will be on vacation from 5/ 4 thru 5/19. First time in Ireland; Not driving, will travel via train to Dublin, Kilkenny, Waterford, Cork, Killarney, Galway and back to Dublin.
any advice on the need to book trains ahead, or as it is consider "shoulder" months to the peak, are we ok booking as we go.
Any other advice on this travel approach?
Sounds great! "Not Driving" also sounds good. We love train travel, but when we flew into Dublin, we found it faster and easier to just take a bus directly from the Dublin airport to Killarney. If you don't find a good train connection for a leg, you might consider a bus. I'd recommend the TFI app, it covers train, bus, trams for all over Ireland. There is also an official Irish Rail app, Iarnrod Eireann. And in Dublin, there are HOHO busses (Hop On, Hop Off), for in-town travel, with their own apps.
Our favorite town was actually Dingle, though.
And the Guinness was great, but I actually preferred Murphy's...
We travelled in Ireland in September (also shoulder). We found that with a combination of trains and buses, we could get pretty much anywhere we were trying to go. Just trains are more difficult because of the "spokes of a wheel" pattern of train routes. We did not need to pre book any of our transportation that trip.
I would consider some group tours instead of all that moving around by train.
My trip report from last May might give you some ideas:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/solo-in-ireland-may-2025-my-trip-report
If you book the trains ahead you get much cheaper fares.
For travelling on full price fares these two rail passes may be of use (buy at your first station if it is Athlone, Balbriggan, Bray, Carlow, Cobh, Dublin Connolly, Cork, Drogheda, Dun Laoghaire, Dundalk, Galway, Greystones, Dublin Heuston, Howth, Kildare, Kilkenny, Killarney, Killester, Limerick, Limerick Junction, Malahide, Mallow, Maynooth, Mullingar, Newbridge, Dublin Pearse, Portarlington, Portlaoise, Sligo, Thurles, Tralee, Tullamore, Waterford, Westport and Wexford ).
Trekker ticket- 4 consecutive days of travel €88
Irish Rail Explorer 5 days travel out of 15- €128
Full price fares are-
Dublin to Kilkenny €21.65
Kilkenny to Waterford €11.65
Waterford to Cork €27.20
Cork to Killarney €20.05
Killarney to Galway €44.90 via Limerick
Galway to Dublin €30.45
One unexpected advantage we discovered when we traveled primarily by train in Ireland last May was the opportunity to interact with locals. I am not an exceptionally outgoing person but we were on a train from Belfast to Dublin on a Sunday morning and at the first station outside of Belfast easily over 100 sports fans got on the train and every seat was taken (this was our only train ride where this was the case). A man sat down next to me and i said hello and asked who was playing. He told me it was aGaelic football match between Armagh —their home town— and Dublin. He then proceeded to talk with me the entire 2+ hour ride. He told me about his job as a social worker, told me about his parents and his kids, stopped to introduce me to his wife and a whole bunch of other people. He told me about Gaelic Football and I told him about women’s basketball and the WNBA. He told me some very funny stories. He asked all about our travels. It was honestly the first time I felt like I had an authentic “temporary local” Rick Steves experience and it made a fantastic trip even more so. So don’t be afraid to say hello to your fellow travelers on the train. You just might disembark as a newly minted Armagh Gaelic Football fan!
We are looking at a similar situation. Was going to ask about pre-buying the tickets as well. We do not plan to drive during our March Ireland trip. We are seeing the three big cities so will need trains to do the triangle between Dublin, Galway, and Cork.
I would check to see if there is still a train/bus pass to purchase. I did this many years ago, and it gave me eight days of travel over two weeks, and saved me a lot of money. I was actually there for three weeks, but I didn’t use it the first four, and last four days so it worked well. On the day you use it, you can use it as often as you need, so on one day I needed two buses and the train to get where I was going. As another poster suggested, it’s a great way to meet locals. I got a very interesting lecture on the IRA from a bus driver one day.
