Bus Travel in Ireland

Buses are the most convenient way to get around Ireland. The majority of buses in the Republic are operated by Bus Éireann (website www.buseireann.ie), which has regular departures to most towns and cities. Buses in Northern Ireland are operated by Ulsterbus (website www.ulsterbus.co.uk).

Both Bus Éireann and Ulsterbus have a number of travel passes available including:

Emerald Card

Valid for combined bus and rail travel in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland on the Bus Éireann, Ulsterbus, Iarnród Éireann and Northern Ireland Railways networks. This pass is also valid on Dublin's DART and suburban rail services and local bus services in Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford.

Irish Explorer

Valid for combined bus and rail travel in the Republic of Ireland on the Bus Éireann and Iarnród Éireann bus and rail networks. This pass is also valid on Dublin's DART and suburban rail services and local bus networks in Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford. The pass (costing €194) is good for 8 days travel in a 15 day period.

Irish Rambler

The Irish Rambler is valid for travel on Bus Éireann services in the Republic of Ireland as well as local bus services in Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford.

Irish Rover

The Irish Rover pass is valid for travel on Bus Éireann services in the Republic of Ireland and Ulsterbus services in Northern Ireland. The Irish Rover pass is also valid on local bus services in Belfast, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford.

Open Road Pass

The Open Road Pass is a flexi pass that gives you unlimited travel on all scheduled Bus Éireann services including express, local, city and town buses. If you decide that you want extra travel days you can extend your pass by buying additional days once you have started travelling.

Alternative/Backpacker Transport

There are several companies in Ireland that offer an alternative to the scheduled bus operators. A lot of these companies seem to specialise in tours, which runs against the independent spirit of backpacking, however Paddywagon also offer more spontaneous hop-on hop-off services. These allow you to follow a set route around Ireland,­ hopping­ on and off the bus at your leisure.

Paddywagon

Although Paddywagon is primarily a tour company, they do offer a hop on hop off service that gives you a little bit of flexibility although the buses only run four days a week. Overnight stops include Dublin, Galway, Doolin, Lahinch, Tralee, Killarney, Cork and Kilkenny.