How to travel around Ireland

This may not work for you, but our trip in 2011 was by bicycle. We rented from a bike shop in Limerick and they delivered the bikes to our B&B in Galway. We turned them in to the bike shop at the end of our trip. We only got rain one day (and were soaked), but it was delightful cruising the countryside of western Ireland on 2 wheel for 3 weeks. We were also able to take our bikes on ferries that couldn't accept cars. Even if you don't go by bike the whole time, consider renting bikes for at least day. Just remember to stay to the far left of the road, and take roundabouts in a clockwise direction.

We also used Bus Eireann, the national bus line (which let us stow our bikes in their cargo hold). They have a running Irish Setter on the sides of their busses, instead of a Greyhound like in the USA. They can get you throughout Ireland if you want. We didn't use trains, as we didn't go to any of eastern Ireland that trip (but it's on our itinerary for this fall).

Hi, Janelle. See an overview map of Irish rail lines on our map and railway links on the same page. Trains cross the country to/from Dublin very well, but don't run along the west coast, where you'll need buses, instead. Rick's Ireland guidebook summarizes bus connections at the end of every destination chapter. Detailed transport schedules are available at https://www.transportforireland.ie, which covers bus and rail companies together.

I bought a bus/train pass that allows you a certain number of days travel within a certain time frame. For instance, I purchased one for two weeks that allowed me 8 days of travel within two weeks, starting from the first time I used it. You can use it as often as you need to during a day's travel. The larger towns will obviously have more options. Just know that travelling this way requires much more planning and scheduling in order to make the most of your time. I was often catching the first available train in the morning in order to have a full day at my next destination. I made stops in Dublin, Killarney, Kinsale, Kilkenny, Galway, Athlone, Belfast. I mostly used the train as it was quicker, and more frequent than the bus, but if you plan your connections carefully then the bus system will work well for you, also. I did this over the course of three weeks, spending the first four days in Dublin, and the last four in Belfast. There are some private bus companies that operate non-stop service from some of the more popular places (e.g. Galway to Killarney) that the train doesn't service, but check into these in advance as they often only run during peak season, or the service is no longer offered.

Bus Eireann does offer a pass that is good for a certain number of days or a certain number of trips..... you can decide which is the best once you know where you're going! One thing I've heard from the bus driver is that you should see how much a route is on it's own -- sometimes users of the pass do a day trip that would have been cheaper to just buy a ticket for that day rather than use their "day" up!

Sometimes it's cheaper to go via Dublin even if you are no where near Dublin! Irish Rail has a deal to Dublin from major hubs that is 10 euros (not all the time but often). I do that when I want to go to Claremorris because it's WAY cheaper than me going up the west coast!

Susan
Expat in Waterville

Moving these three replies from a duplicate thread:

Posted by epltd , 01/06/18, 07:56 AM, 1209 posts

Ireland has trains and buses, but the networks and service are somewhat limited. You'll be best off sticking to the major cities such as Dublin (of course), Cork, Limerick (near Shannon airport), Galway, and Belfast if Northern Ireland interests you. The challenge will be deciding on an itinerary that avoids backtracking.

How many nights will you have? That will determine how many destinations you can comfortably include.

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Posted by diveloonie, Eagle River, AK, 01/06/18 12:37 PM, 58 posts

Have you considered a tour?

There are lots of tour companies doing Ireland.

A few...........CIE, Inishfree, Wolfhound, Hidden Gems......just google!

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Posted by VS , Palo Alto, CA, United States, 01/06/18, 12:44 PM, 1302 posts

The bus network works pretty well. My wife and I took the bus direct from Shannon airport to Galway for a couple of days directly after landing on our May 2016 trip, and then back again to pick up the rental car. I think you would find it's easy to get to Ennis as well, although that town has more to offer as a day trip base with a car. You could easily get to Cork and from there to Kindle, which is worth at least a full day. (I took that bus once when I stayed over for a couple of days in Cork after a business trip in 2010, so I know it's an easy bus ride of maybe a little over an hour). Also onward to Kilkenny would be pretty easy, I would think.

One thing to consider, the busses generally do not take reservations so you have to line up for a seat (get there early and be alert as to where to stand). This could be an issue in August. My other issue with the busses is that the leg room is very poor--worse than a plane in coach. You could supplement busses with bus or minivan tours.

The car rental for ten days cost us around $700 with super CDW (which is highly advised)--if you budget with what you are saving in mind, a bus tour to certain sights might seem pretty reasonable. Of course bus tours have an incentive to let you see just a bit of things and then get you back so they can run the next tour, so if you like to linger and really soak things in, not so good. Unfortunately many of the best sights are out in the country--Rock of Cashel, Muckross House, Newgrange, etc., plus just the scenery in the countryside. You could probably get the bus to Dingle too, but the real attraction of Dingle is not the town but rather the Slea Head Loop.

I understand why you would not want to rent a car. The more experienced I get as a traveler the more I look for ways to avoid it myself, although I have driven in Ireland on two separate trips. On the one hand, we did have some scratches on the underside of the bumper that they would have charged us for without the CDW, which if they happened on my watch I have no idea how. On the other hand, driving is not as hard as you might imagine. You might consider doing a rental for just a few days of your trip. Picking a car up at Shannon is really a snap, just don't do it when you are fresh off the plane.

I think the train between Dublin and Galway is very efficient but more expensive. You could probably save by booking that in advance.

Check out My Ireland Tour operator. Google reviews show 70 reviewers with a 4,9 out of 5 score. If interested go to the web site. They have manu tours. I'm going for 10 days in September for 1690 euros. September is a bargain and kids should be in school so less crowds but still nice weather. I went with this tour because there are fewer people on the bus, no more than 28. 2 night hotel accomodations and the hotels look nice.