Getting there by Air
Main international airports
Dublin Airport (DUB) - located 10km (6 miles) north of the city. Transport to and from the airport by taxi, bus or coach. Coach lines (Citylink, GoBus) connect the airport with Galaway. Airport facilities include: duty-free shop, bank, foreign exchange office, car rental, farmacy, tourist information center.
Shannon Airport (SNN) - located 24km (15 miles) north of Limerick City. Transport to and from the airport by taxi, bus (to/from Limerick and Clare), coach (Citylink to Galway). Airport facilities include: duty-free shop, bank, foreign exchange office, tourist information center.
Cork Airport (ORK) - located 8km (5 miles) southwest of the city. Transport to and from the airport by buses. Airport facilities include: duty-free shop, car rental.
Knock International Airport (NOC) - located 11km (7 miles) north of Claremorris. The airport only has scheduled flights from the UK and charter flights from/to various destinations in Europe. Transport to and from the airport by taxi. Airport facilities include: duty-free shop, car rental.
Airlines providing connections to Ireland:
Aer Árann, Aer Lingus, Aeroflot, Air Canada, Air France,
Air Malta,
Air Wales,
Alitalia,
American Airlines,
Belavia,
BMI British Midland,
British Airways,
City Jet,
Continental,
CSA Czech Airlines,
Delta Airlines,
EasyJet,
Finnair,
Iberia,
KLM,
Lufthansa,
Malev Hungarian Airlines,
Ryanair,
Scandinavian Airlines.
Getting there by Water
There are many ferry services linking Ireland with Great Britain and France, many of them are high-speed ferries. Ferry operators and their connections include:
Norfolkline - freight and passenger services from Liverpool to Dublin;
Irish Ferries - Holyhead, North Wales, to Dublin, and from Pembroke, South Wales, to Rosslare;
Stena Line - Holyhead to Dún Laoghaire, and Fishguard, South Wales, to Rosslare;
Irish Ferries - Roscoff (France) to Rosslare and Cork;
Brittany Ferries - Roscoff (France) to Rosslare and Cork;
Irish Sea Express - Liverpool to Dublin;
P&O Irish Sea - north-west England to Dublin;
Steam Packet Sea Cat - north-west England (mainly Liverpool) to Dublin;
Getting around by Bus
Irish Bus (Bus Éireann) is the main provider of bus services in Ireland. There are also several other independent, private businesses that compete with Bus Éireann and offer cheaper and more frequent services to and from Dublin. The network of bus connections is pretty good - covers all major cities, most of towns and villages.
Buying a return ticket is recommended since it will usually cost just a little more than a one-way ticket.
Getting around by Car
When planning on driving a car in Ireland, remember that all cars on public roads must be insured. If your travel plans include Northern Ireland, the insurance has to cover it additionally. Also, most Irish car rental agencies will not accept third party collision damage insurance coverage (like the one that comes with some credit cards).
Minimum age to rent a car is 21 years, but many agencies require 23 years; some agencies may also require minimum 1 or 2 years driving experience.
Note that Ireland changed all road signs from imperial to metric measurements in 2005 - displayed speed limits are in km, not miles.
Also, traffic drives on the left.
Getting around by Rail
Irish Rail (Iarnród Eireann) is the provider of passenger rail services that run from Dublin.
There are express trains between the main cities, but the rail network is limited: there is no north–south route along the western coast, no service in north-west (County Donegal), and no direct connections from Waterford to Cork or Killarney. Train travel is also usually more expensive than bus travel.
