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Options for Cork To Dublin Travel
Author: Fireglo10 Aug
This post is inspired by a homeless guy who sat next to me on the public bus the whole journey from Cork to Dublin today. Ugh. The list are in order of my preference of how I would travel from Dub to Cork and vice versa.
1. Train – most expensive option, yield management pricing, duration is three hours. It’s clean, there’s usually a trolley dolly serving crisps and tea and there are bathrooms which speak. The only time I’ve ever had hassle on the train was when there was a crowd returning from a match and it all got a bit rowdy. It’s generally no hassle and no drama.
2. Ryanair – can be cheaper than the train, cost of getting to and from each airport will probably make it the same as train though, yield management pricing and the duration is thirty minutes. Lots of business classy type people going on day tips, usual trolley dolly type service. (For those that don’t know Ryanair is the equivalent of SouthWest airlines over here in terms of business model and are similar in every way apart from customer service. Ryanair have little to no customer service.) In general, the more ahead of time you book the flight the cheaper it will be.
3. Drive – New motorway means no boithrins (small roads) and it takes about three to four hours depending on the traffic.
4. Aircoach – Spacious buses, 22euro for an adult, stops a few times on the way down but I’d consider it direct (in comparison to the next guy,) and apparently some buses have WiFi. If you can’t afford train, ryanair or drive, this is the option. Also, if you’re taller than 5′8″, this is the one for you.
5. Bus Eireann Route 8 - I have experienced so much drama on this bus. It comes in about 2 or 3 euro cheaper than the Aircoach, (so 20ish) but the extra money is worth paying on the aircoach. As it’s the public service, you get all types of people coming on. One day, a Chinese dude kept shouting at his laptop and the driver nearly removed him, we’ve left a few people behind at break time and today they let on a stinking homeless guy and the driver watched as he harassed the whole bus. The Irish could handle him but the poor Spanish and Italian student’s didn’t know what to make of it. There’s no room on the bus and it stops loads of times on the way up and down and if you’re making good time, ahead of schedule you’ll have to wait at each town to cater for all passengers.
Just writing this to inform anyone who want to travels this journey. If you want more information contact me via e-mail or on Twitter.
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3 Responses for "Options for Cork To Dublin Travel"
I’ve been going through exactly the same kind of mental analysis recently on the Limerick (well, Newcastlwest) to Dublin route recently myself. With more and more business meetings, training, conferences and so on, happening for me in the capital I’ve been trying to get the best balance of convenience and cost.
Train options for me are Charleville (poor times, better trains) and Limerick (longer drive). Because each of these stations are 30 – 45 minutes away I usually drive eventhough the M7 is far behind the M8 in terms of completion. But yesterday morning I got up at 5am to drive to Kerry Airport (45 minutes drive) to cath the 6.30 Ryanair flight which came in at about 1.5 times the cost of the train. In hindsight I could have left home at 5.30am and still made it on time but that would have been pushing my luck.
The plane arrived at 7am and I was eating my full Irish by 7.20am. Which gives good time to relax, catch up on meeting notes and check email before catching a short taxi hop to DCU (as I did yesterday) or taking an Aircoach into town. Despite what people say about Ryanair this was a blissful way to travel – Kerry Airport is a glorified barn (in terms of size) and a breeze to sail through. Web check-in makes it all the more convenient. The only downside was that my return flight didn’t leave until 9.50pm which meant quite a bit of hanging around at the airport. Which isn’t too bad really with my netbook and free access to the eircom wifi zones (though my eircom broadband subscription). I’m able to do almost as much work in the airport as in my office.
I’d imagine that when the M7 and is eventually complete I’ll stick with my usual of drive+Luas (from the Red Cow) but for now I’m very tempted to fly when there’s a definite pay-day at the other end (instead of a speculative meeting).
Thanks for the good overview.
I’ve tried most of these methods. Even though I detest the Ryainair mentality, it can be best if your venue is in the direction of the airport. If you need to be in town centre, you’d need to pay additional for transport in (Airbus is a good option for this).
If you are going to city centre the train may be the better option. Last time I took the first train out and the last train back for only €20, booking online. There was no food service on the last train back. On the train you don’t have hassle of security check-in or if you are carrying on too much luggage.
The bus is a long journey. The one time I took Bus Eireann, all the way from my little village in West Cork to Dublin City Centre, the journey contributed to getting a blood clot in my leg. Of course not everyone would be susceptible to this, but it shows how long the journey is with little leg room. On the train you can walk about and use the toilet. You do need to watch out if there is an event on in Dublin as there will be loads of people travelling for matches, concerts, etc. as noted in this post.
You can get a Dublin Bus Day pass for around €6 and go anywhere on Dublin Bus – so that’s good for getting from train station, etc. Don’t know if you could get from the airport on that.
Another thing to consider is parking fees at airport and train station. I’m not sure if they are the same, but for one two day trip to Dublin, my parking at the airport cost more than my airfare, so worth thinking about. Parking all day at train station was €7.
Air Arann also flies Cork-Dublin, but the times are not as convenient.
I’ve considered driving each of these times, but time would be similar to bus/train and I’d be inclined to stay away from city driving and finding parking, etc. Depends on where your destination is. This would be best option of the times of other transport don’t fit your requirements (ie very early or late meetings).
Hello, well, I have some experience travelling from Dublin-Cork / Cork-Dublin. I am Spanish (half Argentinian) guy living in Dublin. I met my girlfriend year and a half ago and she is Irish, Irish from Cork. She doesn´t like travel from Cork to Dublin basically because she hates Dublin. It means, the only chance I have If I want to stay with her is: travel to Cork every weekends. And this is what I did until the last year. Finally I have decided move to Cork next week (lol).
But, about which one is the best way to travel Dublin-Cork, after a year and a half experience in the “Cork-Dublin travel business”, I think, the best way is the TRAIN. Why?
Drive: the new motorway is a good option, but, I don´t have a car. This option: FAIL.
Aircoach and bus: price is not bad is the less expensive option; but 4 hours in a bus!! I can´t read in a bus, either play videogames… and I use to get sick. This option: FAIL.
Ryanair: Is not bad if you book your flights few weeks in advance. The problem is: the Dublin Airport is not close to the city, and any kind of movement from the City to Airport costs money and time (more time than money). 6€ and 30 minutes Airlink´s buses or 1.5€ and 50 minutes A16. And again, time in a bus is time loss for me. The flight is to short, only 30 minutes + another 30 minutes waiting in the airport, + another 10 waiting landing + another 10 and 15€ from Cork City Airport to Cork City. Total time using Ryanair: 35+30+30+10+10+30 (unexpected issues)= 2 hours and 25 minutes. This option: FAIL. (+ another 30€ if you have a bag) (lol).
Train: the best option. You have Luas from city to Heuston Station and, also, you can go walking (as I do). You only need to collect the ticket in the machine in the station, you don´t need to be in advance (only 10 minutes before departure), In your ticket you have a pre booked seat, but you can seat wherever you want. In the train you can read, walk, sleep, play videogames… and the price at max is 51€ (weekends) or 40€ between weeks (return).
Yes, and also, I like trains, Is time I have for me: think, write, play, read… See you soon, maybe in the train station.
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