Dublin Forum: Staying an hour outside Dublin.

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You could always pick up your car later and head into town on the bus or pay to park at the airport..

Or do what many Cavan people do, park the car in the free Blanchardstown shopping centre car park and take the bus into town.

I'm not sure I'd recommend the option suggested by Cavan007 above. It would take you an hour to drive to Blanchardstown then park up and try navigate the local buses which are not very easy to understand (even for a hardened dublin bus commuter) and then take at least 30 minutes to get to the city centre.

The options as I see it are:

1) Drive to Ardee which is 13 miles from Cabra Castle and get the bus. Looking on www.buseireann.ie it would seem that there is an intercity route (route32) that stops there every 2 hours, takes an hour to get to the city and costs €18 return midweek. But not sure what the parking situation is like in Ardee.

2) Drive to the airport and park there and get the bus (express buses take about 15/20 minutes to get to the city). You can get a day bus pass(rambler) at the shops/travel desk in arrivals and they cost €6.20 for unlimited bus travel on dublin bus inc airlink express. Check Dublinairport,com for parking rates. I have got €5 daily rates when prebooking.You would really need to book into the short term car parks as they would be best for bus connections. Long term parking is about a 20 minutes connection to the terminal and then youd have to sort out your connection to the city. Although after having a quick look at prices it would seem they dont discount for stays less than a few days.

3) Drive to the city and park there. Parking rates at car parks are approximately €3/hr in the city. You can get day rates for €10-€15 - check out parkopedia.ie to get an idea. If you are driving to the city it may be worth thinking about taking the port tunnel and parking up for the day in the docklands. This would minimise the amount of driving around the streets you would have to do and make it a lot less stressful. The tunnel has a pricing structure to deter use by cars at peak (citybound cars pay €10 6am-10am and €3 all other times, outbound €10 4-7pm, €3 all other times)

So to me it would seem the best option would be to drive to the city leaving cabra at about 930. Take the tunnel and park up at the convention centre. Stroll around for the day take in an early bird at one of the citys restaurants leave at 7pm and be home by 830pm. Although it would all depend on your budget and the number of people in your party.

Your hotel is 1/2 way between the M1 and M3 motorways so you have a choice of 2 main roads to take to the city. To get from the hotel to the city centre by car will take a lot longer than 1 hour. I suggest the following if you want to stay at Cabra Castle and visit Dublin.

Drive towards Dublin on the M3 motorway via Kells. Just after the intersection of the M50 and M3(N3) there is a rail park and ride. The station is called "Navan Road Parkway" and it is right beside the main road into the city so it is very easy to access. Park your car here for the day and take the train into Connolly Station in the city centre in 15mins. Dont take the train to Docklands as that is further from the centre.

there are a couple of motorway tolls (1.40 each), 4euro parking all day at P&R but worth it to not drive and park in the city. The train will only be a couple of euro each way.

see www.irishrail.ie for train times.

If you want to take the M1 motorway you can do the same except park at Balbriggan station. I suggest Navan Road is better as the car park is usually not very busy

Thank you so much for the reply! I will pick up my car at the Dublin airport. It sounds like going to the Navan Road station is the right way to go. I will go into Dublin before going to my hotel at Cabra Castle.

Note that if looking for Navan Road Parkway on google maps you might need to search for "Phoenix Park Station" as the name has recently been changed to Navan Road. From the airport you head southbound on the M50 and then turn off towards the city at junction 6 which is the Navan road exit. Station will be on the left after 500m or so as you head towards the city centre. Note there are less trains on Sunday so maybe check times first

Thanks! Google maps is up to date and gave me directions to Navan Road.

You said to take the train to Connolly Station. I can walk to Trinity College from there correct?

Just make note that the "Navan Road Parkway" is an area off the "Navan Road" the Navan Road is quite long so you'll need to know what direction to turn onto when you get to it. My google maps app still has it down as the Phoenix Park Station!

Trinity is about 10-15 minute walk from Connolly.

also dont leave any suitcases etc on the back seats, put into the trunk/boot. This has nothing to do with the area or Ireland itself, just advice I was given by tourist board.Actually this advice for anywhere in the world these days.