4 Days in Dublin

First day

You know how it is – if you have to fly out at 7:00 in the morning and have to be at the airport 2-3 hours in advance, then when you get home around midnight you start wondering if you even need sleep… Unfortunately, this time, it turned out experimentally that even 3 large coffees don’t eliminate fatigue, and instead of staring out the window for another 3 hours while flying from Riga Airport to my transfer flight in Stockholm, I decided to get my well deserved rest in the comfortable seat of AirBaltic. This was the first time I didn’t buy tickets directly from the airlines and instead tried kiwi.com to find the fastest and most affordable deals.

As always when you try something new, nothing goes as planned. Due to a flight delay and lengthy security checks, the plane to Stockholm almost took off without us. It should be noted here that the terminals are very long – be sure to check your departure gate and arrive at the airport at least 2.5 hours before departure (even if your travel apps think an hour will be enough and you don’t have any checked baggage) if you don’t want to be forced into a morning sprint. Out of breath and stressed, my travel companion and I happily boarded the plane and embarked on the last flight to Dublin.

Transportation

Upon landing at Dublin Airport, we were greeted by several modes of transportation, from the Dublin Express to variously colored public buses, taxis, etc. What’s interesting is that, right up until we left the airport, what we saw on the map was drastically different from what we wanted to see and from the content on Google Maps. It was only when we left the airport that Google Maps started working properly, but it still didn’t show the correct departure times for the Dublin Express. Luckily, there was an information center right there where you could find out the desired departure times in different directions, as well as ticket prices. Public transport is definitely cheaper than the express, but if you want to take the express, I recommend buying tickets online ¹– that way you can save money and keep everything in one place.

If you want to use regular public transport instead, be sure to buy a Leap Card beforehand. It is a card that can be used on all TFI (Transport For Ireland) routes – buses, Dart trains and Luas trams. Otherwise, you can also buy tickets in cash from the drivers, but it is more expensive that way. You may need to find a tourist office to get your leap card, like we did, but you can also get it straight from the airport at Wrights Airport Convenience Store, WH Smith or Spar Shop – whichever fits you best. You can buy a Leap Card for a limited amount of time².

1. https://www.dublinexpress.ie/dublin-city/dublin-airport-to-dublin-city ↩︎
2. https://about.leapcard.ie/leap-visitor-card
   1 day (24 hours) – €8.00
   3 days (72 hours) – €16.00
   7 days (168 hours) – €32.00 ↩︎