45am McGinley Coaches service to Dublin.
From there, he will board the 5.45pm coach to London Victoria via Holyhead and Irish Ferries.
After spending the weekend in London, the real marathon begins. Ryan will depart London on a FlixBus service at 9.30am on Monday, July 20, travelling across Europe before arriving in Warsaw at lunchtime the following day.
He plans to spend several days exploring Poland before making the entire journey home again on July 26 – although he has hinted there may even be a mystery detour along the way back.
In total, Ryan’s bus adventure will involve approximately 50 hours of travel each way and an astonishing 100 hours on the road.
Travelling solo doesn’t faze the Drung man, who is determined to champion coach travel and show that the journey can be just as enjoyable as the destination.
And as an accomplished photographer, Ryan will no doubt have plenty of opportunities to capture life through the coach window during his odyssey across Europe, taking in five countries.