Tickets for Dublin public transport

Leap Cards: the cheapest way to travel in Dublin

You can buy tickets for Dublin’s trains, trams and buses at individual stations or on buses. However, it is cheaper to use a ‘Leap Card’ to travel around Dublin on public transport. This is a smartcard ticket which saves you up to 31% on your travel.

There are two types of ‘Leap Card’: the regular version or a ‘Leap Visitor Card’ — you’ll find information about both below.

Regular Leap Card

The regular Leap Card can be topped up with travel credit as and when required, and is best suited to people who commute regularly in Dublin, or for those who are going to be travelling around Dublin for over 7 days.

You can buy a regular Leap Card in a wide range of locations throughout Dublin - you can find an outlet near you on the Leap Card website. Ticket machines at rail stations issue them too. Alternatively, you can order a Leap Card online.

Note: If you have any queries about Leap cards, you can contact the Leap Card customer service team here.

Leap Visitor Card

A ‘Leap Visitor Card’ is valid for 1, 3 or 7 days depending on how much you pay. The prices are as follows:

  • 24 hours – €8.00

  • 72 hours – €16.00

  • 7 days – €32.00

A Leap Visitor Card allows you unlimited travel after the first time you use it (for the period you have selected) on the following public transport services:

Note: Visitor Leap cards are not accepted on Aircoach and Dublin Express bus services to Dublin Airport.

You can buy a Leap Card in advance of your visit to Dublin from the Leap Card website. Please note however that your Leap Card is not an e-ticket — your card will be delivered to your postal address. This means that you’ll need to allow enough time for delivery before your trip to Dublin.

If you have any questions about Leap cards, you can contact the Leap Card customer service team here.

Alternatively, you can purchase a Visitor Leap Card from the following outlets:

Dublin Airport

  • Wrights Airport Convenience Store (Terminal 1 Arrivals)

  • WH Smith (Terminal 1 Arrivals)

  • Spar (Terminal 2 Arrivals)

Central Dublin

  • Dublin Bus, 59 Upper O’Connell Street, Dublin 1

  • Spar, 63 Upper O’Connell Street, Dublin 1

  • Mullins Newsagent, Unit 1B Heuston Station, Dublin 8

  • Spar, 50 Talbot Street, Dublin 1

  • Spar, 70/72 Talbot Street, Dublin 1

  • GPO, O’Connell Street, Dublin

  • Trinity College Dublin Student Union, 6 Trinity College, Dublin 2

Public transport zones and ticket pricing in Dublin

How much you pay to travel in Dublin depends on the mode of transport you’re using and how far you are travelling.

When using a Leap card, you can avail of the ‘TFI 90 Minute Fare’ pricing. The 90 minute fare is valid for trips taken on Dublin Bus, Luas, most DART, and commuter rail services (within zones 1 to 4 of the Short Hop Zone), as well as Go-Ahead Ireland city services in Dublin when you use your TFI Leap Card. This fare costs only €2 for Adults, €1 for Young Adults/Students, and 65 cents for Child Leap Card holders.

Tickets for Dublin buses

For nearly all buses, prices are calculated according to the number of stages (stops) you travel on a bus for. For Xpresso services, however, a flat fee applies.

You can buy tickets on buses from the driver — however, no change is provided and if you do not have the correct fare, you will not be refunded for any overpayment. For this reason — and to avail of cheaper fares — it is advisable to use a Leap Card for your travel on Dublin buses.

You can view the latest bus fares per stages here.

Tickets for Dublin trains (DART and Commuter)

Train fares in Dublin depend on how far you are travelling, and whether your journey takes place in the ‘Short Hop Zone’ or not. Travelling within the Short Hop Zone will result in lower fares.

The Short Hops Zone includes all stations in the Dublin area from

  • Kilcoole to Balbriggan

  • Central Dublin to Kilcock

  • Central Dublin to Sallins and Naas

You can view these boundaries on our Dublin train map.

The best way to see how much a ticket costs is to use Irish Rail’s Fare Calculator. This allows you to select the stations for the start and end of your journey and view prices for a variety of ticket types.

You can buy tickets at Dublin train stations, either from a ticket office (in manned stations) or from a ticket machine (most accept both cash and cards). As with all other modes of Dublin transport, however, it’s much cheaper to use a Leap Card than to buy regular tickets.

Tickets for Dublin trams (‘Luas’)

Dublin’s Luas tram network is divided into several zones — you can view an official map of them here. These can be a bit confusing to understand however, so rather than using this map, we suggest using the Luas fare calculator to work out the cost of your journey and the best sort of ticket to buy. How much a journey costs depends on how many Luas zones you are travelling through.

You can buy tickets at Luas stops from the ticket machines provided (most accept both cash and cards). As with buses and trains however, using a Leap Card is an easier and cheaper way to pay for travel.