I don’t want to drive while visiting the island of Ireland, but how can I get around?

Wherever you want to visit on the island of Ireland, there are plenty of ways to get there. If you fancy kicking back and watching the lush scenery glide by, you can travel across the island by rail or bus with Irish Rail, Translink and Bus Éireann, which have routes to almost every town and village on the island.

Busses and trains are also a great way to explore towns and cities once you arrive. In Dublin you can get a Dublin Bus, Dart or Luas and get to every part of the city, and in Belfast, Translink’s Metro bus service will allow you to visit all the sights easily. To make your journeys easier, get the Leap Visitor Card - a prepaid pass that allows you to travel on all Dublin Bus, Airlink 747 buses, as well as the Luas and DART for 72 hours. In Northern Ireland, you can use the iLink, a smartcard that gives you unlimited daily, weekly, and monthly bus and rail travel. Dublin and Belfast also have hop-on/hop-off sightseeing buses that guide you through many of the interesting locations available.

Ireland is such a small, cosy country that air travel isn’t essential, but if you’re stuck for time it can speed your trip up. You can take flights from Dublin to either Kerry or Donegal, both taking roughly forty minutes. You can also fly to the Aran Islands, as well as take a boat. These flights to the islands leave from the picturesque setting of Connemara Regional Airport with a journey time of approximately eight minutes.

It’s important that you plan your journey so you aren’t left waiting for a bus, train or taxi to take you where you need to go. The free journey planner app can help you plot out your journey, be it by rail, road or air, and give you a plan with accurate times and costs. Failing that, there are alternative websites like getthere that offer a similar service.

If you’re hoping to visit some of the more famous locations and landmarks, it’s important to note that not all are accessible by public transport. For the ones that aren’t, pre-booked day tours like Paddywagon Tours, Day Tours Unplugged and Authentic Ireland are your best option.

Does our Community have any other tips for exploring the island of Ireland without a car?

I definitely recommend exploring Ireland by train. There are plenty of great day trip destinations that you can explore from Dublin including Maynooth, one of my favorite university towns in Ireland. Take an extended day trip or spend a weekend in Kilkenny. Irish Rail offers direct direct service to all the major cities and towns in Ireland including Galway, Cork, Westport, and Sligo. I agree that it's much more relaxing to take the train rather than driving especially if you enjoy city breaks as much as I do.

Happy travels!
Jennifer (aka Dr. J)
Sidewalk Safari Travel Blog

I tend to use public transport as much as possible while away travelling in developed countries, I know the transport system in Ireland both North of the border and down South offer a good reliable service. When visiting any major City I always use the sightseeing buses. I have used big bus in the south of ireland and also did the belfast hop on hop off tour while up north, both offered great value for money and took me to all the major attractions. For the tourn in Belfast you can view the timetables and durations it departs daily from belfast - donegall square west.