PLANNING YOUR TRIP TO IRELAND

Useful Information

Here we have aseembed some information you might find useful before your visit to the Emerald Isle.

What documentation do I need to visit Ireland?

Most people need a valid passport to enter the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland and many will also need a visa, but there are exceptions:

British Citizens
British citizens don’t need a passport or visa to travel to the island of Ireland as both the UK and Ireland of part of the Common Travel Area. However, they will need official photo identification.

EU Citizens
EU citizens (as well as citizens from Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein) can travel to the island of Ireland (including Northern Ireland) without a passport or visa as long as they arrive at and depart from the Republic of Ireland.

They will just need a national identity card. However, those citizens will need a passport if they’re travelling directly to Northern Ireland or travelling on to Great Britain from Northern Ireland.

Travellers from the Rest of the World
Travellers from the rest of the world will need a valid passport to travel to the island of Ireland. Whether you also need a visa will depend on where you’re travelling from. Find out more here >>

Currency & Payment Cards

The currency used in the Republic of Ireland is the euro (€) while Northern Ireland’s currency is the pound sterling (£).

Visa and Mastercard are widely used in Ireland, while American Express cards may not always be accepted. Credit cards can be used for purchases and also to access money from ATMs. Each ATM has a list of card symbols that can be used there (different charges apply, depending on the ATM).

Ireland has a “chip and pin” system for debit and credit card purchases, which means you key your pin into a pinpad.

Traveller’s checks are not widely used and most banks won’t accept them, so bring cash or cards instead.

Electronics

Plugs in Ireland are three-pronged and the electricity supply is 230v/50hz. Bring an adapter so you can keep your devices charged up.

Flights into Ireland

Ireland has a number of main international airports including Dublin, Shannon, Cork and Belfast with smaller regional airports that also handle Eurpoean flights, such as Kerry, Ireland West and donegal.

Many airlines fly routes into Ireland but in certains cases if you are flying from the Middle East, Australia or Far East you may need to fly to a UK or mainland European airport first.

Here we are only covering airlines from Australia/New Zealand, Europe and the USA/Canada but as most countries in the world will have routes to the UK so flight access to Ireland is easy from there.

Airlines flying to Ireland from the UK

Airlines flying to Ireland from the Rest of the World

Airlines flying to Ireland from Northern, Central & Southern Europe

Travel within Ireland

Rail and Coach Travel

Ireland has an extensive rail network, see www.Irishrail.ie for information and timetables. The main bus provider in the country is Bus Éireann with its premium inter-regional revice being Expressway.