Assuming no FTL or anything even approaching that, starships will take generations to cross space. But such ships might not be too difficult to make. A civilization might first get lots of practice building large space stations, converging on designs that prove reliable for hundreds or thousands of years. Then, just strap on some rockets. (Maybe lots of rockets in order to bring along radiation shielding: OK, this is a bit difficult.) We'll need to bring power, both for the rockets and the inhabitants, but that shouldn't be too difficult given how extravagant space stations can be.
Since you are taking along lots of shielding, Project Orion-style nuclear bomb based propulsion becomes practical.
How do you do population control during a multi-generation voyage? Maybe Malthus will be right, and it'll be a miserable trip.
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