Dublin Buses Are Expensive

Or you could just get multi-ride adult tickets and some kid tickets. The bus office is just above the Spire on the west side of O'Connell Street Upper -- close to one of the McDonalds.

Stephen,

You make some good points, though it is important to point out there is good value to be found in Dublin Transport aswell.

The €2:35 is an example of a fare, this can be lower (or higher) depending on how far you are going. As Ed rightly points out, there are plenty of tickets available which are ideal for multi-trips.

For visitors, there are two very good options - The Freedom Ticket and the Leap Visitor Card. Both are 3 day (72 hour). The Freedom Ticket gives unlimited use of Airlink, all public Dublin Bus routes, and the Green Hop-on Hop-off tour. There's huge savings with that ticket as it is €30. Similarly, the visitor leap is for 72 hours, and includes Airlink, Dublin Bus, DART and Luas which is pretty good (provided you use it a few times). As far as I know, that ticket is €19:50.

I absolutely agree with you on parking. It's crazy. Best advice is to scrap the car when in Dublin City!

All the best,
Seán

There used to be some bus only period ticket products, which if you didn't need Luas, train etc were a good deal, especially if used for airport transport as well. However they were scrapped earlier this year.

Stephen, I referred back to the email from our B & B host in Dublin last year, and he talked about a "Rambler" pass, which we bought from him on arrival (3 day):
You could purchase a rambler ticket, which gives you unlimited travel on all Dublin Bus routes including the journey from the Airport to here. Tickets can be bought at the Airport at the Dublin Bus Information Desk or on line by visiting www.dublinbus.ie A single journey from the Airport to our B & B costs €2.40
Rambler Ticket prices are as follows
One Day Family €11.50, Adult one Day €6.90, Three Day €15, Five Day €25

We found the Dublin buses to be very user friendly, and cost effective. Our B & B was about 2-3 km from the city center.

Those are the tickets that I referred to above as no longer available - apart from I think the 5 day version which is only available on a Leap card.

Ah thanks Marco, I see that now. Looks like the best it gets is the 27.50 5-day (non consecutive okay), though not clear if there is a card to purchase prior to "charging" it-is that how the Leap card works? Nice that it's non-consecutive, though most folks won't be spending that kind of time in Dublin. Cost aside, the public transit there is very effective.

http://www.dublinbus.ie/en/Fares--Tickets/Tickets/2-Journey-Daily-Weekly/

Bus rates in Dublin aren't like most bus rates in the state. When you enter the bus you must tell the driver which stop your getting off at, once you do that the driver tells you the rate. You pay him and he gives you a ticket for the ride. You don't want to lose your ticket or stay on pass the stop that you paid for, they do have people that check for this and a fee will be given to you.

But I have to say Dublin is a great city to walk (beautiful neighborhoods all around) I found myself walking everywhere when I was last there. You do not have to take a bus to get to Kilmainham Gaol, it's a lovely walk from the city center. I stayed in Rathmines the majority of my last stay and was always walking into the city center for shows, meals and to see friends. It's very safe, even at night.