In short
- buses.app lists 3 town bus routes in Athlone and 4 in Sligo.
- Athlone routes A1 and A2 each run about every 30 minutes from Monday to Saturday.
- Sligo route S2 between Strandhill and Rosses Upper runs from before 06:00 to after 23:00 on weekdays.
- The town service fare is €1.50 with a Leap Card or €2.00 in cash in both towns.
buses.app lists 3 town bus routes in Athlone and 4 in Sligo. Both networks are small enough to learn in a few minutes: two cross-town routes and a short loop in Athlone, three S routes and one longer route in Sligo. This guide covers where they go, when the first and last buses leave and what a ticket costs. All times come from the timetables on buses.app.
Which bus routes run in Athlone?
Athlone has two cross-town routes, A1 and A2. Both run between Bellanamullia and Kilmartin Ctr, by different ways through the town: an end-to-end trip takes about 36 minutes on A1 and about 49 minutes on A2. Both call at Athlone Stn, Golden Island and Northgate St, so you can use either route between those stops.
The third route, ATH1, is a short loop from Golden Island by way of Willow Park. It has 6 stops and takes about 13 minutes to come back to where it started.
When do buses run in Athlone?
From Monday to Saturday, A1 has 27 departures in each direction between 07:00 and 20:00, which is one about every 30 minutes. A2 has 26 departures in each direction between 07:15 and 19:45. On Sundays each route has 11 or 12 departures per direction: A1 leaves Bellanamullia from 08:30 to 19:30 and Kilmartin Ctr from 09:15 to 20:15, and A2 leaves Bellanamullia from 09:00 to 20:00.
The ATH1 loop has 41 departures from Golden Island between 08:22 and 18:22 from Monday to Saturday, and none on Sundays in our data. No Athlone town route leaves after 20:15, so plan evening trips with that in mind. The full timetables are on the Athlone routes page.
Which bus routes run in Sligo?
Sligo has three town routes. S1 runs between Classibawn Dr and Cairns Road in about 25 minutes. S2 is the longest: it runs between Strandhill and Rosses Upper through the town, and the whole trip takes 45 to 54 minutes. S3 links Sligo Markievicz with Finisklin South in about 17 minutes.
The fourth route in our data, 563, runs between Sligo Markievicz and Dromahair in about 36 minutes, with 8 departures in each direction every day of the week.
When do the first and last buses leave in Sligo?
S2 has the longest day. On weekdays the first bus leaves Rosses Upper at 05:45 and Strandhill at 06:05, and the last buses leave at 23:20 and 23:30, with 31 departures in each direction. On Sundays it runs from 07:15 to about 23:15, with 26 departures.
S1 leaves Classibawn Dr from 07:02 to 23:36 on weekdays, with 29 departures; on Saturdays the first bus is at 08:30 and on Sundays at 07:30, with 16 departures. S3 leaves Sligo Markievicz from 07:30 to 23:59 from Monday to Saturday, with 17 departures, and from 08:30 to 22:59 on Sundays. Route 563 leaves Sligo Markievicz from 07:20 to 20:03 and Dromahair from 06:45 to 19:10. The full timetables are on the Sligo routes page.
Where do the routes meet?
In Athlone, Golden Island is served by all three routes. In Sligo, Sligo Markievicz is the one stop served by all four routes, and ATU Sligo and Sligo Hospital are both served by routes 563, S1 and S2. Search for a stop on buses.app to see every route that calls there.
How much is a bus ticket in Athlone and Sligo?
At the time of writing (October 2026), the Bus Éireann town service in both towns has one flat fare for the whole town network: €1.50 with a TFI Leap Card or €2.00 in cash for an adult. Young adults and students pay €0.75 with Leap, with no discount on the cash fare. A child pays €0.65 with a Child Leap Card or €0.90 in cash.
Cash is paid to the driver, who does not give change, so have the exact fare ready. Children aged 0 to 4 travel free, and children aged 5 to 8 travel free with a Child (5–8) Leap Card. The National Transport Authority has announced that the town Leap single will rise from €1.50 to €1.65 in January 2027. The full lists are on the Athlone and Sligo ticket pages, and our Leap Card guide explains where to buy and top up the card.
How do I get from Athlone and Sligo to other cities?
From Athlone, the fastest connection in our data to Dublin Heuston takes 1 h 15 min and the fastest to Galway Ceannt takes 55 minutes, both by train; Citylink coaches run on both relations as well. See the Athlone to Dublin and Athlone to Galway pages. From Sligo, the fastest trip from Sligo (MacDiarmada) to Dublin Connolly takes 3 hours, and the Sligo to Dublin page lists both Irish Rail and Bus Éireann departures.
How to use buses.app in Athlone and Sligo
Open the town page and pick your route to see every stop and departure, or use the journey planner to find a connection between two addresses. Each ticket page shows the date the fares were last checked.
