Cheapest way to get from Dublin to Athlone and back every weekend?

Valten1992

Hello

I'm starting a job in Dublin this July and am living up near Finglas. I'm planning on visiting family back in Athlone every weekend however. What is the cheapest way to do this? Is there any deals or memberships that are aimed at weekend commuters?

Thanks

foggy_lad

There are lots of Rail options from Heuston station but the walk up fare is €39.40 open return, there may be cheaper online tickets when booked in advance but these are subject to several conditions and restrict you to taking the train you booked on. The train is the fastest option taking about 90minutes each way.

There are also Bus options from Citylink on their Commuter service and Bus Éireann with their X20 and 20 services, Get the X20 if you can because it is the fastest at 1hour 40mins while Citylink are next with 2hours and the bus Éireann slow service takes a good 2hours 20minutes.

Bus prices are €18 open return with Bus Éireann or €19.50 with Citylink with slightly cheaper online fares of €17.10/€17.56.

Carawaystick

The Bus leaves from Dublin city centre ( Busaras for BÉ, Canary Dwarf for Citylink) so don't forget that in the time of the journey.

You will also never be standing on a bus.

LXFlyer

Carawaystick wrote: »

The Bus leaves from Dublin city centre ( Busaras for BÉ, Canary Dwarf for Citylink) so don't forget that in the time of the journey.

You will also never be standing on a bus.

This information is incorrect.

Citylink depart from Aston Quay and NOT George's Quay.

Banjoxed

A bicycle would be nearly the cheapest way to get from Athlone to Dublin. Factoring in the maintenance costs and wear and tear, walking would be cheaper again.

road_high

Banjoxed wrote: »

A bicycle would be nearly the cheapest way to get from Athlone to Dublin. Factoring in the maintenance costs and wear and tear, walking would be cheaper again.

Cheapest yes, but doing a 120 km trip return in all weathers is hardly something the op would relish unless theyre a professional cyclist or something.

Sean9015

road_high wrote: »

Cheapest yes, but doing a 120 km trip return in all weathers is hardly something the op would relish unless theyre a professional cyclist or something.

Whhooooosssshhhhhhhhh!

Rakish Paddy

I'd recommend bus over train for a number of reasons:

- The price of train tickets at the station is almost criminal. A bus costs around half the price or less.

- As already mentioned if you do book train tickets in advance when they are offering deals you get tied to specific train times. You are also limited to much fewer choices of departure times per day - you can get a bus every hour.

- During college term if you are leaving Dublin on a Friday evening and heading back on a Sunday afternoon/evening, you'll find the trains on the trip back to Dublin are often absolutely crammed. If the bus fills up, Bus Eireann put on another bus from Athlone.

- You'll also generally encounter far more ass-hattery and anti-social behaviour on trains as there is generally no staffing on board other than the trolley/snack bar - the bus seats are less comfortable than the train, but you won't see nearly the same level of hassle. Whether it's being hassled by an aggressive drunk, having to listen to drunks shouting at each other, drunk people/skangers listening to music on their phones with no earphones etc. I have almost never encountered such issues on buses but have regularly seen them on trains over the past few years.

- The buses from Dublin go from town whereas the trains to Athlone all leave from Heuston. It's only 10 or 15 mins on the Luas from town to Heuston so it's not too bad (although the Luas trip from Busáras to Heuston can be 'interesting'...), but might make a difference if you're tight on time.

porsche boy

Small motorbike... 125cc perhaps? Cheap to run and maintain, cheap to insure within reason. You'll also have the benifits of having something to get you around Dublin.

veryangryman

BeClub, buy all your tickets online. Free trip for every ten you do, effectively making each journey €6-7. Plus as the others say, you can be dropped at airport, busaras or Heuston, covering almost any possible onward journey Cant beat that.