In short
- A city bus single costs €1.35 with Leap in all three cities (€1.55 for longer trips of 12+ fare stages).
- A 24-hour Leap ticket costs €3.80 in Galway, Limerick and Waterford.
- The 7-day ticket is €16.80 in Galway and Limerick and €15.40 in Waterford.
- buses.app lists 13 city bus lines in Galway, 14 in Limerick and 9 in Waterford.
Galway, Limerick and Waterford all have Bus Éireann city bus networks with the same basic fare: €1.35 for a single with a TFI Leap Card, or €1.55 for longer trips. buses.app lists 13 city bus lines in Galway, 14 in Limerick and 9 in Waterford, with timetables, stops and maps for each.
How much is a bus ticket in Galway, Limerick and Waterford?
At the time of writing (September 2026), the single fares on the city buses are the same in all three cities:
- Adult with Leap: €1.35 for 0 to 11 fare stages, €1.55 for 12 stages or more.
- Young adult / student with Leap: €0.65, or €0.80 for 12 stages or more.
- Child with Leap: €0.65 for any distance.
You can also pay cash to the driver, but cash single fares are not published online. Leap is up to 30% cheaper, and drivers do not give change, so have the exact fare ready if you pay cash.
Are there day, week and month tickets?
Yes. These tickets are loaded onto a TFI Leap Card and are valid on the city services (the Red Zone):
- 24-hour ticket: €3.80 adult, €3.20 young adult / student, €2.20 child, in all three cities. It runs for 24 hours from first use, and you can buy it from the driver using Travel Credit on your Leap Card.
- 7-day ticket: €16.80 in Galway and Limerick, €15.40 in Waterford (young adult / student €13.40 or €12.20; child €7.80 or €7.10).
- Monthly ticket: €60.00 in Galway and Limerick, €54.00 in Waterford (young adult / student €42.00; child €29.00 or €26.00). Sold at selected Leap agents.
If you take two return trips in a day, the 24-hour ticket already pays for itself. The full price lists are on the Galway, Limerick and Waterford ticket pages.
Buses in Galway
buses.app lists 13 city bus lines in Galway. Besides the Bus Éireann routes, City Direct runs routes 410 to 414 with a flat Leap fare of €1.35 (young adult, student and child €0.65). Galway Ceannt is the main station for trains and many intercity buses.
Buses in Limerick
buses.app lists 14 city bus lines in Limerick, the most of the three cities. Limerick Colbert is the main station for trains and intercity coaches, and from Limerick there are direct links to Galway, Cork, Killarney, Tralee and Dublin.
Buses in Waterford
buses.app lists 9 city bus lines in Waterford. Waterford has the lowest weekly and monthly prices of the three cities: €15.40 for 7 days and €54.00 for a month with Leap. Intercity services use Waterford bus station and stops such as SETU Cork Road.
Where do I get a Leap Card?
Adult and Child (5–15) Leap Cards are sold at more than 2,000 TFI Leap agents, including PostPoint shops and all post offices, and online. An adult card costs €10 to start: a €5 refundable deposit plus €5 of credit. Personalised cards for young adults, students and 16 to 18 year olds are ordered online only. You can top up in the Leap Top-Up app or at any agent, and the same card works on city buses in Dublin, Cork and the other Irish cities.
Who travels free or at a discount?
- Children aged 0 to 4 travel free, and children aged 5 to 8 travel free with a Child (5–8) Leap Card.
- Young adults aged 19 to 25 and students pay about half the adult Leap fare with a personalised card, ordered online.
- People aged 66 and over who live in Ireland travel free on all TFI services with a Free Travel pass.
How do I travel between Galway, Limerick and Waterford?
The fastest scheduled connections in our data, by bus or train, are Galway to Limerick from 1 h 20 min and Limerick to Waterford from 2 h 10 min. From Waterford to Kilkenny the fastest trip is 38 minutes. To Dublin, the fastest trips take 2 h 22 min from Galway, 2 h 3 min from Limerick and 2 h from Waterford.
How to use buses.app in Galway, Limerick and Waterford
Open the city page, pick your line under routes to see every stop and departure, or search for your stop to see which buses call there. Each ticket page shows the current Leap fares and the date they were last checked.
