By bus
A single bus station, Busáras, is the terminus for Bus Eireann (http://www.buseireann.ie/) services to almost all towns and cities in Ireland except for a few services to County Meath and County Dublin, which leave from the surrounding streets. It is next to Connolly train station, 10 min by foot from O'Connell Street. There are also services to Northern Ireland and Eurolines (http://www.eurolines.ie/h...) services to Continental Europe. Luggage lockers are in the basement, along with the pay-to-enter public toilets.
A number of private bus companies also operate out of the airport and stop in city centre. Kavanaghs (http://www.jjkavanagh.ie) has a good service to Limerick and Waterford. Citylink (http://www.citylink.ie) coaches has a good price to Galway and the West, while GoBus (http://www.gobus.ie) now provides a non-stop Dublin-Galway and Dublin-Cork service.
By plane
Dublin is served by a two terminal airport (http://www.dub.aero) approximately 10 km 6 mi north of the city centre. A second terminal opened in November 2010.
A full list of airlines flying to Dublin, along with timetables, can be found on the Dublin Airport website (http://www.dublinairport.com/).
Ireland's flag carrier airline, Aer Lingus (http://www.aerlingus.com), flies to Dublin from a large number of European cities. Aer Lingus fares are often lower than other flag carriers, but in part this has been achieved by matching the service levels of low-fare competitors. As a result, they now charge for checked-in bags and seat reservation at time of booking. Aer Lingus staff is always very friendly and helpful. The planes and flight attendants are decorated in bright green to get passengers ready to see all of the green in Ireland.
Ryanair (http://www.ryanair.com), Ireland's second airline and Europe's largest low fares airline, has one of its main bases in Dublin from which it flies to a large number of European airports including Paris, London, Manchester, Liverpool, Madrid and Frankfurt as well as smaller regional airports such as Nantes or Kaunas. While famous for its low fares, Ryanair can be more expensive than other airlines for last minute bookings. Ireland's third airline Aer Arann (http://www.aerarann.com) links Dublin to many regional Irish airports and some smaller UK cities.
Low-fare airline Flybe (http://www.flybe.com) links Dublin to Exeter, Norwich and Southampton in the United Kingdom, and also Jersey and Guernsey in the Channel Islands.
There are three types of bus transport to Dublin city:
Aircoach (http://www.aircoach.ie) express service large blue bus connects the airport and the city centre and many of Dublin's major hotels, most of which are on the south side of the city. Buses leave the airport every fifteen minutes and the journey time to the centre is approximately thirty minutes. The cost is â¬7 single or â¬12 return. Aircoach also offers services to other destinations within Ireland, including Cork and Belfast.
Beware of taxi drivers trying to pick up passengers at Aircoach bus stops. They are strictly forbidden from doing this, but almost everyone is accosted by at least one taxi before an Aircoach arrives. They often falsely offer the same rate as catching the Aircoach so accept the lift at your own discretion.
Dublin Bus (http://www.dublinbus.ie) offers an express AirLink service route 747 (http://www.dublinbus.ie/en/Your-Journey1/Timetables/Airport-Services/) every 10 minutes at peak times to the city centre and bus station for â¬6 or â¬10 return. This service uses the Dublin Port Tunnel to avoid the city traffic and can reach the city centre in minutes.
Dublin bus also have a number of other local routes that serve the airport, and these offer substantially cheaper standard services to the centre and further afield in the southern suburbs: these are non-express and stop significantly more times going to and from the airport. Cost is â¬2.65 and buses run every 10-25 min depending on time of day. The 16 goes right through the city, stops at O'Connell Street and continues up Georges Street and, finally, to southern areas of Dublin indicative : 40 minutes O'Connell Street to airport. The 41 takes a slightly more direct route and finishes on Lower Abbey Street. It stops at O'Connell Street and close to Busáras Dublin Bus Station.
Depending on traffic, journey times can vary from 25 min to over an hour. These buses are considerably cheaper than AirLink and Aircoach. Both of these local bus services stop across from Drumcondra train station which is on the Dublin-Maynooth commuter line. Some trains on this line continue past Maynooth and serve stations as far away as Longford. All Dublin Bus buses except AirLink do not give change and fares must be paid in coins. Ticket machines near a few outdoor bus stops, including the one at the airport, do not require exact change. Tickets can also be purchased at the newsagent inside the airport. Luggage racks are limited on the local buses, and it is not unknown for drivers to turn away travellers with packs that cannot be stored.
A taxi to the city centre should cost around â¬20 to â¬30: it can be comparable to or cheaper than the bus options if you are in a group of three or more as well as a lot less hassle. Taxis are legally obliged to provide an electronic receipt detailing the fare, distance and other pertinent details. Make sure to ask for one as otherwise they often do not furnish such a receipt.
A metro connecting Dublin Airport to the city centre is planned, but no work has started on this yet.
Unless your destination is Dublin City, it is probably best to use one of the extensive range of other bus services that stop at Dublin Airport and so avoid the city centre traffic.
By train
Dublin has two main railway stations. Heuston, in the west of the city centre, serves much of the west and south of the country including an hourly service to Cork which also services Limerick. Connolly, in the north-east centre of the city, serves the south east and east coast, Belfast, Sligo in the north-west and suburban commuter services including the Dublin Area Rapid Transit DART system. The two main stations are connected by bus and Luas routes. Visit the website for all train services local and intercity.
Please note: taxis are available from Connolly station, but there is a group of drivers operating there who will tell you they "don't know where that is" if you are only going a short distance and will only end up paying them a small amount. This practice is against their own union rules. If this happens, either take their name and registration number prominently displayed at the front of the car and tell them you will report them to the union, or follow the luas tracks to the right to busaras. Another taxi stand is past the luas stop on the left, in front of the pedestrian entrance to the bus station, and these drivers will take you where you need to go.
Iarnród Ãireann (http://www.irishrail.ie), the national railway company, has one of the youngest train fleets in Europe and the Cork train in particular is extremely comfortable. Older trains were phased out completely in 2008 with the arrival of a massive fleet of brand new trains built in Japan and South Korea. There are internet intercity train fares for offpeak services which are substantially cheaper than over the counter tickets. Food on trains is generally overpriced and carrying your own food on board is normally permitted.
By ship
Dublin Port has several passenger ferry services to/from Wales and England. The main routes are Liverpool-Dublin, Holyhead-Dublin, Holyhead-Dún Laoghaire. Companies from Wales include Stena and Irish Ferries, and from Liverpool, P&O and Norfolk Line. It is also common to arrive to Ireland via the suburban port of Dún Laoghaire 10 km 6 mi south of Dublin. The port of Dún Laoghaire is serviced by the DART. Crossings from Liverpool are seven hours, while crossings from Holyhead are from 2.5 hours, depending on whether you take a fast ferry or a larger ferry.
If you are travelling to Dublin from anywhere in Britain, a very cheap option is to purchase a combined rail and ferry ticket. Tickets from any rail station in Britain to Dublin Port will cost no more than £30.50 one way as of June 2010, which is particularly good value considering that the ferry ticket alone can cost up to £30 if purchased separately. Foot passengers departing Ireland do not need to book combined ferry/rail tickets in advance and can just buy them on the day at the ferry port. However returning from England it is sometimes wiser to pre-book as ferry/rail tickets may not be available on the day at some stations.
These combined tickets can be purchased direct from rail stations in Britain or online from (https://www.raileasy.co.uk) with £1 booking fee plus £0.75 debit card fee.