The 4 passes to visit Ireland

Visiting Ireland can get expensive really quickly if you don’t know some tricks. Fortunately, the Leap Card will help you get anywhere you want in Dublin County and some passes can help you save money when visiting the best sights of the country. Take a look at the four passes you need to have when visiting the Emerald Isle.

1. The Leap Visitor Card

The Leap Visitor Card is perfect for a trip in County Dublin. Image by Michael Arlotto.

The Leap Visitor Card is the most suitable public transport card available for tourists and visitors planning to travel around Dublin. This card allows unlimited travel over a selected time period on Dublin City Bus services, Luas, DART and Commuter Rail. There are multiple options depending on the length of your stay. Here are the different choices for the visitors:

• 1 day (24 hours) – €8.00
• 3 days (72 hours) – €16.00
• 7 days (168 hours) – €32.00

Your chosen time period starts from the first time you use the card. An unused Leap Visitor Card expires 12 months from the day of purchase. The Leap Visitor Card can be bought online or in one of these agents:

Dublin Airport

• Spar (T2 Arrivals)
• WHSmith (T1 Arrivals)

Dublin City Centre

• Dublin Bus, 59 Upper O’Connell St.
• Mullins Newsagent, Unit 1B Heuston Station
• Newsrail, Connolly Station

Once you have a Leap Visitor Card, you can add additional time periods of 1, 3 or 7 days up to a maximum of 5 times.

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2. The Heritage Card

Doneraile Court, Co. Cork is one of the many sights to see with The Heritage Card. Image via@heritageirelandopw.

The Heritage Card is one of the best passes to visit Ireland. It offers unlimited access to over 45 historic sites and visitor attractions throughout Ireland. Ireland’s heritage sites offer a vast array of activities to visitors. Some of them are the most important sites to visit like Dublin Castle, Kilmainham Gaol, Donegal Castle and many more.

You can buy the Heritage Card before even coming to Ireland as it becomes valid for 345 days from the first use. Cards are posted free of charge and are sent within ten working days after purchase. You will receive the card along with a map brochure of all the places to visit in Ireland. You can also sign up for the newsletter to know about upcoming events or new attractions.

The Heritage Cards are particularly useful when you stay in Ireland for at least a few weeks. It can be bought directly on the Heritage Ireland website. You can also purchase the card in-person at any of the fee paying OPW Heritage sites.

Prices:

• Adult: €40.00
• Senior (aged 60 years or over): €30
• Student (with Valid ID): €10.00
• Child (aged 12 to 18): €10.00
• Family (2 adults and up 5 children aged 12 to 18): €90

3. The Go City All-Inclusive Pass

Visit the famous Guinness Storehouse with Go City. Image via @homeofguinness.

The All-Inclusive Pass is the perfect fit if you plan to visit Dublin for a few days. This pass allows you to visit as many of the best Dublin museums, castles, tours, as you want as long as your pass is valid.

Each All-Inclusive Pass has a purse value depending on the duration of the pass. The purse value is the maximum amount of money you can spend based on the standard gate price for each site. For instance, with the 1-day adult All-Inclusive Pass, you can visit as many attractions up to the total cost of €200. Please see below for purse values for each pass:

• 1-day All-Inclusive Pass: adult €200 / child €120
• 2-day All-Inclusive Pass: adult €295 / child €175
• 3-day All-Inclusive Pass: adult €370 / child €215
• 4-day All-Inclusive Pass: adult €435 / child €255
• 5-day All-Inclusive Pass: adult €495 / child €285

When you enter the first site, your pass will activate immediately. You will then have the consecutive days of your chosen pass duration to visit as many attractions as you wish. For example, if you activate a 4-day pass on Tuesday, it will be active on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The pass will conclude at midnight on Friday.

All Inclusive Pass prices:

• 1 day pass: Adult: €79, Child (aged 5 to 15): €49.00
• 2 day pass: Adult: €109, Child (aged 5 to 15): €59.00
• 3 day pass: Adult: €122, Child (aged 5 to 15): €69.00
• 4 day pass: Adult: €129, Child (aged 5 to 15): €74.00
• 5 day pass: Adult: €144, Child (aged 5 to 15): €79.00

4. The Go City Explorer Pass

Take the Jameson Distillery Bow St. Tour with Go City. Image via @stpatrickscathedraldublin

The Explorer Pass allows you to pick 3, 4, 5, or 7 attractions to visit from a list of some of the best sights in Dublin.

The Explorer Pass has a purse value depending on the duration of the pass. The purse value is the maximum amount of money you can spend based on the standard gate price for each site. For example, with a 4-choice adult Explorer Pass, you can visit four attractions up to the total cost of €145. Please see below for purse values for each pass:

• 3-choice Explorer Pass: adult € 115 / child € 75
• 4-choice Explorer Pass: adult € 145 / child € 95
• 5-choice Explorer Pass: adult € 175 / child € 110
• 7-choice Explorer Pass: adult € 230 / child € 140

After visiting the first attraction, you’ll have 60 days to visit the other ones.

Explorer Pass prices:

• 3 choices pass: Adult: €69, Child (aged 5 to 15): €39
• 4 choices pass: Adult: €94, Child (aged 5 to 15): €49
• 5 choices pass: Adult: €104, Child (aged 5 to 15): €54
• 7 choices pass: Adult: €119, Child (aged 5 to 15): €64

Those passes can be really useful when you visit Ireland and allow you to save some money in a country where most of the sights can be really expensive.