Waterford to Donegal Bus Eireann?

Danny911

Anyone know how to go about this, not really much information on the website, i doubt there is a direct bus is there? Cheers

Ted_YNWA

would need to go via Busarus . change there

Danny911

Is there no bus that goes to the west and change there? bit of a nuisance going there, would take forever

Ted_YNWA

only way going west is
Waterford --> Limerick - galway--> Sligo --- > Donegal

there is a number of direct buses from Galway to Donegal.

have a look on BE site in Journey Planner

schemingbohemia

You might get more info in the Commuting & Transport forum

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=246

There may be private operators along the route that people there are aware of. I would think though that going via Dublin is likely to be much quicker with less hanging around between buses.

mikedragon32

Moving to C&T from Travel.

Mrs OBumble

There's a private operator between Galway and Donegal, anyway: www.feda.ie (Feda O'Dónnail)

Several between Galway and Dublin (GoBus, CityLink), one between Limerick and Galway (CityLink).

Do any privates (JJ Kavanagh?) do Waterford - Limerick? I don't know.

BE's whole-of-journey ticketing may mean that they're the cheapest option.

At the moment though, 'tis only by trawling timetables that you can find out which combination gives you the best times.

Kumsheen

You would probably have much better roads for most of the journey if you went via Dublin too.

Geog1234

A further option is to take Bus Éireann route 73 Waterford - Athlone, thence route 65 Athlone - Cavan and then route 30 Cavan - Donegal.

See a lot of the country but a very long journey.
Schedule (M-S inclusive all segments):

Waterford depart 09.40, Athlone arr 13.35 (15 min comfort stop at Stradbally en route). Change at Athlone.

Athlone depart 14.45, Cavan arr. 16.35 Change at Cavan

Cavan dep. 16.45
Donegal arr. 18.35

Via Dublin will be much faster and only entail one change. The Waterford-Dublin Bus Éireann coach uses the motorway between Carlow and Dublin and the Dublin - Donegal coach uses the motorway/dual carriageway to run non-stop Airport to Virginia.

E.g. Waterford 07.00, Dublin Busáras 09.50. (route 4).

Busáras dep. 11.00, Donegal arr. 14.35 (route 30)

Bought online a single Waterford-Donegal is €28.50.
A monthly return is €47.50 whereas a midweek return is € 40.85.
Fares bought on the bus or at station ticket office/ticket vending machine are 5% higher than online fare.

An Open Road (three days unlimited travel out of 6 consecutive days) is €54 (can be bought at stations e.g. Travel Centre in Waterford Bus Stn.)

Aside:
Only Bus Éireann route 55 runs between Waterford and Limerick and not the most comfortable or fastest of coach journeys due to bad roads in parts of Tipperary. Train though infrequent offers more comfort for this run and takes the same time.

Vic_08

A question OP; Where in Donegal? I ask out of experience. It is a regular occourence that people will turn up at Busaras, buy a ticket for Donegal, board the Donegal bus and only later ask the driver when they will get to Letterkenny, Ballybofey or some other location in Co. Donegal not directly served by the Dublin-Donegal Town bus.

If it is Donegal Town, Ballyshannon, Letterkenny or Lifford then I would strongly reccomend going via Dublin as first choice. For other destinations it may be better connection wise to go via Galway, it would entirely depend on when and where you are going. If you post up more details we can give a more accurate response.



Would advise against going via Athlone, lousy roads all the way.