dublin to galway trans

what is the easiest/fastest/cheapest way to make a daytrip to galway from dublin?

The easiest and fastest is by plane, the cheapest by bus. But mind, by bus and even by car it takes about four hours one way. A daytrip from Dublin to Galway is not exactly fun, sitting in a bus for around 7 or 8 hours with probably not much time to be actually in Galway.

The first train leaves Dublin Heuston at 07:10 and arrives in Galway at 09:53.

The last train leaves Galway at 18:05 and arrives at Dublin Heuston at 20:54.

See the timetables and fares here.

And Citylink earliest bus leaves Dublin at 07:00, arrives in Galway at 10:15, the latest leaves Galway at 18:00, arrives at Dublin Heuston Stn at 21:05. Spending 6 hrs+ in a bus or a train to be in Galway 6 hours, and at day time only (missing the lively pubs and live trad music). An overnight stay would be worth it.

If you can book it far enough in advance, a plane trip to Galway can work out cheaper then a train!

Yeah, I'm not sure I'd be tempted to do a day trip by bus - even one way it took 4 hours the other day.......

Remember, the train goes from Dublin Heuston to Eyre Square. The plane goes from North Dublin to out near Oranmore. By the time you get to the airport, back to the city centre etc.. the timesaving wont be all that great, all presuming all services run on time. And lets be honest, trains tend to be more punctual than planes.

It is unlikely that the plane will be cheaper than the train either.

A taxi from galway city airport to the city centre is €20 one way. A return train ticket from Dublin to Galway is about €45, but I'll let you in on a little secret. There is a fare available from iarnrod eireann called the weekender, which will get you a return ticket Dublin to Galway for about €25. Your outbound travel must be on a Thurs, Fri, Sat, or Sun and the return journey must be on a Sat, Sun, Mon, or (i think) Tues. You might want to double check the days you can use it on though. The biggest catch is that you must have an iarnrod eireann issued photo id, called the Weekender card, which can only be purchased in the train station on a weekday before 5.30 and not during lunch hours (ridiculous, I know). It costs about €7 and is valid for a year, which means that your return day trip will cost a little over €30. Might be worth the hassle of getting the id seeing as you'd save a third on your first journey and you can use the id again and again!

thanks for all your advice. how difficult would it be to rent a car in dublin for 1 day? would it be very expensive?

A 1-day rental car picked up in Dublin corresponds to none of your criterias (it ain' t easy, it ain't fast, it ain't cheap either....).

I'd really recommend trying to spend the night in Galway if you can swing it, as the pubs and night life is great. If you really want to do it in a day, a good book and the train are probably your best bets.

As a note, if you decide to take one of the bus tours around the burren for the day, which many people do (and which are a great way to see a whole lot in a day), make sure you mention to the driver that you're catching the last train. I've put a few friends on them in the past, and haven't ever seen one get back at 5pm as advertised, so you'll need to make sure s/he knows to get you back to the station in time.

Yep, #10 is spot on - I took the parents on a Burren / Cliffs of Moher / Ailwee Cave tour and the tour was due back in Galway for 5:00 - we finally got back about 6:15.

A few people left the bus early and had a taxi arranged to get them back to Galway City for their train back to Dublin.

There is a one-day rail/bus tour you could take that includes the Burren as well as Galway. No need to worry about missing your connections. See here.