Dublin Travel

Dublin is such an accessible place to get to whether arriving by road, rail, sea and air.

Flying to Dublin

Dublin is served by a two terminal airport approximately 10 km (6 miles) north of the city centre. A second terminal opened in November 2010.

A full list of airlines flying to Dublin, along with timetables, can be found on the Dublin Airport website.

Ireland's flag carrier airline, Aer Lingus, flies to Dublin from a large number of European cities and from the USA. Aer Lingus fares are often lower than other flag carriers, but in part this has been achieved by matching the service levels of low-fare competitors. As a result, they now charge for checked-in bags and seat reservation at time of booking (note that this does not apply to United States flights). Aer Lingus staff is always very friendly and helpful. The planes and flight attendance are decorated in bright green to get passengers ready to see all of the green in Ireland.

Europe's largest low fares airline, Ryan Air has one of its main bases in Dublin from which it flies to a large number of European airports including Paris, London, Manchester, Liverpool, Madrid and Frankfurt as well as smaller regional airports such as Nantes or Kaunas. While famous for its low fares, Ryanair can be more expensive than other airlines for last minute bookings. Ireland's third airline Aer Arann links Dublin to many regional Irish airports and some smaller UK cities.

Low-fare airline Flybe links Dublin to Exeter, Norwich and Southampton in the United Kingdom, and also Jersey and Guernsey in the Channel Islands.

There are three types of bus transport to Dublin city:

Aircoach express service (large blue bus) connects the airport and the city centre and many of Dublin's major hotels, most of which are on the south side of the city. Buses leave the airport every fifteen minutes and the journey time to the centre is approximately thirty minutes. Aircoach also offers services to other destinations within Ireland, including Cork and Belfast.

Beware of taxi drivers trying to pick up passengers at Aircoach bus stops. They are strictly forbidden from doing this however you will always be accosted by at least one taxi while waitig for an Aircoach to the airport. They often offer the same rate as catching the Aircoach so accept the lift at your own discretion.

Dublin Bus [10] offers an express AirLink service (route 747) every 10 minutes at peak times to the city centre and bus station. This service uses the Dublin Port Tunnel to avoid the city traffic and can reach the city centre in minutes.

Dublin bus also have a number of other local routes that serve the airport, and these offer substantially cheaper standard services to the centre and further afield in the southern suburbs: these are non-express and stop significantly more times going to and from the airport. Buses run every 10-25 min depending on time of day.

The 16A goes right through the city, stops at O'Connell Street and continues up Georges Street and, finally, to southern areas of Dublin (indicative : 40 minutes O'Connel street -> airport).

The 41 takes a slightly more direct route and finishes on Lower Abbey Street. It stops at O'Connell Street and close to Busáras (Dublin Bus Station).

Depending on traffic, journey times can vary from 25 minutes to over an hour. These buses are considerably cheaper than AirLink and Aircoach. Both of these local bus services stop across from Drumcondra train station which is on the Dublin-Maynooth commuter line. Some trains on this line continue past Maynooth and serve stations as far away as Longford. All Dublin Bus buses (except AirLink) do not give change and fares must be paid in coins. Ticket-machines near a few outdoor bus stops, including one at the airport, do not require exact change. Tickets can also be purchased at the newsagent inside the airport. Luggage racks are limited on the local buses, and it is not unknown for drivers to turn away travellers with packs that cannot be stored.

A taxi to the city centre can be comparable to/cheaper than the bus options if you are in a group of three or more (as well as a lot less hassle). Taxis are legally obliged to provide an electronic receipt detailing the fare, distance and other pertinent details. However, they often do not furnish such a receipt.

A metro connecting Dublin Airport to the city centre is planned, but no work has started on this yet.

Unless your destination is Dublin City, it is probably best to use one of the extensive range of other bus services that stop at Dublin Airport and so avoid the city centre traffic.

Travelling to Dublin by Train

Dublin has two main railway stations. Heuston, in the west of the city centre, serves much of the west and south of the country including an hourly service to Cork which also services Limerick. Connolly, in the north-east centre of the city, serves the south east and east coast, Belfast, Sligo in the north-west and suburban commuter services including the Dublin Area Rapid Transit (DART) system. The two main stations are connected by bus and Luas routes. Visit the website for all train services local and intercity.

Iarnród Éireann, the national railway company, has one of the youngest train fleets in Europe and the Cork train in particular is extremely comfortable. Older trains were phased out completely in 2008 with the arrival of a massive fleet of brand new trains built in Japan and South Korea. There are internet intercity train fares for offpeak services which are substantially cheaper than over the counter tickets. Food on trains is generally overpriced and carrying your own food on board is normally permitted.

Travelling to Dublin by Bus

A single bus station, Busáras, is the terminus for Bus Eireann services to almost all towns and cities in Ireland (except for a few services to County Meath and County Dublin, which leave from the surrounding streets). It is next to Connolly train station, 10 min by foot from O'Connell Street. There are also services to Northern Ireland and Eurolines services to Continental Europe. Luggage lockers are in the basement, along with the pay-to-enter public toilets.

A number of private bus companies also operate out of the airport and stop in city centre. Kavanaghs has a good service to Limerick and Waterford. Citylink coaches has a good price to Galway and the West, while GoBus now provides a non-stop Dublin-Galway service.

Travelling to Dublin by Boat

Dublin Port has several passenger ferry services to/from Wales and England. The main routes are Liverpool-Dublin, Holyhead-Dublin, Holyhead-Dún Laoghaire. Companies from Wales include Stena and Irish Ferries, and from Liverpool, P&O and Norfolk Line. It is also common to arrive to Ireland via the suburban port of Dún Laoghaire 10 km (6 mi) south of Dublin. The port of Dún Laoghaire is serviced by the DART. Crossings from Liverpool are seven hours, while crossings from Holyhead are from 2.5 hours, depending on whether you take a fast ferry or a larger ferry.

If you are travelling to Dublin from anywhere in Britain, a very cheap option is to purchase a combined rail and ferry ticket. Tickets from any rail station in Britain to Dublin Port will cost no more than £30.50 one way (as of June 2010), which is particularly good value considering that the ferry ticket alone can cost up to £30 if purchased separately. Foot passengers departing Ireland do not need to book combined ferry/rail tickets in advance and can just buy them on the day at the ferry port. However returning from England it is sometimes wiser to pre-book as ferry/rail tickets may not be available on the day at some stations.

Travelling to Dublin by Car

If you are visiting Dublin only for a daytrip and have a car, you can beat the traffic by leaving your car at a Park and Ride station. If you are coming from the south, two ideal places to leave your car are at the Sandyford Luas stop, located just off junction 15 of the M50 on Blackthorn Road, or Bray DART stop, on Bray Road. If you are coming from the west, your best option is the Red Cow Luas stop, off junction 10 of the M50. Coming from the north east, you would do best to use the Park and Ride station at Howth DART station.

While all car rental companies in Ireland have rental desks in the arrivals hall of Dublin Airport, the list of car rental companies with inner city locations is far less. Some of the car rental companies will advertise city centre locations, but these locations are mostly only drop-offs for which an additional charge will be added.