Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [110]
Car & Motorcycle
A number of hire companies have desks at the airport, and other operators are based close to the airport and deliver cars for airport collection. Listed are some of the main hire companies in Dublin:
Avis (www.avis.com) City (Map; 605 7500; 35-39 Kilmainham Lane); Dublin Airport ( 844 5204)
Budget (www.budgetcarrental.ie) City (Map; 837 9802; 151 Lower Drumcondra Rd); Dublin Airport ( 844 5150)
Dan Dooley Car Hire (www.dan-dooley.ie) City (Map; 677 2723; 42-43 Westland Row); Dublin Airport ( 844 5156)
Europcar (www.europcar.com) City (Map; 614 2800; Baggot St Bridge); Dublin Airport ( 844 4179)
Hertz (www.hertz.com) City (Map; 660 2255; 149 Upper Leeson St); Dublin Airport ( 844 5466)
Sixt Rent-a-Car (www.icr.ie) City ( 862 2715; Old Airport Rd, Santry); Dublin Airport ( 844 4199)
Thrifty (www.thrifty.ie) City (Map; 1800 515 800; 125 Herberton Bridge, just off South Circular Rd); Dublin Airport ( 840 0800)
Train
For general train information, contact Iarnród Éireann Travel Centre (Map; 836 6222; www.irishrail.ie; 35 Lower Abbey St; 9am-5pm Mon-Fri, 9am-1pm Sat). Connolly Station (Map; 836 3333), just north of the Liffey and the city centre, is the station for trains to Belfast, Derry, Sligo and other northern destinations. Heuston Station (Map; 836 5421), just south of the Liffey and well west of the centre, is the station for Cork, Galway, Killarney, Limerick, Wexford, Waterford and other destinations west, south and southwest of Dublin. Click here for more information.
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GETTING AROUND
To/From the Airport
There is no train service to/from the airport, but there are bus and taxi options.
BUS
Aircoach ( 844 7118; www.aircoach.ie; one way/return €7/12) Private coach service with two routes from the airport to 18 destinations throughout the city, including the main streets of the city centre. Coaches run every 10 to 15 minutes between 6am and midnight, then hourly from midnight until 6am.
Airlink Express Coach ( 872 0000, 873 4222; www.dublinbus.ie; adult/child €6/3) Bus 747 runs every 10 to 20 minutes from 5.45am to 11.30pm between the airport, the central bus station (Busáras) and the Dublin Bus office on Upper O’Connell St; bus 748 runs every 15 to 30 minutes from 6.50am to 10.05pm between the airport and Heuston and Connolly Stations.
Dublin Bus (Map; 872 0000; www.dublinbus.ie; 59 Upper O’Connell St; adult/child €2.20/1) A number of buses serve the airport from various points in Dublin, including buses 16A (Rathfarnham), 746 (Dun Laoghaire) and 230 (Portmarnock); all cross the city centre on their way to the airport.
TAXI
There is a taxi rank directly outside the arrivals concourse. A taxi should cost about €20 from the airport to the city centre, including a supplementary charge of €2.50 (not applied going to the airport). Make sure the meter is switched on.
Bicycle
Dublin is pretty flat and the traffic can be awful, so getting around on a bike can make life a lot easier. Still, though Dublin has an increasing number of rust-red cycle lanes, cyclists share them with drivers who are indifferent to the line markings, making cycling a little more of a challenge than it really ought to be.
In September 2009, Dublin City Council launched DublinBikes (www.dublinbikes.ie), a pay-as-you-go bike scheme, similar to the Parisian Vélib’ system, with 450 bikes at 40 stations spread throughout the city centre. Cyclists will need to purchase a €10 Smart Card (as well as put down a credit-card deposit of €150) – either online or at any of the stations – before ‘freeing’ a bike for use, which is then free for the first 30 minutes and €0.50 for each half-hour thereafter.
Car & Motorcycle
Traffic in Dublin is a nightmare and parking is an expensive headache. There are no free spots to park anywhere in the city centre during business hours (7am to 7pm Monday to Saturday), but there are plenty of parking meters, ‘pay and display’ spots (€2.70 to €5.20 per hour), and over a dozen sheltered and supervised car parks (around €5 per hour).
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