Dublin Leap card for tourists: the €2.00 90 Minute Fare, daily and weekly caps, the Leap Visitor Card, Dublin Bus coins only, Luas, DART and taxis

💡 The Short Version: A Leap card pays the TFI 90 Minute Fare, €2.00 for an adult: one tap covers 90 minutes across Dublin Bus, Go-Ahead Ireland, the Luas and the DART in Zone 1. It is capped at €6 a day and €24 a week (Monday to Sunday). The card costs a €5 deposit and needs a €5 minimum top-up. The Leap Visitor Card is €8 for 24 hours, €18 for 72 hours and €24 for 7 days, arrives by post unless bought at an agent, and is not valid on tours or Bus Éireann. Dublin Bus drivers take coins only: no notes, no cards, no change. On the Luas, tap on and tap off. Or pre-buy: the DoDublin Freedom Cardad is €55 for 72 hours of public transport and a 48-hour hop-on hop-off ticket (GetYourGuide).

Which card

A Leap card is sold at about 2,500 agents (shops), some Irish Rail machines and online. The Visitor Card is not an e-ticket: ordered online it is posted, dispatched within about 2 working days. In Dublin it is sold at WHSmith in Terminal 1 (24-hour cards), the Spar in Terminal 2, the Dublin Bus office at 59 Upper O’Connell Street, the GPO, Heuston Station and other listed agents. Unused cards expire after 12 months, and a card can be topped up with 1, 3 or 7 days up to 5 times (about.leapcard.ie).

The sums. An adult with a normal card never pays more than €6 in a day, so the Visitor Card’s €8 for 24 hours costs €2 more; the 72-hour card at €18 equals three capped days; the 7-day card at €24 equals the weekly cap, which runs Monday to Sunday. The Visitor Card needs no top-up and no deposit.

Fares

Zone 1 is TFI’s Dublin City zone, where the 90 Minute Fare and the caps apply. “The second and subsequent journeys are free as long as you tap on using your Leap card within 90 minutes of the first journey.” Tap on for every bus; tap on and tap off for the Luas, DART and rail.

Once a cap is reached no more credit is taken that day or week; keep tapping on. Fares for a travelling companion and tour buses do not count towards the cap (transportforireland.ie). Greystones and Skerries are in Zone 2; a Leap single into Zone 1 from Zone 2 is €3.90 for an adult on the train (TFI fare zones). The fare for Howth, Malahide and the other DART stations is on irishrail.ie.

Dublin Bus

Coins only · Leap Short €1.50, Long €2.00, Xpresso €2.40

Drivers cannot accept euro notes, bank cards or tap-to-pay, and they cannot give change, so have the right coins (dublinbus.ie). The Nitelink runs on Friday and Saturday nights from Westmoreland Street and D’Olier Street, at €2.40 with Leap and €3.10 cash, and it is not covered by the 90 Minute Fare. Dublin Bus also runs 24-hour services seven days a week across ten routes. The 90 Minute Fare does not apply to Express routes or tour buses.

A Dublin Bus double-decker at a stop on O’Connell Street. Photo: Alex Noble, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.

Luas

Red and Green lines · tap on and tap off · tickets from the machine at the stop

With a Leap card you must tap on before and tap off after your journey at the Luas stop, including when you arrive by bus or DART, or you risk a Standard Fare Notice of €100. If you forget to tap off you are charged the maximum fare, which is the 90 Minute Fare. Paper tickets are for sale from machines at every stop and not on the trams.

A Luas tram arriving at the St Stephen’s Green stop. Photo: 4300streetcar, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.

A single is valid for 90 minutes from issue, for one trip only. A child’s single is €0.90 and a return €1.80, and children aged 0 to 4 travel free (luas.ie).

DART and trains

The DART is the electric coastal line from Malahide or Howth south to Greystones, with trains every 10 minutes all day. It takes the Leap card and the Visitor Card within Zone 1; tap on and tap off at the gate or validator. The coastal day trips are in Howth and Malahide by DART. Irish Rail’s timetable changes on 13 December 2026.

A DART train at Pearse station. Photo: Schobbish, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Taxis, bikes and apps

• Taxis. The national maximum fare is on the airport page, with the standard and special rates. A pre-booked taxi adds €3.
• Dublin Bikes. A self-service system for ages 14 and over, with at least 15 stands at each station, and 1-day, 3-day and annual subscriptions. Use a Leap card or a dublinbikes card; the prices are at dublinbikes.ie.
• Apps. TFI’s journey planner gives routes and live departures. The TFI Go app sells Bus Éireann and Local Link tickets, not Dublin Bus or Luas.

Which cards work where

• Leap Visitor Card. Valid on Dublin Bus, including the airport routes 16, 19, 24 and 41, the Luas, the DART and commuter rail in Zone 1. Not valid on Dublin Express or Aircoach, on hop-on hop-off tours or other tour services, or on Bus Éireann.
• Leap card. Dublin Express does not accept it. St Kevin’s Bus to Glendalough accepts a Leap card but not the Visitor or Young Adult cards.

Dublin Airport to the city has the coaches and the airport bus fares. The day trips from Dublin that use public transport are Howth and Malahide and Glendalough. What to book before you go to Dublin lists the sights that need tickets, where to stay in Dublin compares the areas, and Dublin hop-on hop-off buses are compared on their own page.