Dublin day trip

[Minilad]

I am doing a cheapo Ryanair day trip to Dublin on the 27th April. £19.90 return! I would like some gen on getting as much out of the day as possible. I will be arriving at 0900 and flight leaves at 2035. So my workable time in Dublin is probably 1030ish until 1830ish.
I would like, if possible, to experience a bit of every type of train available. Especially the loco hauled stuff. Plus DART and LUAS. I will have a FIP coupon for use on the trains and I presume there will be a ticket a can buy for the bus and a few LUAS leaps.
Does all this sound like a feasible thing to be able to do in a day?
Cheers in advance for any advice / gen

 

[krus_aragon]

I'll be doing a day trip to Dublin on the 24th as it happens, but with some of Stena's St Patrick Day £1 ferry tickets.

I see you've already had a look through this earlier [thread=127445]thread[/thread], I'm afraid I can't add much to what I posted there.

 

[Flying Snail]

I am doing a cheapo Ryanair day trip to Dublin on the 27th April. £19.90 return! I would like some gen on getting as much out of the day as possible. I will be arriving at 0900 and flight leaves at 2035. So my workable time in Dublin is probably 1030ish until 1830ish.
I would like, if possible, to experience a bit of every type of train available. Especially the loco hauled stuff. Plus DART and LUAS. I will have a FIP coupon for use on the trains and I presume there will be a ticket a can buy for the bus and a few LUAS leaps.
Does all this sound like a feasible thing to be able to do in a day?
Cheers in advance for any advice / gen

Bashing both loco-hauled routes would take up a good chunk of the day with positioning moves, Connolly-Drogheda and Heuston-Portlaoise are the shortest trips you can do on them.

All the Enterprise sets are back from refurbishment now so all Dublin-Belfast
should be loco-hauled.

Not all Dublin-Cork are LH, as listed in the linked thread above.

A €10 visitor leap card would probably be the best, particularly if you plan on using the 747 bus which is €6 one way cash, although if you are only going to use it for a regular bus to/from airport and an odd Luas trip then it may not be worth it.

 

[berneyarms]

A Visitor LEAP card would be the best option - available at the SPAR shop in Dublin Airport terminal for €10 to cover buses and trams including the 747 Express (normal fare is €6 each way).

https://about.leapcard.ie/leap-visitor-card

Loco hauled stock will be tricky on a day trip - your only options are the Enterprise to Drogheda or the Dublin/Cork services on the odd hour out of Heuston - first stop on those varies between Portlaoise, Thurles or Limerick Junction!!

 

[Minilad]

Thanks for the tips guys
This is what I have come up with as a rough itinerary
Arr Airport 0900
747 bus to Heuston arr approx 1030
1100 Loco Hauled to Portlaoise arr 1142
1220 Portlaoise to Heuston arr 1334
LUAS to Connolly
1410 DART to Dun Laoghaire arr 1434 and 1444 return back at Connolly arr 1509
1520 Loco hauled to Newry arr 1633
1702 Loco hauled back to Connolly are 1815
747 back to airport for 2035 flight back

Does that sound do-able or am I stretching it a bit?

 

[Techniquest]

Be warned the walk from the northbound platform off the DART to the Enterprise platform at Connolly will take a realistic walk time of 4 minutes, plus you have to board through the lounge and a ticket check so you could be pushing it a tad there.

Leaving Dublin at 1815 for a 2035 flight seems tight to me too. At a guess your journey will be 30 minutes (only 18 minutes faster than the cheaper route 16 or 41...) so that's 1845 into the airport. Personally, I'd not be risking the chance of a long security queue, preferring a relaxing time post-security. Do be warned it can take several minutes to get to your gate from security.

Not a lot of anything I've ever seen at Portlaoise, so take food and drink with you! There is a waiting room if it's raining, and no you won't be able to view the depot from the station, it's a bit further down the line and IE put a massive wall up anyway.

Have a great time!

 

[berneyarms]

Thanks for the tips guys
This is what I have come up with as a rough itinerary
Arr Airport 0900
747 bus to Heuston arr approx 1030
1100 Loco Hauled to Portlaoise arr 1142
1220 Portlaoise to Heuston arr 1334
LUAS to Connolly
1410 DART to Dun Laoghaire arr 1434 and 1444 return back at Connolly arr 1509
1520 Loco hauled to Newry arr 1633
1702 Loco hauled back to Connolly are 1815
747 back to airport for 2035 flight back

Does that sound do-able or am I stretching it a bit?

Only bit that's probably too tight is the DART to Enterprise connection.

You'll be fine for getting back to the airport at 18:15 - go to Busaras bus station for the 747.

 

[krus_aragon]

Only bit that's probably too tight is the DART to Enterprise connection.

You'll be fine for getting back to the airport at 18:15 - go to Busaras bus station for the 747.

I can't fault the advice, but would point out that "Busaras" literally means "bus station" in Irish. It's simply Dublin's main bus station. (It's across the road from Connolly railway station.)

 

[Minilad]

Cheers for the advice guys.
Instead of the DART to Dun Laoghaire I am going to do the 1430 Local train From Connolly to Pearse and 1444 DART return. Then forward on the 1520 Loco Hauled to Drogheda and 1605 return. Arriving back in Dublin at 1702. Might then do another quick DART or LUAS leap before heading back to the airport on the 747

Much obliged for the info

 

[berneyarms]

I can't fault the advice, but would point out that "Busaras" literally means "bus station" in Irish. It's simply Dublin's main bus station. (It's across the road from Connolly railway station.)

Well as someone who is Irish, speaks Irish and lives in Dublin, I know that.

But if I simply out "Busaras" here on a British message board without adding the bus station suffix, it might not really be clear!!

 

[krus_aragon]

Well as someone who is Irish, speaks Irish and lives in Dublin, I know that.

But if I simply out "Busaras" here on a British message board without adding the bus station suffix, it might not really be clear!!

I appreciate that, and wasn't aiming the comment at you specifically. My intention was to make it clear to Minilad (and others) that you were referring to “the” bus station, rather than one bus station among many. I may not have been as clear as I'd hoped in saying that.