Go Ireland:Have pass, will travel and why not? Sandra O'Connellwrites about eight trips to get your kicks by bus or train – and all for nothing if you are the right age
HOW LONG before they start messing with free travel for people aged 66 and over? Best grab your bag and head off for a day or two before they do. So, hop on the bus Gus. Or the train Jane. Here are some suggestions to get you going. Savings are based on an adult return fare.
Galway-Cliffs of Moher
Bus Éireann Route 50
Saving €23.85
Let others worry about the car parking fees at the country’s number one natural wonder. You just go and enjoy the view. Board in Galway to head out through some of the loveliest villages in Ireland, including Kinvara, Ballyvaughan and Lisdoonvarna.The bus even stops at Ballinalacken Castle in Doolin, if you fancy a stopover. B&B rates start at €65.
Or just make a day of it and enjoy the splendour of the Cliffs of Moher with lunch at one of the site’s two cafes – Long Dock and Puffins Nest. And, of course, all that clean, fresh air. They can’t charge you for that. Yet.
Ballinalacken Castle, Doolin, Co Clare, 065- 7074025, ballinalackencastle.com.
Cliffs of Moher Visitor Experience, Co Clare, 065- 7086141 or cliffsofmoher.ie.
Ring of Kerry
Bus Éireann Route 280
Saving €29
Why pay through the nose for a private coach tour when the scenery’s just as gorgeous through the windows of the local bus. And for over 66s, it’s free. Make a day of it departing Killarney for Killorglin, Glenbeigh, Caherciveen and Waterville. Soak up the spectacular views at the Coomakista Viewing Park before heading on through Caherdaniel to Sneem. From there it’s back to Killarney via Kenmare.
There’s no shortage of hotels along the way but with the bus stopping right outside the Butler Arms Hotel, Waterville certainly makes a handy stopover, with summer specials including two nights’ B&B and one dinner from €149. Or head back to Killarney for the €25 or €35 value menu dinner at Chapter 40 restaurant.
Butler Arms Hotel, Waterville, Co Kerry, 066-9474144, butlerarms.com.
Chapter 40, New Street, Killarney, Co Kerry, 064- 6671833, chapter40.ie.
Cork-Goleen
Bus Éireann Route 237
Saving €19.50
Get to the People’s Republic on the train and, once you’ve had your fill of the city, head to the bus depot at Parnell Place for a change of pace. Few parts of the country are as beautiful as west Cork – just ask any of the residents.
The bus takes you through Alice Taylor country in Innishannon out past Bandon and Clonakilty, through Drimoleague, Skibbereen, Ballydehob and Schull before depositing you in the quiet village of Goleen – last outpost before Barleycove Beach (though you might have to hitch to get to it). However you do it, make sure you engineer a pit stop in Schull to pick up a picnic from Donna Cleary’s Gourmet Picnic Company. She’ll tell you the best place to eat it and drop it off to you while you’re there. Now that’s service. Brunch picnics €14, lunch for €16.50.
Alternatively, stay till the end of the line and spend a while in Goleen. Clona Holiday Homes has fully equipped self-catering cottages available from €400 a week in low season.
The Gourmet Picnic Company, Schull, Co Cork, 086-8893490, thegourmetpicniccompany.com.
Clona Holiday Homes, Clonakilty, Co Cork, 023- 8835009, clonamarketing.com.
Galway-Westport
Bus Éireann Route 421 (summer only)
Saving €18
Here’s an embarrassment of scenic riches; leaving Galway city centre and taking in Oughterard, Maam Cross, Recess, Roundstone and even Dog’s Bay beach at Gurteen, if you fancy a dip. From there it’s on to Ballyconneely and Ballinahinch before taking a break, perhaps, in Clifden.
Or stay on board for Letterfrack – gateway to Connemara National Park – and past the impossible beauty of Kylemore Abbey. Enjoy the serene beauty of Ireland’s only fjord at Killary and Leenane, before concluding at Westport. With so many gorgeous places to stop, you could spend a day in each. Alternatively, tarry a while and spend the cash you’ve saved with your bus pass on the spa facilities at Delphi Mountain Resort, Leenane. Two nights dinner, B&B midweek from €159 per person sharing.
Delphi Mountain Resort, Leenane, Connemara, Co Galway, 095-42208, delphimountainresort.com.
Dublin-Wicklow
Bus Éireann Route 133
Saving €14.50
Urban dwelling Dubs can be out in their natural back garden in Co Wicklow in just over an hour by hopping on this regular bus service. Thanks to the upgraded N11 there’s no more queuing at Ashford or Rathnew, so you’d hardly have your book open or your newspaper read before it’s time to disembark in Wicklow Town.
One of these days someone will successfully campaign for a path from the town to the beach at Silver Strand but, in the meantime, there’s the pier to walk, the pebble beach at the Black Castle to explore and the wonderfully floral main street to wander.
Or simply hop off at Ashford and nip into Mount Usher. Eat in the Garden Cafe or take away from the Avoca shop (which has picnic tables outside) and then walk it all off in the beautiful gardens. Or make a night of it and wander down to Hunter’s Hotel, B&B €95 per person.
Mount Usher Gardens, mountushergardens.ie, Garden Cafe, 0404-40116.
Hunter’s Hotel, Rath Bridge, Ashford, Co Wicklow, 0404-40106, hunters.ie.
Dublin-Greystones
Irish Rail Dart
Saving €8.60
Anyone who doubts just what a beautiful city Dublin is need only hop on the Dart from the city centre to Bray to remind themselves. When you associate the journey with the daily trudge to work, it’s easy to forget just how gorgeous that coastal journey is.
Make a day of it by walking on down Bray Promenade and off around the cliff walk to Greystones, a bracing but not too taxing hike. By then you’ll have earned some grub and there’s no shortage of chichi coffee shops and delis in the seaside town ready to oblige. For a super healthy, and tasty, replenishment of all those lost calories, check out The Happy Pear on Church Road.
Then hop on the Dart back home, or stay over. Singles at Slievemore House B&B, overlooking the harbour, start at €45, including breakfast.
The Happy Pear, Church Road, Greystones, Co Wicklow, 01-2873655, thehappypear.ie.
Slievemore House B&B, The Harbour, Greystones, 01-2874724, slievemorehouse.com.
Dublin-Enniskerry
Dublin Bus Route 44
Saving €9
Here’s one that generations of Dubs have been doing, and with good reason. The journey from the city centre takes about an hour via Dundrum and Stepaside before slipping through the glacially formed Scalp into the Garden County proper and coming to a halt in Enniskerry village. Get off the bus and turn left to nature trail it up through the Bog Meadow to Knocksink Woods for a riverside hike before heading back down to the village for sustenance in Poppies Cafe. It has been feeding hillwalkers and day trippers for almost 20 years.
Alternatively, get off the bus and turn right, to head up the hill to Powerscourt, either to take in the gardens or just coffee and a cake.
If you fancy staying the night, check out Ferndale B&B, right beside the bus terminus. B&B starts at €40 per person sharing.
Poppies Cafe, Enniskerry Village, 01-2828869, poppies.ie.
Powerscourt Estate, Enniskerry, 01-2046000, powerscourt.ie.
Ferndale House B&B, Enniskerry, Co Wicklow, 01-2863518, ferndalehouse.com.
Dublin-Sligo
Irish Rail InterCity
Saving €44
Rail transport is hugely relaxing, so kick back as you fly past Maynooth, Mullingar and Longford on your way across country. If you have the time, and why wouldn’t you, check out Carrick-on-Shannon to see just how much the place has changed over the past decade – practically beyond recognition.
Nearby Boyle by contrast has retained much of its original charm and is also well worth a visit. From either you can hire bikes and head out to Lough Key Forest Park to do the tree-top walk, explore the grounds or just have lunch. Then hop back on the iron horse for Sligo Town in time for dinner at the Tobargal Lane Cafe.
Make your age work even harder for you by staying at the Clarion Hotel in Sligo. It has a range of offers exclusive to over-50s including B&B from €45, with dinner thrown in for a tenner.
Tobergal Lane Cafe in Sligo Town, 071-9146599, osta.ie.
Clarion Hotel, 071-9119000, clarionhotelsligo.com.
'I feel as if I've been to the far end of the world'
THE TIDE IS in and there are swans swimming in Bantry harbour. In the distance I can see the cloud-topped mountains that form the spine of the Beara Peninsula. I am standing at the bus stop looking across at the statue of St Brendan gazing to the southwest down Bantry Bay, his eyes fixed on the open sea beyond.
My travel won't take me as far as his, but I, too, am going on a journey. If you are past a certain age and have a bus pass, you can do quite a bit of travel for free, so I'm going for a spin to Castletownbere and back courtesy of Bus Éireann.
Here comes the bus into Wolfe Tone Square where I am waiting. The blue and gold church clock reads 11.20am and we're off. The bus is surprisingly comfortable with footrests and seatbelts. I'm sitting on the left-hand side looking eagerly out of the window.
Riding the bus is completely different from being in a car – once you accept that you are not in control you can sit back and relax. Because you are so high you see over hedges into people's gardens and onto a wider view of the landscape. Just outside Bantry we pass the Donnemark Falls, which I've never seen from the car but am now looking right down onto.
At Ballylickey we pass over the Ouvane Falls bridge where brown water is tumbling into the bay. We cross the top (east) end of Bantry Bay, hummocky drumlin country with occasional views down the bay to the open sea. It starts to get a bit wilder with low heathery scrub.
Approaching Glengarriff there are more views of the sea, wooded islands and the Sugarloaf mountain. I notice the intense colours of the hydrangeas in this part of the world – vivid purples, maroons, rich pinks and sparkling blues – the soil must be just right for them here. We descend to sea level – piles of lobster pots against the sea wall and the long-established Eccles Hotel on the right. Glengarriff, where we stop briefly, is busy with tourists eating ice-cream and shopping. Pretty hanging baskets and window boxes line the street.
The bus climbs out of Glengarriff on a wide but curvey road with tantalising glimpses of the rocky shore and little beaches; small reeded lakes with men fishing; flower-filled gardens and, along the roadsides, cascading self-seeded, purple buddlejas mixed in with crimson rambling roses. At the top of a rise the view opens out again and we are looking south across Bantry Bay to the Sheep's Head peninsula with Whiddy Island in the middle distance.
The clouds are lifting now from the peaks on our right. The deep purple-grey rocks form the central ridge of the peninsula and we see more and more of them as we travel along – the strata exposed like the ribs on a backbone. The land is more open here, with damp meadows full of the creamy froth of meadowsweet pierced by spikes of purple loosestrife. The hillsides are speckled with little houses.
On through Adrigole, a spread out sort of place with several pubs, craft shops, church, sports ground and a sea kayaking centre. Here there is a double right-angled bend over a narrow bridge, which our driver takes wide and slowly. Soon the road narrows again and we slow down to pass large, refrigerated trucks – full of fish, I imagine, from Castletownbere. The hedges are full of fuchsia and fiery orange montbretia is just coming into flower.
Out to sea is a tiny island with a lighthouse and I catch a final view of the open sea before the looming bulk of Bere Island cuts it off. Rough boggy ground with sheared sheep grazing the few grassy patches and clumps of honeysuckle exploding from the hedgerows.
From the bus Castletown seems to be largely sheds and ships. The town centre has a series of open spaces opening onto to the dockside where trawlers are tied up and we arrive at 12.25pm, at the end of our outward journey.
I get off the bus and sit in the sun outside a pub eating a crab salad, watching the world go by, but by 1.30pm I'm ready to board again for the return to Bantry.
Turning around at the end of a journey can be an anti-climax but, as I am sitting on the same left side, I have a different view and I see things I hadn't seen on the way out: privet hedges covered in white blossom; a distant dramatic waterfall on the side of Hungry Hill; big boulders, left by the ice thousands of years ago, perched on the tops of rocky outcrops.
We are back in Bantry on time at 2.20pm. I feel as if I've been to the far end of the world and returned refreshed, invigorated and wondering where my bus pass will take me next.
How to avail of free travel
Anyone aged 66 or over and living permanently in the State qualifies for the Free Travel Scheme, allowing you to travel for free on most CIÉ public transport services and the services offered by many private operators.
The pass covers Dublin Bus (except Nitelink and special airport buses), Bus Éireann , Irish Rail , Dart and Luas, and some ferries and can be used at any time. A list of the private operators that take part in the Free Travel Scheme is available from the Department of Social Welfare at welfare.ie.
You will get a Free Travel Pass automatically at age 66 if you are getting a state pension. Otherwise, apply for a Free Travel Pass by completing registration form FT 1. You can get a registration form at ww.welfare.ie. If you qualify for a Free Travel Pass, your spouse or partner can join you for free when travelling.
Overseas visitors aged 66 and over can avail of free rail travel for four journeys a year under the Golden Trekker scheme launched in March. See discoverireland.ie/Information/Golden-Trekker.