I feel so foolish for buying this pass, and maybe I can save someone else from falling for it. We had not travelled to Dublin before and did not understand how chaotic it is. I bought the two-day GoDublin Pass thinking that it would give us plenty of time to view museums, etc. We are not strangers to big cities nor to the concept of hop-on buses, and in cities like London, we have enjoyed them to the fullest.
BUT….Dublin is different. First of all, most places there require prior booking for tours. It’s impossible to predict what time a hop-on bus will arrive at a destination, so it simply doesn’t work well. The bus company used by the GoDublin Pass doesn’t start loading at Stop 1 before 9:00, and each stop starts sequentially after that, so booking a tour at Guiness, for example (Stop 13 of 25) has to be at 11 or after to guarantee arrival. And by then, you’ve used up half a day. The bus company map is poor, and once you’re off the bus, it’s nearly impossible to find some of the places you’re trying to find.
Also, even though we purchased a two-day pass (and were led to believe that would give us two days on the buses), the pass is only good for ONE day on the bus. So then, you have all of these free admissions but have to pay extra transportation costs to get to them.
The bus advertises that it takes about an hour and forty minutes to get around the circuit, but it took us over two hours just to get from Stop 5 to Stop 23, so we missed out on our reservations. Our driver, when driving past the Zoo randomly decided that he would slow down to show us the wild reindeer in the meadow (though, to my knowledge, nobody had asked about them), and he freelanced on a new route to see them, which took way longer than our scheduled route. The reindeer would have been interesting if they’d been included in the timed stops, but when the driver added them in without prior planning, it threw everything off. As I mentioned, we missed our reservations because of that, and another couple missed out on dinner reservations because the driver was late.
And, of course, some of the best attractions are not included in the GoDublin Pass, so you’ll no doubt spend additional admission fees that way, too.
All in all, the GoDublin Pass is not what it appears to be. At the very least, plan your days before purchasing, and see if it will work for you. And note that we were visiting in April when tourism is relatively light. I can only imagine the chaos of trying to book with this pass during summer months. Buyer beware.
Best decision we made was buying this pass! Value for money is second to none and all major attractions are included! We also visited a lot more attractions than if we were paying individually, making our trip even better!
Trail44119560616
14 Apr 2023
Very convenient, and definitely helped in learning the city better, and helping to prioritize what to see. Now, at the end of the day, it’s just a bus ride; unless, of course, you get Jerry (or Gerry, not sure of the spelling). He was engaging, entertaining and knowledgeable. We hopped on and off several times, and our son was so excited when we got Jerry a second time! So, you can do one of two things. Take a bus ride, or get an experience with Jerry!!