Dublin Bus, Dublin

You can buy a 'family rover' tocket from Dublin bus for just 11.50 Euro. As this covers two adults and 678 children (ok thats bit is a lie). Rather suprisingly it covers the 747 route from the airport to town which is usually 6 euro per adult to start with. It also covers the bus to the port.

It can be bought from dublin bus office on o'connell st. Go on the website for dublin bus. It connects with ticketmaster and they will even post worldwide! Ticket is valid for a year, but only on the day you first validate..if you see what i mean.

Dublin is small and easy to get around. I have included the bus timetable website. If you're staying for more than a day you should buy a rambler ticket. Tickets can be bought in shops all over the city. A typical one day adult fare would cost you 5.00 euro, plus you can get special discount if you're staying within the city. For an adult 3 day rambler the cost is 9.50 euros and a 5 day rambler is 14.50. Look at the website for more upto date information and deals. When you have purchased your ticket, you insert it into the validator when you board the bus. If you don't have a ticket you must pay the conductor the correct amount of change, otherwise you end up paying more for your journey and if you want your change will have to go to their office in the city to collect it. Bus routes are know by the number on the front / back of the bus. The buses don't stop automatically you have to put your hand out.

We found most of Dublin to be walkable, we even walked from Ballsbridge over to the Watling Street Bridge near the Guinness Brewery which had seemed so far away when I did the HOHO bus the previous year. But for our final night in Dublin at the Ardmore Hotel, that was too far to walk to central Dublin so we used the bus that stopped just outside our hotel. The fares are based on stages, deduct the boarding stage number from the alighting stage number or you can do like me and just ask the bus driver.

From the Ardmore Hotel is was €1.80 each way, you pay the bus driver and must have exact change in coins, not paper. If you don't have exact change, the driver will issue a passenger change ticket for the overpayment which you have to take to Dublin Bus, 59 Upper O`Connell Street, in get a refund but that seems like more trouble than it's worth.

If you are planning on using the bus a lot, there are different options for day passes, multiple day passes and family passes, for more info click here and look at the different options for adult, family, tourist, and student tickets. The tourist tickets look to include the hop on hop off bus so be sure to check out the other cheaper options if you don't want that.

The buses are double decker, go up the stairs to the top and see if you can get the front seats for a nice view.

Run by Dublin Sightseeing, which also runs the Dublin Hop On Hop Off Tours, the Ghost Bus Tour is the macabre introduction to Dublin. It features sites connected with Bram Stoker (author of "Dracula" - betcha didn't know he was a Dubliner, didja?!?), the Haunted Steps, St. Kevin's Graveyard (bodysnatching) and others.

My daughter, upon hearing me breathlessly describe this even thought I was saying "ghostbusters"!!

You can order tickets on-line with the benefit of garnering a 15% discount off the 28 euro price.

Photo: April 2010

Dublin Bus is the easy, fast way to maneuver around Dublin. I love riding the top side of the double decker buses for a great view of the city.

We loved walking around the city but sometimes, when it was cold or we were tired, we'd just hop the bus to take us back to our hotel. Or if we were in a hurry we'd hop one to take us to our destination (like to the movies!).

Photos: April 2010

First of all make sure you have the correct change on you cause if you throw extra money into the slot you can only reclaim the difference at the bus HQ in Upper O'Connell street.
There is a small inner city zone in which you will only be charged 50c otherwise your fare is more likely to be Eur1.15. The 16A bus goes to the airport and costs Eur2.20 but apparently takes about an hour.

Buses are slow in Dublin due to the congestion but also fairly frequent. Be warned that as O'Connell street is very long your bus stop may be a bit of a walk away particulary annoying if you have a heavy backpack. Ring the bell for your driver to stop.

Dublin is a very walkable city - you might not even have to use the bus at all while you're there. We only took it once on a rainy morning to get to Kilmainham Gaol (and even then we came back on foot). Traveling by bus in Dublin is fairly simple - we stopped by the hotel's front desk to ask which bus would take us to Kilmainham Gaol and where it would leave from. We took the 78A leaving from Aston Quay, asked the driver how much it cost to get to Kilmainham Gaol (1.60 Euros), paid our fare (you need exact change), and off we went!

For the first two days we got the Rambler ticket for a family and two adults.They can be bought at Dublin airport, as they also include the airport bus. I tried to validate our tickets by stamping them, but then was shown how to hold them in front of the circular sign in the bus. Easy, once I knew how to do it.

The airport bus took about 30 minutes to O'Connell Street. It leaves right outside the terminal.

On our way back to the airport we took the regular bus, 16A. This is cheaper - 2,20 per adult, 1 Euro per child - but takes longer. There was much traffic and we needed almost two hours.

Some people had put their bags on the seats, the bus driver came up and told them to take them down on the luggage rack. Every seat was needed as the bus got really full.

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I normally do not use the bus service in any city, especially a walkable city like Dublin, but we were going to meet up with some friends for dinner and we were running a bit late after doing some shopping, so we hoped on the bus for the short 10 minute ride to our hotel.

Dublin is a big bus city. Its main transportation is the bus and there are many routes which can take you to most parts of Dublin.

I did find that the route maps located on the bus stops were a bit confusing, so we had to ask someone standing at the stop waiting for the bus which one would live us close to to our hotel.

The buses are the double decker kind which are really clean and very comfy to ride in.

There are a few different options for the bus but if you are riding from point A to point B you will probably pay as you go. I believe the fare was .80 euro cent and you must have exact change.

Take num 41 is the cheapest one, only 2.20 euros, it runs on about a 20 minute frequency and in 30 minutes you reach Dublin, take the correct fare because driver don’t give you any change. The bus stop on Dublin airport is next to stop number 747, there is a vending machine in the stop where you can buy the ticket. The bus line has stops on Lower Gardiner Street and Lower Abbey Street just off to Busaras and O´connell Street.*