Ireland has five international airports, Dublin, Shannon, Belfast, Cork and Knock. Cork is the only one of the five airports that does not have a transatlantic service. All airports are well served by flights from Britain, Continental Europe and an increasing number of cities around the world. There are also excellent ferry services from Britain and France.
While Ireland's physical infrastructure continues to improve greatly, by US standards the roads are still narrow and bumpy. Public transportation is limited to bus services in the larger cities, while trains and buses operate between the cities and major towns.
On arrival at any of Ireland's five main airports, the most cost effective mode of transport to your hotel or B&B is by bus. Bus Eireann, the country's national bus company, runs the following services:
Dublin Airport (DUB) : every 20 minutes to the city's main rail and bus stations. The service runs from early in the morning until midnight and the journey takes a half hour.
Shannon Airport (SNN) : A regular service runs to nearby Limerick, a journey taking a half hour.
Belfast International Airport (BFS): A bus service runs to Belfast city on a regular basis.
Cork Airport (ORK) : Buses run every 45 minutes and it takes 20 minutes to travel to the center of the city. Long and Short Term parking facilities are available at all airports.
Knock Airport: There is a shuttle bus service between Ireland West Airport Knock & Charlestown which links with the Bus Eireann network. The Airport handles chartered flights for pilgrims to the shrine of Our Lady at Knock, and is served by scheduled flights from Dublin, London (Stansted) and Manchester Airports.
Other airports in Ireland are:
Kerry Airport: Served by flights from Dublin, London-Luton, Düsseldorf and Munich.
Waterford Airport: Served by flights from London (Stansted), London-Luton and Manchester.
Galway Airport: Twice daily flights from Dublin.