Dublin Airport to Malahide
Only about 9 km from DUB, and one of the closest destinations; the 102 bus runs there directly, or a taxi covers the short hop.
Malahide is a well-to-do coastal town just north of the airport — a marina, a wide beach, the medieval Malahide Castle and its parkland, and a village of cafés and restaurants.
How far is Malahide from Dublin Airport?
Malahide is 9 km (6 miles) from Dublin Airport by road, about 30 min by car outside rush hour. In a straight line it is 7 km. By public transport, Go-Ahead 102 takes about 30 min and costs €2.
Every way to get there
Our verdict: Go-Ahead 102 is the one to take: €2 with no change, and only about 10 minutes slower than going by car.
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 | €2 | €18 | Bus / shuttle |
| Couple · 2 travellers | €4 | €18 | Bus / shuttle |
| Family of 4 · 4 travellers | €8 | €18 | Bus / shuttle |
Which option should you choose?
| If your priority is… | Our pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest price | Go-Ahead 102 | From €2, about 30 min, no change needed. |
| Speed | Dublin taxi (metered) | 20 min and door-to-door, from €18. |
| A group of 4 | Go-Ahead 102 | Four tickets still come to about €8 — less than a car. |
| A late-night arrival | Taxi or pre-booked transfer | Go-Ahead 102 does not run all night; check the last departure before you land. |
By transport mode
Bus / shuttle
A direct ride to Malahide village and the castle for €2 with a Leap Card (€2.60 cash). The town is so near the airport that this is both the cheapest and one of the fastest links.
Where to catch it: Route 102 from the airport bus zone, signposted in arrivals.
Best for solo & budget travellersTaxi
Around €18-28 — one of the cheapest taxi runs from DUB given the short distance. Good value if a couple splits it against two bus fares plus luggage.
Where to catch it: Taxi rank at arrivals, both terminals.
Best for small groups in a hurryCar rental
From about €35/day. There's free and paid parking at Malahide Castle and the marina, so a car suits a wider north-coast trip.
Where to catch it: Free shuttle to the airport car-hire compound.
Best for travellers who want to explorePrivate transfer
For a first landing in Ireland with kids and cases, walking out to a waiting car removes the guesswork, around €32-42 fixed, child seats on request.
Where to catch it: Driver meets you in the arrivals hall.
Best for families, groups & late arrivalsMalahide & 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 Malahide
Of all the places people head to from Dublin Airport, Malahide is the one that barely counts as a journey. The town sits about 9 km straight up the coast, north of the runways rather than south past the city, which makes it one of the closest destinations you can pick. You get a marina full of masts, a long beach, a medieval castle with its own parkland, and a village of cafés and restaurants — all roughly twenty to thirty minutes from the terminal door. For a castle-and-marina short break, that short hop changes the maths on how you travel: the options that cost a fortune to the far side of the bay are cheap and quick here.
The 102 bus goes straight to the castle gate
Here is the hook that makes Malahide unusual: a local bus links it directly to the airport, no change in the city, no transfer at a station. Route 102, run by Go-Ahead, leaves from the airport bus zone (signposted in arrivals) and runs into Malahide village and out to the castle. The fare is €2 if you tap a Leap Card, €2.60 if you pay cash to the driver — small money for a thirty-minute ride. Buses come by about every half hour from roughly 06:00 to 23:00, so unless you land in the small hours you will not wait long. Because the town is so near, this ends up being both the cheapest link and one of the quickest, which is a rare combination. If you are travelling light and not in a hurry, it is hard to argue against.
A metered taxi that stays cheap for once
Taxis from Dublin Airport have a reputation for adding up, but that is a function of distance, and Malahide barely has any. The rank sits outside arrivals at both terminals, the meter runs on demand, and the whole run takes about twenty minutes. Expect somewhere between €18 and €28 depending on traffic and time of day — one of the lowest taxi fares you will find leaving DUB, precisely because you are not crossing the city. Do the sum for two or three people with suitcases: split against two or three bus fares plus the hassle of hauling cases on and off, a taxi to the door often lands within a euro or two of the bus and saves you the lifting. Families and anyone with a boot's worth of luggage tend to find this the easy call.
Hiring a car if the coast is the plan
If Malahide is a base rather than the whole trip — Howth headland, Skerries, the beaches further north, maybe a loop up to the Boyne — then a hire car earns its keep. The desks for Avis, Budget and Europcar sit in the airport car-hire compound, reached by a free shuttle from arrivals, with rates starting around €35 a day when booked ahead. Malahide is built for arriving by car: there is parking at Malahide Castle and around the marina, some free and some paid, so you are not circling for a space. The drive itself is short and straightforward, mostly heading away from the city traffic rather than into it. For a single day pottering around the village, though, a car is more than you need — save it for the trips where you will actually cover ground.
Booking a driver to meet you
Landing in a new country with children and a stack of cases, the appeal of walking straight to a car that is already waiting is obvious: no queue, no working out which bus bay, no meter to watch. That is what a pre-booked private transfer buys you here. Firms like Welcome Pickups and local Dublin operators send a driver to meet you in the arrivals hall for a fixed price, usually in the €32 to €42 range, with child seats available if you ask when booking. It costs more than the taxi rank for the same twenty-minute drive, so the value is in the certainty, not the distance: you know the number before you fly and someone is there when you clear the doors. For a first trip to Ireland with young kids, plenty of people decide that is money well spent.
Weigh it up by what you are carrying and who you are with. Solo or a couple travelling light, tap a Leap Card and take the 102 for €2 — nowhere else does the cheap option also drop you at the castle. Add luggage or a small group and the taxi's €18 to €28 to the door starts making more sense. Book the car if the north coast is on your list, and book a driver ahead if you would rather not think about any of it after the flight. Whichever you pick, Malahide is close enough that you could be checking in before the kettle in your kitchen at home would have boiled.
