Dublin Airport to Ballsbridge
About 13 km from the airport; Aircoach's 702 runs there directly, otherwise a taxi or transfer avoids the change into a city bus.
Ballsbridge is a leafy, embassy-lined suburb just south of the Grand Canal — Georgian and red-brick streets, the RDS arena and the Aviva Stadium, and a cluster of the city's larger hotels.
How far is Ballsbridge from Dublin Airport?
Ballsbridge is 13 km (8 miles) from Dublin Airport by road, about 40 min by car outside rush hour. In a straight line it is 11 km. By public transport, Aircoach 702 takes about 40 min including a change and costs €9.
Every way to get there
Our verdict: Aircoach 702 is the one to take: €9 with a change on the way, and about as quick as going by car. For three or four people sharing, the taxi works out cheaper than four tickets.
What it costs for your group
The bus / shuttle is charged per person, while a taxi is one price for the whole car — so the more of you there are, the better door-to-door value looks.
| Group | Bus / shuttle (per person) | Taxi (per car) | Best value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo · 1 traveller | €9 | €30 | Bus / shuttle |
| Couple · 2 travellers | €18 | €30 | Bus / shuttle |
| Family of 4 · 4 travellers | €36 | €30 | Taxi |
Which option should you choose?
| If your priority is… | Our pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest price | Aircoach 702 | From €9, about 40 min, with a change on the way. |
| Speed | Dublin taxi (metered) | 35 min and door-to-door, from €30. |
| A group of 4 | Dublin taxi (metered) | One fare for the car (from €30) beats four separate tickets. |
| A late-night arrival | Taxi or pre-booked transfer | Aircoach 702 does not run all night; check the last departure before you land. |
By transport mode
Bus / shuttle
The 702 (Airport to Dalkey via the Port Tunnel) stops in Ballsbridge, so no city change is needed. About €9; frequency is lighter than the 700, so time it.
Where to catch it: Aircoach bays outside both terminals — the 702 for Dalkey.
Best for solo & budget travellersTaxi
Roughly €30-40 by day — a little more than the centre as Ballsbridge is further south. Simple if you're checking into one of the big hotels there.
Where to catch it: Taxi rank at arrivals, both terminals.
Best for small groups in a hurryCar rental
From about €35/day. Ballsbridge has metered street parking and some hotel garages, so a car works better here than in the tight city core.
Where to catch it: Free shuttle from the terminals to the car-hire compound.
Best for travellers who want to explorePrivate transfer
A named driver rather than an app match or a queue at the rank — you walk out and the car is already there. Fixed at roughly €40-52 to a specific address.
Where to catch it: Driver meets you in arrivals.
Best for families, groups & late arrivalsBallsbridge & Dublin in photos
Buying tickets in Dublin
There is no train or tram to Dublin Airport, so you travel by bus. A Leap Visitor Card (sold as 24-hour, 72-hour and 7-day passes) covers the Dublin Bus and Go-Ahead routes from the airport, such as the 16, 41 and 102, plus Luas trams and DART, and is sold at the airport information desks and convenience shops. The old Dublin Bus Airlink 747 no longer runs. The faster private coaches, Dublin Express (from around €9) and Aircoach (from around €6 online), do not accept Leap — pay those by contactless card or app instead. Book the coaches online for the lowest fare.
Taxi scams & safety in Dublin
Dublin taxis are regulated and metered, and the official rank sits right outside the arrivals hall — join the queue there rather than accepting any offer from someone inside the terminal. Apps like FreeNow, Bolt and Uber all work here, though in Ireland "Uber" simply dispatches a normal licensed taxi at the metered rate, not a private car. Ask for an estimate or watch the meter, keep to the marked rank or app pickup point, and you will avoid the rare overcharge.
Step-free access in Dublin
Dublin is the one airport here where the coach you pick decides whether the journey is step-free at all, so it is worth reading before you book.
- Airlink (Dublin Bus) is the dependable choice: low-floor buses with extendable ramps and a priority wheelchair space on every vehicle, with no advance notice needed.
- Aircoach is wheelchair accessible and takes one wheelchair user per vehicle, but you must contact them at least 24 hours ahead. Mobility scooters are not carried.
- Dublin Express does not offer step-free access for wheelchair or mobility-scooter users. They may be able to carry a passenger who can board using the coach steps, subject to conditions, but as a step-free route it is not an option.
If you need certainty and have not booked anything in advance, Airlink is the one to head for.
Getting from DUB to Ballsbridge
Ballsbridge sits south of the Grand Canal, a district of Georgian terraces, red-brick avenues and diplomatic residences, with the RDS and the Aviva Stadium anchoring its calendar of concerts, rugby internationals and trade shows. It is also where several of Dublin's larger hotels cluster, which means a steady stream of arrivals rolling in from the airport 13 km to the north. The good news for anyone booked into this corner of the city: you do not have to route through the centre and double back. One airport coach comes straight here, and beyond that it is mostly a question of how much you value skipping a wait.
The 702 coach: one bus, no city-centre change
Aircoach runs its 702 service (Airport to Dalkey, via the Port Tunnel) with a stop in Ballsbridge, and that single detail changes the calculation for this suburb. The more famous 700 dumps you in the middle of town, from where reaching Ballsbridge means a second bus or a DART leg south. The 702 does the whole thing in one sitting, roughly 40 minutes, for about €9. You board at the Aircoach bays outside either terminal, watch for the 702 signage specifically, and stay put until the Ballsbridge stop.
The problem is frequency. Since the 2025 timetable changes, the 702 runs at a lighter cadence than its city-bound sibling, roughly hourly rather than every fifteen or twenty minutes. That is fine if your flight lands within striking distance of a departure, and frustrating if you have just missed one and face a long stand at the kerb. So the real planning step is to pull up the day's actual timetable before you commit, match it against your landing time, and decide whether the wait is tolerable. For a couple travelling light with hotel check-in that is not time-critical, the 702 is the sensible, low-cost choice. If you are carrying event gear or shepherding kids, an hour on the pavement reads differently.
A taxi that goes further south than the centre run
The taxi rank sits right outside arrivals at both terminals, no booking, no app. A metered daytime run to Ballsbridge lands somewhere around €30 to €40, a touch dearer than a fare into the centre because the district sits further south and the meter simply keeps ticking on those extra minutes. Expect about 35 minutes through the Port Tunnel in ordinary traffic. What you are buying is the absence of the timetable question entirely: no checking departures, no standing at a bay, just a car to the hotel forecourt. If you are checking into one of the big Ballsbridge hotels with luggage, that door-to-door simplicity is the whole argument, and the premium over the coach is modest in absolute terms.
Booking a driver ahead for an RDS or Aviva weekend
If your trip is pinned to a fixed event, an RDS exhibition, a match at the Aviva, a concert, a pre-booked private transfer takes the guesswork out of the arrival entirely. You get a named driver waiting when you clear the doors and a fixed price agreed in advance, roughly €40 to €52 to a specific address, rather than a metered fare that swings with traffic or an app match you hope turns up. For groups splitting the cost, or anyone who would rather not gamble on rank queues during a busy event weekend, the certainty is the point: the car is confirmed to your hotel or the venue, and the fare will not surprise you. Firms like Welcome Pickups and local Dublin operators cover the route.
Driving yourself: Ballsbridge parks more easily than the core
Renting is the one option that makes more sense in Ballsbridge than it would for a central hotel. The airport desks (Europcar, Hertz, Budget among them) sit in a compound reached by free shuttle from the terminals, and rates start around €35 a day. The reason a car works here is parking: Ballsbridge has metered street bays and several hotels run their own garages, so you are not fighting the tight, restricted kerbs of the city core. The drive in is about 35 minutes. This suits travellers planning day trips beyond the city (down to Wicklow, out along the coast) where having your own vehicle earns its keep. If you never intend to leave Dublin proper, though, a car becomes a parked liability rather than an asset, and the coach or taxi does the job for less hassle.
The short version: the 702 is your direct, cheap coach if the hourly timetable lines up with your flight; a taxi from the rank erases the wait for around ten to fifteen euro more; a pre-booked driver buys certainty for a fixed-time event; and a hire car only pays off if you are heading out of town. Check the 702 departures against your landing before you decide, and the rest falls into place.
