Easiest way from Shannon to Dublin
 

Hi everyone -

I will be doing a CIE Tour that starts in Dublin and ends in Shannon, but I am adding 3 days to the end of the trip and need to get back to Dublin. What is the easiest and cheapest way to go from Shannon to Dublin? Car rental is out. I've tried checking the rail website but everytime I check it, it seems to be down.

Thanks in advance.
lexi

You will need to go from SNN airport to Limerick for bus or train services to Dublin.

#12 bus (once per hour) from Limerick to Dublin for €9 one-way.
http://www.buseireann.ie/

If you need to go straight to Dublin airport from Limerick it is cheaper to get the extra ticket for the #747 airport bus already in Limerick than to get it from the airport bus driver in Dublin.

Thanks Cowboy1968 for your quick response.

Hi Lexi and Cowboy,

I'm going in the opposite direction from Dublin towards Killarney, specifically Aghadoe. Was hoping to get on a tour bus to Waterford and then take a bus from there. Are you familiar with the bus route from Waterford?

Thanks much,
Ida

Try Citylink Bus: They have hourly service Galway-Dublin (4 hrs) and they also advertise service Shannon-Galway. I don't know if they would sell you a combined ticket; but their Galway service is very good.

I took the #12 Bus from Limerick once: traffic was terrible; took 6 hours. If I were going to ride on BusEireann I think I would head for Galway (vs Limerick) and continue to Dublin from Galway. Much of that route is dual carriageway

Six hours (instead of the bit more than 3 1/2 hrs) must have been an extreme delay for the Limerick-Dublin service.
I have taken #12 bus several times now, and even on St.Patrick's Day (with inner city traffic in Dublin being a total zoo) the delay was only 30min. Usually, the bus was just on time.

Shannon Airport-Galway is appr. 2hrs scheduled travel time, plus Galway-Dublin another 3 1/2hrs.

The length of the dual carriageway from Galway via N6/M4 or from Limerick via N7/M7 is roughly the same, but it depends whether the bus will take the regular highway (normal case), or take the motorway (when no one wants to get off at the stops in between). The latter option will usually make the bus arrive a bit ahead of time in Dublin.