Sligo town, at 12.9km2 5 sq mi, is small enough to walk from one end to the other in an hour.
Local Buses
There are buses which run from the main bus station to Strandhill Route 472 and Rosses Point Route 473 small nearby coastal towns regularly. There are also two city services around the town and surrounding area Route 478, runs M-Sa about every 20 minutes from Cartron (on the R291 Rosses Point Road, via the town center to Cairns Road and back again to Cartron and Route 478A, M-Sa every hour from the Bus Station via Strandhill Road to Carrowmore). There is also a Nightrider service Route 478N F, Sa approximately hourly between 8:30PM-2:30AM which leaves from Sligo Town to nearby towns of Collooney, Ballisodare, Strandhill and Rosses Point.
Parking
As in many parts of Ireland, parking spaces can be difficult to find, although most hotels and bed and breakfasts have their own free parking for residents only. If you wish to park in the town, there are a number of local authority operated car parks dotted around the town. To park in a public car park or on the street in most parts of the town centre, you must pay and display at the nearest meter. Parking costs â¬1.20 per hour generally between the hours of 8:30AM-6:30PM. M-Su, although some locations have different pay times or days. Parking costs can be paid for by Euro coins, credit cards or mobile phone. You can prepay for your parking if you park outside these hours, i.e., If you leave you car overnight, you can pay for your parking from 8:30AM the next morning. Please note, if paying by coins, the machine does not give change, so you should try to have exact change available. You will, however, receive a parking disc for the remainder of the next hour, e.g., pay â¬2, and you get a disc for 1 hour 40 minutes. Some carparks allow for all-day parking at a special rate. The meters in these carparks will display this option. If you don't pay, or your time has run out, you may receive a parking ticket, with an on-the-spot fine of â¬40, or â¬80 if you park illegally in a wheelchair-user only zone always marked, often with blue paint.
There are also some private car-parks which have different rates of payment and different punishments if you don't pay. The Catholic Cathedral, for example, uses barriers, with payment of â¬3 when leaving the car-park. If you can leave your car until church services mass times, you may be able to leave without paying but do you want to cheat the church? Parking at Sligo General Hospital is metered, and costs â¬2.40 for up to four hours, or â¬4 for up to 24 hours. The local bus Route 478 passes just outside the hospital every 20 minutes during the day, and costs 70 cent to bring you into town. If you don't pay for your parking at this carpark you are liable to be clamped, with a release fee of â¬65.