Travel and the Stadium

Air:         Dublin Airport is eight miles north of the city.

Irish carriers aer Lingus and Ryanair operate direct services to Dublin from the UK, and Dublin is well served by many major airlines from across the UK

                The flight from London lasts approximately one hour.

                Website www.visitdublin.com carries a full list of carriers and routes.

Dublin Bus runs its Airlink No 747 transfer from the terminal to Busaras, the city centre bus station at Store Street. Airlink No 748 goes on to Heuston railway station. Airlink No 746 runs from the Airport to the ferry port at Dun Laoghaire.

AerDart is a shuttle bus that transports passengers from the airport to DART rail system. The shuttle       bus to Howth Junction DART station runs every 15 minutes

The airport hosts a range of public bus services to other regions. Private operator Aircoach runs coaches between Dublin airport and the city centre, servicing many hotels .

Aer Lingus : Flies to Dublin from Gatwick, Heathrow and 10 other UK airports:

                0871 718 5000

                www.aerlingus.com

                Ryanair : Flies from numerous UK destinations

                www.ryanair.com

                www.dublinbus.ie

                www.aerdart.ie

                www.aircoach.ie

Sea:       You can sail to Dublin from Holyhead, Liverpool and the Isle of Man. A SeaCat from Liverpool will take around four hours to get to Dublin.

There are two ferry terminals for Dublin. Dublin Port is in the city and has bus links to the centre.

Dun Laoghaire ferry terminal, six miles south of Dublin, is 20 minutes away by car or DART train.

Irish Ferries operate from Dublin Port to Holyhead. Their fast service takes around one hour and 50 minutes       to cross the Irish Sea.

Stenna Line's HSS (High Speed Sea Service) operates from Dun Laoghaire to Holyhead. The crossing takes about 90 minutes. Stenna Line also has a ferry service between Dublin Port and Holyhead.

                P. & O Ferries: Sails to Dublin from Liverpool

                08716 642020

                www.poferries.com

                www.irishferries.com

                www.stennaline.co.uk

Rail:       Intercity services for the south and west of Ireland depart from Heuston station in the west of the city, just south of the River Liffey.

                Trains to Belfast and the north go from Connolly station, a short walk from O'Connell Street.      

Road      The M1 south take you right into the heart of the city

Car Parking         Unless you're after disabled parking - which must be booked in advance (see below)-its far better to walk..

It’s a 20-minute stroll from Molly Malone's city-centre statue.

Lansdowne Road is a residential area and as such there are no parking facilities at the ground, and street-parking is virtually non-existent.

By Bus   The city's bus service is operated by Dublin Bus. It has an exact fare policy which means you must have the correct change when boarding.

A limited night bus service operates from the city centre on Thursday, Friday and Saturday

Route information, timetables and value tickets can be found at tourist information centres, newsagents and at the operators

                website: www.dublinbus.ie

By Coach Bus Eireann operates bus services from Dublin to the rest of Ireland.

How to reach the Stadium           The stadium is a two minute walk from Lansdowne Road Station (DART).

If you fancy walking, the stadium is approximately a 20-minute walk south from Dublin city centre in the area known as Ballsbridge.

The route that the majority of fans take starts from St Stephens Green. From there it is best to walk down Merrion Row onto Lower Baggot Street, where a lot of the pre-match drinking takes place. Continue over Baggot Street Bridge to Upper Baggot Street and onto Pembroke Road.You will come to an intersection where Jury's Hotel lies and from there you should turn left to head onto Lansdowne Road.

If the walk seems daunting then there are regular bus services to the area.

You can take No’s 5, 7,7A although No. 46 is the best.

For the return leg, buses leave for the centre of Dublin outside Jury's Hotel.

The Stadium:  A Brief History

Lansdowne Road

The creation of Lansdowne Road Stadium was the vision of Henry Wallace Doveton Dunlop, an outstanding young athlete who organised the first All Ireland Athletics Championships. His vision was to create a purpose built sporting venue and this he did at Lansdowne Road where the stadium first opened for athletics in 1872. The original Lansdowne Road Stadium was a multi-sports venue including as it did a  cinder track for athletics, a cricket pitch, a croquet green, three football pitches and facilities for archery and lawn tennis. The first rugby match played at the ground was an inter-provincial between Leinster and Munster in December 1876.

In 1878 Lansdowne held its first international rugby fixture. In the early 1900’s the IRFU secured the lease of Lansdowne Road from the Pembroke Estate. It was at this time that a plan was conceived to change the orientation of the stadium from East/West to North/South. The first stand was built in 1908. While Dunlop had conceived Lansdowne Road as a multi-purpose venue the ground soon became synonymous with rugby, although even in the 1950’s a crowd of 40,000 witnessed Olympic gold medallist Ronnie Delany run there in an international athletics meeting. The most modern part of the stadium, the East Stand, was built in 1983. It was during the 1980’s that the Irish soccer team also made Lansdowne Road its home. The first football game at the stadium took place in 1971 when Ireland played Italy in a friendly.

Aviva Stadium

The stadium is built on the site of the old Lansdowne Road venue, which was demolished in 2007, and replaces that stadium as home to its chief tenants: the Irish rugby union team and the Republic of Ireland national football team. The decision to redevelop the stadium came after plans for both Stadium Ireland and Eircom Park fell through. The Aviva Group signed a 10-year deal for the naming rights in 2009. The stadium officially opened on May 14, 2010 by Taoiseach Brian Cowen.

Unlike its predecessor, which was solely owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), the current stadium is controlled by the IRFU and the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) through a joint venture known as the Lansdowne Road Stadium Development Company (LRSDC). The joint venture has a 60-year lease on the stadium; on expiry the stadium will return to the exclusive ownership of the IRFU.

The Ground

The stadium has four tiers, with the lower and upper tiers being for general access, the second tier for premium tickets, and the third tier for corporate boxes. The North Stand, however, is single tiered due to its proximity to local housing. There are two basement levels and seven storeys of floors. The premium level holds 11,000 spectators, while the box level holds 1,300. The remaining 38,700 seats are shared between the top and bottom tiers. The 51,700 capacity of the stadium was criticised even before its opening for being too small, particularly in the light of the large attendances for games held at Croke Park since 2007 while Lansdowne Road was being redeveloped. The stadium’s roof is designed to undulate in a wave-like manner so as to avoid blocking light to local residences. Ireland’s first international game was on November 6, 2010, against South Africa, with the Springboks winning 23-21.

Stadium Tours   Mon-Sun: 10.00 - 16.00 on the hour

                10 euro’s adults; 5 euro’s children 12 and under.

                (353) 238 2300

                Email: tours @avivastadium.ie

Stadium Name  Aviva Stadium

Stadium Address

                62 Lansdowne Road

                Dublin 4

Telephone          (+3) 531 238 2300

Website               www.avivastadium.ie

E-Mail   info@avivastadium.ie

Capacity               51,700

Disabled Facilities:

In the lower and top tier seating areas there are viewing positions for wheelchair users in all areas. In the majority of cases the spaces are at the rear of the viewing area and raised so that even if a spectator stands up to celebrate the wheelchair user can still see the pitch. In the smaller North stand the wheelchair spaces are at the front of the tier. At the premium level there are wheelchair viewing spaces on both the East and West sides, again at the rear of the tier and again with raised viewing. On the box level wheelchair users can be accommodated in every box where they can sit in the rear row of the box tier.

On all the concourses the bars and food counters have a lowered section so that people in wheelchairs can be served. There are also accessible toilets close to the viewing positions. Emergency exits for people with mobility difficulties are by evacuation lifts, many of the same lifts that they will have entered by.

These are designed to allow all wheelchair users and their helpers to leave the stadium safely.

For the aid of hearing impaired and visually impaired visitors to the stadium a combination of hearing induction loops and RF radio transmitter systems are incorporated enhancing audible communications throughout the stadium. Headphones are available from the stadium management. These will pick up a radio signal transmitted within the stadium so that people can hear a commentary on the match.

Headphones must be booked no later than 5 days in advance of the event by contacting info@avivastadium.ie . A deposit of 200 euros payable by credit card will be required at the time of collection of the headphone unit.

For people with sight problems, access routes to the stadium and, where appropriate, inside the stadium, will have tactile flooring to warn of the presence of the top or bottom of a flight of stairs. When inside the stadium it is intended that people with sight problems should move around with other spectators, and then sit anywhere within the tiers. Headphones are available.

Last Updated:  March 2014

Copyright : Miles & Miles Publishing 2014