Dublin Pass Review — Is the Dublin Pass Worth the Money?

Dublin is the gateway to Ireland so most visitors spend a few days in this great city before setting off to explore the rest of the Emerald Isle. The Dublin Pass is a popular choice for people wanting to see many of Dublin’s top sights. But is the pass worth the money? We wanted to find out. In this Dublin Pass review, we’ll break down everything the pass includes and do a detailed cost analysis to see if this pass is right for you.

Quick Dublin Pass Review

The Dublin Pass gets you into 25 attractions (all the most popular ones except Kilmainham Gaol) + the ability to skip all the lines, bus tours, free airport transfer, a few discounts to various stores/restaurants, and a guidebook. The Dublin Pass doesn’t include any other public transportation (Dublin is compact so you probably won’t need it).

Dublin Pass Price

• 1 Day Adult Dublin Pass: €62
• 2 Day Adult Dublin Pass: €83 (€42/day)
• 3 Day Adult Dublin Pass: €102 (€34/day)
• 5 Day Adult Dublin Pass: €128 (€26/day)

The Official Dublin Pass Website often has sales so be sure to check for any discounts. 

Note: Be aware that using the Airport Transfer starts your pass so you may not want to use it upon arrival. For example, if your flight arrives at 3 pm, and you take the Airport Transfer into the city, then you’ve just started your first day. So, depending on your travel, it might not be worth using the transfer at all.

The Dublin Pass’s Highlights & Quick Value Summary 

Overall, the Dublin Pass can be worth the money if you’re interested in doing expensive attractions covered by the — mainly the Guinness Storehouse Tour, Teelings Whiskey Distillery Tour, the Jameson Distillery Tour, and the Hop-On Hop-Off bus.

If you only do some of the cheaper attractions the pass probably isn’t worth the price.

The Dublin Pass can be a good deal if:

• You want to see all the alcohol-related things on the pass because they’re all fairly expensive on their own — i.e. Guinness Storehouse Tour, Teelings Whiskey Distillery Tour, and Jameson Distillery.
• You’re interested in taking a hop-on hop-off bus tour for a day.
• You want to visit the other “expensive” attractions — i.e. if you want to do multiple of the cheaper attractions it’s best to skip the pass.
• You want to see a lot in a few days.
• You want to skip most of the lines.

The Dublin Pass probably isn’t a good deal if:

• You’re only really interested in the museums/sights and not multiple tours or other activities.
• You want to spread your sightseeing over multiple days.
• You don’t want to jam-pack your schedule with activities.
• You want to see multiple sights that are not on the pass.
• You’re on a budget.

---

IN-DEPTH DUBLIN PASS REVIEW

First, let’s look at what’s included in the Dublin Pass. Unfortunately, Kilmainham Gaol (one of Dublin’s top-rated sights) is not included in the pass but pretty much everything else is included.

Note: there are a handful of minor attractions that either aren’t that interesting or are inexpensive enough that it doesn’t make sense to use your pass to visit. We only listed the most popular attractions below. For a full list click here.

Top Attractions Included in The Dublin Pass

Brewery & Distillery Tours

• Guinness Storehouse: €18.50
• Old Jameson Distillery Tour: €22
• Teelings Whiskey Distillery Tour: €15

Museums and Sights

• Malahide Castle: €12
• Jeanie Johnston Tallship & Famine Museum: €10.50
• Dalkey Castle & Heritage Centre: €8.50
• Christ Church Cathedral: €7

Bus Tour

• Hop-on Hop-off bus tour: €19 (24 hours)

Other Attractions 

• Irish Rock ‘n Roll Museum Experience: €16
• Dublin Zoo: €17.50
• Aviva Stadium Tour: €10
• National Wax Museum Plus: €14
• Dublinia: €8.50

Other Discounts 

The pass gives you a few discounts (usually 10%-25% off) at a handful of tours, restaurants, businesses, and other attractions. These are nothing to write home about but it’s a nice bonus if somewhere you want to go is on this list.

Dublin Pass Price Breakdown — Doing the Math

Don’t forget that Dublin has a handful of free things like museums, art galleries, and parks — so don’t forget to save time for those as well.

1 Day Adult Dublin Pass: €62

You’re going to have to do a lot of stuff to get your value for the one-day pass. Feeling boozy? Visiting the Guinness Storehouse, Old Jameson Distillery, and Teelings Whiskey Distillery Tour in the same day would cost €52 — these all come with free tastings. Then add the hop-on-hop-off bus tour (€20) and you’d come out ahead (a €72 value).

Don’t feel like drinking that much in a day, you can replace one of the tours with a visit to a museum and you’d come out ahead.

If you only want to see museums and non-alcohol related sights it’s pretty hard to get the value from the pass. You’d need to visit, on average, around 6-7 sights (without using the hop-on-hop-off bus tour) or  4-5 sights (with the hop-on-hop-off bus tour) — which makes for a busy day.

2 Day Adult Dublin Pass: €83 (€42/day)

At €73 for a two-day pass, you’d need to do about three things a day for the pass to be worth the €36/day price breakdown. This option is best for people who want to do the Guinness/Jameson/Teelings tours, the bus tour, and a few museums over the course of two days.

3 Day Adult Dublin Pass: €102 (€34/day)

If you’re traveling at a more leisurely pace the three-day pass can be a good option.

5 Day Adult Dublin Pass: €128 (€26/day)

Not many people visit Dublin for five days since it’s common to visit the city for 2-3 days and then spend the rest of the time exploring the Irish countryside. While you only need to spend €21/day, it might be hard to fill 5 days worth of things that are covered with the pass.

---

Final Thoughts

For a lot of first-time visitors, the Dublin Pass can be a pretty good deal — especially if you want to do the Guinness Tour, the whiskey tastings, and the hop-on-hop-off bus tour.

If you only want to see museums and other historic attractions then you should do a little math to see if you’re going to visit enough sites to warrant buying a pass — a lot of times it might be cheaper to skip the pass since most of these attractions cost between €7-€12.

Don’t forget that this pass also lets you skip the lines at most of these attractions — which might save you some time at the more popular sights.

---

Where To Buy

You can buy the pass from the Official Dublin Pass Website. You can have the pass sent to your phone for free, you can collect it in Dublin (at the airport of the city center), or you can pay a little extra to have it shipped to you (shipping is a little slow).