One passenger pays between $30.54 and $53.75, every fee included, depending on the operator and the way you travel. Services cover 493 km and are run by 4 operators across 2 modes.
What one seat costs
The spread between the cheapest and dearest typical fare on this corridor, across 0 operators and 2 ways of making the journey. The operator sets the price on the day.
Typical fares · Priced for October 27, 2026
$30.54 to $53.75
- 188%Moves across the booking window
188%Departure times on this route
Departure times on this route12Go lists the departures it sells between Reading and Belfast.
Partner link. The seller pays us a commission when a booking completes, and it never changes what you pay.
Fares by date
What this journey usually costs, by departure date. It shows which days run dearer.
Typical fares
- about $79.06Thu8
- about $72.38Fri9
- about $54.79Sat10
- about $51.16Sun11
- about $54.19Mon12
- about $42.66Tue13
- about $40.84Wed14
- about $52.97Thu15
- about $44.49Fri16
- about $51.16Sat17
- about $50.55Sun18
- about $45.70Mon19
- about $37.20Tue20
- about $34.78Wed21
- about $43.87Thu22
- about $42.05Fri23
- about $40.23Sat24
- about $34.78Sun25
- about $33.57Mon26
- about $30.54Tue27
- about $31.75Wed28
Based on what this route has cost recently. The live fare is confirmed when you book.
The train gets you into Belfast. These two partners take it from there, and the bed is theirs to book.
A room in Belfast for the night the train gets in
Sort by distance from Belfast Lanyon Place and you can see which places are ten minutes on foot and which are not.
Search Belfast on Booking.comOr compare on Expedia
Partner links. We earn a commission when a booking completes, and it never changes what you pay.
When to book Reading to Belfast
The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.
- $27.4990 days
- $31.7560 days
- $38.4245 days
- $33.5730 days
- $31.7521 days
- $34.7814 days
- $40.847 days
- $54.793 days
- $79.061 days
- Cheapest lead time
- Fares bottom out around 90 days ahead, at $27.49.
- How much it moves
- The gap between the cheapest and most expensive lead time is 188 percent. The most expensive point is $79.06, 1 days out.
- What that means
- Today sits inside the cheap window, which closes about 90 days before departure. Waiting from here has usually cost money on this corridor rather than saved it.
Book now Fares on this route are lowest around 90 days ahead. You are inside that window.
This corridor, specifically
Facts that apply to Reading to Belfast and to no other route on the site.
Clocks
Both ends keep the same time, so the arrival is the departure plus the journey.
The shape of it
493 km
481 km as the crow flies, 2% further by the route services take. The bearing runs north-west.
Who lives at each end
318,014 → 348,005
Population at the departure city and at the arrival city, which is usually what decides how often anything runs.
The route
What the journey looks like
Direct or connecting, how far the route really runs, and what happens when a connection is missed.
- Direct or connecting
- 0% of the services we sell on this corridor run through without a change. The remaining 100% involve one connection.
- How far it really runs
- The route covers 493 km against 481 km in a straight line, a detour of 2 percent. Track and road geometry account for the difference.
- Where the change is
- Connections are made at Liverpool, Birmingham. The gap between arriving and leaving is 57 minutes, of which about 14 is walking.
- If the connection is missed
- The tightest connection we sell here has a 17 percent chance of not being made on the timetable alone. Part of this journey is a self transfer between separate tickets, so leave more time than the minimum and expect to check in again.
The fare from BFS into Belfast is set by whoever drives it.
A car waiting when you land in Belfast
Settled in advance, so the ride into Belfast costs what it said it would rather than what the cab stand says.
Book a ride from BFS with Welcome PickupsOr check Daytrip
Partner links. We earn a commission on a booking, and the fare is the same as going direct.
Who runs this route
The train gets in hours before any room is ready. Holding a bag is not what we sell.
Baggage storage near Belfast Lanyon Place
Most of the points near Belfast Lanyon Place open before the first train and close after the last one.
Check Belfast on StasherOr try Bounce
Partner links. We earn a commission on a booking, and the price is the same as going direct.
Questions about Reading to Belfast
The questions people actually ask about this trip, answered from the same prices and times the page above is built on rather than written once and left to go stale.
How long does it take to get from Reading to Belfast?
Reading to Belfast covers 493 km. Each operator's own departure and arrival times for the date you pick are in the search at the top of this page, beside the total price.
How much does it cost to travel from Reading to Belfast?
The cheapest fare from Reading to Belfast is $30.54, as of October 7, 2026. A typical fare across the next three weeks is $53.75. Both figures are the total for one passenger, including taxes, supplier fees and our service fee, so nothing is added at checkout.
What is the cheapest way to get from Reading to Belfast?
The cheapest way from Reading to Belfast is by bus, at $30.54 for one passenger on October 27, 2026. The comparison table on this page shows what each mode costs side by side.
When should I book Reading to Belfast?
Fares from Reading to Belfast bottom out around 90 days before departure, at $27.49. Across the whole booking window the gap between the cheapest and the most expensive lead time is 188 percent, measured on October 7, 2026. Booking inside the last week has consistently cost more on this corridor.
Which day of the week is cheapest for Reading to Belfast?
Wednesday is the cheapest day to depart from Reading to Belfast, at $34.78. That is the median of 21 priced departure days across the next three weeks, as of October 7, 2026. Shifting a departure by one day is usually worth more than shifting the booking by one week.
Which month is cheapest for Reading to Belfast?
March is the cheapest of the next 6 months to travel from Reading to Belfast, at $27.49 for one passenger. Each month is priced on its fifteenth, so the comparison is like for like rather than a mix of weekends and midweek departures.
Who runs service from Reading to Belfast?
4 operators sell services from Reading to Belfast across 2 modes: BA CityFlyer, Cross Country, FlixBus, Stena Line. Journey times, fares and fare conditions differ between them, and the operator table on this page compares all of them on speed, flexibility and what is provided on board.
Is there a direct service from Reading to Belfast?
0 percent of the services we sell from Reading to Belfast are direct. The rest connect at Liverpool, Birmingham, with about 57 minutes between the two services. Both legs are sold on one booking, so a missed connection is rebooked at no charge.
How much CO2 does the journey from Reading to Belfast produce?
Traveling from Reading to Belfast by bus produces about 14.1 kg of CO2 per passenger, the lowest of any mode on this corridor. The same journey by Train produces about 80.8 kg, roughly 6 times as much for one passenger.
Which station or terminal do services from Reading to Belfast use?
Services from Reading to Belfast by train leave from Reading Station and arrive at Belfast International Airport BFS. Allow about 1h 57m in total for reaching the departure terminal and leaving the arrival one, which is already included in every door to door time on this page.
Can I change or refund a ticket from Reading to Belfast?
3 of the 4 operators we sell from Reading to Belfast allow a change or a refund. A change on a changeable fare costs $5.51. The operator table on this page names which is which, and the condition is shown again before you pay.
Where these numbers come from
Places, coordinates, operators, which operator serves which pair, and every distance on this page are real and come from open data. Where a corridor has a filed timetable the departure times are real too, and ferry fares are the prices the operators publish themselves.
Observed service A carrier record names this operator on this pair, carried through unchanged.
Prices come from the supplier wherever we hold a live quote. Elsewhere we show an indicative price built from the real distance, the real operator and a fare curve over lead time, day of the week and season. Those are labeled Estimated fare and cannot be booked.
Defined in full at Door to door, Fares, The booking window, Carbon, Distances
Being on the water gives Belfast a set of days out that do not start at a station.
Day trips out of Belfast and across United Kingdom
Day trips that leave Belfast in the morning and cover a good part of United Kingdom by evening.
See Belfast on GetYourGuideOr browse Viator
Partner links. We earn a commission on a booking, and it never changes the price.
The two ends, compared
Reading reaches 28 places in 6 countries on services we hold, over distances from 58 to 9,679 km. Belfast reaches 25 places in 4 countries, from 71 to 3,044 km.
Other ways to make this journey
Leaving Reading
- 28Places you can leave for
- 6Countries
- 8Operators
6
8Arriving in Belfast
Leaving Belfast
- 25Places you can leave for
- 4Countries
- 17Operators