How to travel in Ireland using public transport?
How to travel cheaply in Ireland? What is the public transport connection like, and are the local lines easy to use?
The idea to write a separate post on this topic came after repeated phone calls when my acquaintances were travelling by bus from Shannon Airport to Cahersiveen on Terry Road and got confused at Killarney bus station. Finding the right bus turned out to be a challenge in itself. Looking through another person's eyes also allows you to see the bottlenecks that you are used to.
In general, using public transport in Ireland is easy, logical and significantly cheaper than renting a car (in addition, when renting a car, you have to consider that traffic here is on the right).
Trains and buses between larger cities are clean, comfortable and well-maintained.
They are also well-marked. There are information boards at the stations, and if you look around with a slightly puzzled expression, someone will soon offer you help.
A queue to board the bus will form automatically, and it is advisable to stick to it; otherwise, you may soon hear quietly mumbled comments about "... a tourist".
In general, using public transport in Ireland is easy, logical and significantly cheaper than renting a car (in addition, when renting a car, you have to consider that traffic here is on the right).
Trains and buses between larger cities are clean, comfortable and well-maintained.
They are also well-marked. There are information boards at the stations, and if you look around with a slightly puzzled expression, someone will soon offer you help.
A queue to board the bus will form automatically, and it is advisable to stick to it; otherwise, you may soon hear quietly mumbled comments about "... a tourist".
The situation with the so-called county lines is a bit more interesting. They are usually served by smaller buses, and while locals know which stop their bus leaves from and what it looks like or which company usually serves this route, it can be unclear for tourists on their first visit. But these buses often take you to the most exciting places.
In smaller towns and villages, there are generally no interactive boards and often no timetables. When a bus arrives at a stop, it often has neither a number nor a destination or only the name of the final stop without a route number.
My warm recommendation to avoid any surprises is to ask the bus driver if this bus is still going to your desired destination. I have also experienced a situation where two buses from the same company (with the same appearance, of course without the route number and name) depart according to the schedule with a 5-minute interval in different directions and if one of them is late. Then you try to figure out whether the bus at the stop is the one you need. If you get on the wrong bus, you may deeply regret it at the next stop because there will be no more buses on that route that day, and you will only have to rely on well-meaning passers-by.
But all this is not written here to scare you. Travelling on your own in Ireland is easy and safe. Just be brave and ask for help. The locals are very open and always happy to help. Remember that understanding the Irish dialect is tricky on your first visit.
Recommendations:
- do your homework - how you will get to your desired destination, what time the bus or train leaves, which line serves it, and what is the name of your stop;
- buy a ticket in advance online and preferably round-trip; that way, the price will be lower; when buying a train ticket in advance, you can also choose your seat (free);
- if you buy a ticket from the bus driver, keep in mind that on most buses, you can only pay for the ride in cash; you can also buy a train ticket in advance (cheaper), but also before the trip from the train station and you can also pay for this ticket with a card at the train station. You cannot buy a ticket on the train;
- free wifi is available both on the train and on long-distance bus routes, but my experience with a wifi connection is significantly better on train trips than on long bus trips;
- Shorter trips are served by more modest buses, some of which have wifi and others do not. However, if there is wifi, it generally works much better than on fancier long-distance buses.
Some price examples from Dublin Airport to Killarney (tickets purchased in advance, tickets purchased from the bus driver or at the train station immediately before departure are generally more expensive):
Direct line:
- Dublin Airport-Killarney 39€ one way, 70€ round trip
Changing the transport in Dublin city:
- Dublin Airport - Dublin city centre - 8€ one way, 10€ round t
- Dublin-Killarney train - 25-34€ one way depending on departure time and ticket flexibility, 50-68€ round trip.
If you want to travel from Killarney to Cahersiveen, for example (journey time approx. 1.5 hours), the price of a local bus ride in advance is approx. 5€.
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