Travelling to and around Dublin
By Plane
Dublin Airport (www.dublinairport.com) is located around seven miles from the city centre and is an international airline destination for a number of continental and domestic carriers. The two principal airlines flying out of Dublin Airport are Ireland’s very own low-cost airline Ryanair and the country’s flag carrier Aer Lingus.
Airlines flying to Dublin from the UK:
Aer Arann – to Cardiff, Inverness, Isle of Man and Londonderry.
Aer Lingus – to Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Jersey, Gatwick, Heathrow, Manchester and Newcastle.
Air France – to London City Airport.
BMI – to London-Heathrow
BA – to London City and Gatwick.
Flybe – to Exeter, Guernsey, Jersey, Norwich and Southampton.
Ryanair - to Aberdeen, Birmingham, Blackpool, Bournemouth, Bristol, Doncaster, Durham, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds/Bradford, Liverpool, Gatwick, Luton, Stansted, Manchester and Newcastle.
The airport is served by two shuttle bus services which regularly ferry travellers between the airport and the city. The Aircoach leaves approximately every 15 minutes and takes around 30 minutes to reach Dublin city centre at a cost of €7 per single and €12 return. Dublin Bus offers the express Airlink service and departs every 10 minutes to the city centre and Bus Eireann terminal at a cost of €6 single and €10 return.
Taxis in and around Dublin are expensive compared with a number of other European cities. Expect to pay upwards of €30 from the airport to reach Dublin city. The Irish Government are at this time also planning to build a metro system from the airport to the city, however, work is yet to commence on this project.
In Dublin, the city is served by a modern, reliable and affordable transport network. As well as Dublin Bus ( who offer day passes for as little as €6 a day), the city boasts the Dublin Area Rapid Transit trains (www.dublin.ie/transport/dart), which serve only Dublin and immediate area as well as Irish Rail, whose extremely modern trains transport customers to other parts of the country.
By Boat/Coach/Car
The Dublin port of Dun Laoghaire lies only two miles from central Dublin and can be reached from a number of UK ports, with ferries crossing regularly on a daily basis.
Irish Ferries (www.irishferries.com) offer four daily crossings from Holyhead in Wales, taking just under two hours to cross. Alternatively Stena Line offers a similar service from the same port. Other routes from the UK to Dublin include P&O Irish Sea’s service from Liverpool, which takes around eight hours or Norfolk Line’s (www.norfolkline.com) ferry from Birkenhead, which takes just under seven hours.
The principal coach company operating between the UK and Ireland is Eurolines, who operate services almost a number of British towns, who tend to cross with Irish Ferries. Eurolines commonly offer extremely competitive prices on their Irish crossings, with fairs starting as low as £30 each way.
