The only nonstop flights from Ireland are daily from Dublin to Zürich on either Crossair or Aer Lingus; you should be able to pick up fares on either for around IR£170–190. To reach another Swiss airport – or if you want to fly out of Belfast, Cork, Shannon or elsewhere in Ireland – you’re looking at a change of plane, most commonly in London, Amsterdam or Brussels. If you have to get to Geneva, Crossair/Swissair combinations which fly you to Zürich and then double back might seem counterproductive, but in fact connection times at Zürich are so well co-ordinated that they can save time on routings via European hubs. Fares to any Swiss airport on BA via London, KLM via Amsterdam, Lufthansa via Frankfurt, and so on, fall in the IR£220–250 bracket.

Students and anyone under 31 should contact Usit, which generally has the best discount deals on flights and train tickets. Otherwise, NIR Travel and Continental Rail Desk both offer the range of European train passes covered here.

If you want to take the car, you can either cross to Britain and then drive to the Channel ports for another ferry or the Eurotunnel shuttle; or you might prefer to put your feet up for the extra-long crossings direct from Cork or Rosslare to the French coast – fourteen hours to Roscoff or seventeen to Cherbourg, the latter leaving you within a (very long) day’s drive of the Alps. Prices vary tremendously according to the day of travel; in the low season (March–May & Sept), you could pay roughly IR£120 for a car plus two people one-way to Cherbourg, but in the high season (June–Aug) the same thing costs IR£300. A basic cabin costs from IR£35 extra.