We (4) will be traveling to Ireland this fall (2024) for 10 days.
We would like to visit other towns and sights outside of Dublin (Ex. Dingle Peninsula).
I do not want to rent a car.
What options do I have?
Do trains and buses serve all parts of Ireland?
It's been a while, but I doubt it has changed much---I don't think Ireland has much public transportation outside of Dublin.
If you really don't want to rent a car, I'd look at day trips out of Dublin. I use Viator for this.
Yes regarding trains and busses BUT NONE are swift. Unfortunate you that you don’t wish to drive.
I’ve done it twice. Last time in 2013. Started in Belfast in NI and drove to Dingle. Born when Truman was in office. Solo. Drove a clutch. Used paper map.
Was a lovely 5 hours without any problems.
The first time in the late 90’s we drove through the Sally Gap to the Rock of Cashell.
Hopefully other Forum members can share their experiences on Eire’s public transportation.
Its a beautiful country.
Slainte
We are also visiting Ireland without a car, relying on train, bus, group tour and one day private tour.
Our trip will be in August.
I will base our stay in 4 locations
From Killarney, we will do Muckross house, torc waterfall, gap of dunloe (boat and walking) and a day tour to Dingle Peninsula.
From Doolin we will do Cliff of Moher cliff walk, Aran island and Burren.
From Galway we will do a day tour to Connemara.
Then 3 full days in Dublin, which includes one day trip to Newgrange.
So it is possible. But takes longer time.
Here's the Irish Rail Route map to give you an idea of what is (and isn't) covered. As you'll see the transportation hub for the country is Dublin - everything radiates out from there.
You'll expend a lot of time trying to move around the country via public transportation but with a bit of planning (and maybe some lowered expectations) you can still see some of the highlights. Two popular bases to use for a few days while accomplishing day tours - either independently or with an organized day trip provider- are Galway and Killarney.
Getting to Galway is pretty easy. You can either take the train or jump on an express bus upon arrival at Dublin airport that'll get you to the Galway city center in a few hours.
Getting to Killarney will take most of a day via the train. A quicker way to get there, especially if you want to continue your journey upon arrival in Dublin, is to fly to the Kerry airport about 20 minutes from Killarney. There are two flights per day (each way) and one of those may dovetail easily into your arrival plans, allowing you to "steal" a day and generally streamline your itinerary. There are numerous day trips that explore Dingle from Killarney.
We usually have good luck using the "Things to Do" menu on Trip Advisor to find day tour providers when we travel - might work for you too.
I would suggest limiting yourself to a maximum of 3 bases while in the country for such a short time. Trying to stretch things beyond that in order to try to "see everything" is a recipe for disappointment in my opinion.
The coverage by bus is expanding fast. The thing is that much of the coverage is not by Bus Eireann, as in the past, but by smaller operators.
But there is a National co-ordinating body called Transport for Ireland who have all the timetables and a route planner on their web site.
Killarney, Tralee and Ennis are also cases in point- you don't have to go by train or wait for the twice daily flight to Kerry. All three now have regular bus services to Dublin Airport, as fast if not faster than the train, and more frequent.
And there is a National stored value card to pay fares on just about all services, called the Leap Card- which also gives a 30% discount on cash fares on TfI services (not commercial services like Dublin Airport to Galway). That card is available to anyone.
Many people will be aware of the Leap Visitor Card in Dublin- well this is the national equivalent scheme.
The divide between citybus and coach services in Ireland is also very muddy with many even local services now being operated with coaches.
Thanks to everyone for your input
I would like to support your decision. My husband and I just returned from 2 weeks in Ireland. We rented a car and never want to do that again. I now see why credit card companies won’t insure cars in Ireland. We had a wonderful trip but it’s hard to set aside all the anxiety caused by driving there. My husband is an excellent driver and has no problem driving on the the right of the car and left of the road or shifting with his left hand. The roads are the concern. The third day, we hit a pot hole and punctured a tire and our car did not have a spare. After several attempts to locate the right sized tire, the hertz road assistance driver took us to the closest airport and we were given a replacement car. Many of the roads are not wide enough for two vehicles and they are bordered on each side by sharp, rock walls that a local called “can openers.” You come around a narrow, blind curve to see another car, bicyclists, walkers, or sheep! On Slea Head, we saw a tour bus face off with a sedan and the sedan ended up reversing on a twisty, rocky cliffside for at least a mile. We have rented cars and driven in many countries but we won’t be renting in Ireland again. You are making a wise decision. You will have a much more enjoyable trip!
Ireland can be seen by bus and train, but it takes a lot more time. Some places, such as Dingle, are not served by train, and by bus it’s difficult, and too time consuming. It’s best to base yourself in a larger town with good options for guided day trips such as Killarney and Galway. With only ten days you will have to choose carefully which part of the country you want to see the most, and concentrate on that. Otherwise, you will waste too much time sitting on a train or bus. It takes over four hours to get to Killarney by train, and to get back to Galway you have to go back through Dublin. Galway is only a couple hours by train from Dublin. The question of travelling Ireland without a car has come up many times here, so I would suggest searching the forum for it and reading the responses to figure out how to make it work for you.
You might consider a short tour by Rabbie’s or another company. I have signed up for the Rabbie’s 3-day tour to Dingle. It leaves from Dublin.
In addition to that, I’m going to take the train from Dublin to Galway for 3 nights and do a couple of day tours from Galway Tour Company.
Ireland has been my most difficult trip to plan so far. I don’t want to drive and I don’t want to do a full tour. It should be an interesting trip. :)
Good luck!
I'm going to differ with the party above who claimed that credit card companies won't insure rental cars in Ireland. We carry three cards, primarily, and none of them excludes auto rentals in Ireland. And I didn't find driving in Ireland to be any more fraught than, say, driving in rural West Virginia. I think most drivers adjust reasonably quickly to driving on the left, though some people clearly find it more problematic.
