Cork is the place to come if you love excellent beer and delicious seafood; it’s the perfect mix of city life and authentic Irish charm. It’s small enough that it’s very walkable, yet large enough to give you plenty of options of things to do that you won’t find in the smaller Irish towns.
Trust me when I say I know about these smaller Irish towns. I’ve been visiting my boyfriend here in the North, over the last 3 years. It’s definitely what I consider the countryside and there isn’t much to do. So to make up for that, we’ve traveled pretty extensively around the whole island.
It’s a gorgeous, lush destination full of mystique and folklore, known as the Emerald Isle (or is it Island?). The weather is usually quite wet: a combination of mist, fog, drizzle, a dreary grey sky and the sun can all happen in one afternoon. All the seasons in one day, they say. Out of all of the many places I’ve been, I can confidently say Cork is an absolute must during your trip to Ireland.
What You’ll Find in This Guide to Cork
♥What makes this area special
♥How to get there
♥Where to stay
♥Where to eat
♥Things to do
♥Places to drink
♥Additional tips
Cork, Ireland: The Home Of Delicious Stouts
I bet when you think of Ireland, you think of Guinness. Yet when you come down to the south of Ireland here in Cork you’ll notice everywhere brandishes the signs for Beamish and Murphy’s. Down here, these local stouts outshine Guinness and for good reason. I personally find these two stouts to be tastier than Guinness, especially an ice cold Beamish in the branded glass. It’s creamier, smoother and I’m not going to lie, I can toss them back a whole lot easier. I guess you can say that after my time here in Ireland, I’ve grown to truly enjoy drinking these stouts.
Since we are near the coast, the seafood here is divine. Being from Florida in the USA, I feel like I know good seafood and the dishes I tried here definitely rank high for taste and quality. You definitely won’t be disappointed! And of course, this is where you’ll come to visit the famous Blarney Castle which is just one of many things to do while visiting.
How To Get To Cork, Ireland
Flying: If you’re flying from the USA or someplace else that’s far, I recommend flying into Dublin as that is the main international airport here, resulting in the cheapest airfare. If you’re traveling nearby throughout Europe, you may find a decent fare just flying in directly if you aren’t planning on exploring any other areas of the island.
Car Rental: If you’re flying in to Dublin and plan on doing a roadtrip (which is what many do), I’d recommend hiring a car rental so you can have the flexibility to go when and where you want and of course this allows you to drive through all of the quaint Irish towns on your journey, truly adding to the enjoyment of the trip. The best parts of Ireland are seen during your journey from place to place, the scenery here is truly magical.
*I recommend renting a car via the company SIXT. We used them to rent a car in Northern Ireland that we took to Scotland via ferry and it was super easy to deal with in terms of picking up and dropping off the car and the rates were extremely affordable.
Train or Bus: If you’re unable to rent or wish to avoid this, you also have the option of either taking the train or the bus for a hassle-free way of arriving. However if you plan on traveling around the island and stopping off at the little towns in-between, I would recommend against this. It takes quite a while to get anywhere due to the roads and the fares can add up quick. Plus uber is not readily available for the small towns outside of the cities so you may not find it easy to get to and from while doing day trips out of the city.
*To book buses, it’s recommended to download the TFI Go App to easily book your bus services around the island.
*If you prefer to book the train, you can book your routes via the Irish Rail to get around the island.
*If you plan on going to Northern Ireland, then you would want to utilize Translink in order to organize your buses or trains for transport through the North.
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Once you’re in the city, it’s very walkable. If you would like to get around without walking you can book ubers which use the app to pair you with a local taxi. You can also just flag down a taxi or take the local buses. And if you’re someone who enjoys biking, the TFI bikes are available for rent so you can zip around usually offering the first 30 minutes free.
Where To Stay In Cork, Ireland
Cork is the main city in the south of Ireland, nicknamed the “real capital” of Ireland. The city is very walkable so I highly recommend staying in the city itself so you are able to easily explore the many shops, bars and restaurants. Here’s a list of a few recommendations below based on your budget:
Higher Budget:
The Hayfield Manor – If you’re looking for an exquisite stay at an old world charm manor, this property is stunning. It’s a 15 minute walk from the city center and has an on-site spa and upscale restaurant. Rooms run around 421 – 457 EURO per night. Again, if you’re thinking luxury – this is your place.
Ballea Castle – If you’re looking for a unique stay, consider staying in this gorgeous castle. It’s about 6 miles from Cork city center and is perfect if you rented a car because they have on-site parking. Rooms run around 260 – 350 EURO per night depending on the type of room you’d like. Not bad for a freaking CASTLE!
Residence Inn by Marriott – If you’re looking for an upscale hotel that is in the heart of the city, Marriott has this branch available for about 194 – 215 EURO per night. It also has breakfast includeed.
Medium Budget:
Hotel Isaacs – This hotel is highly rated and in the city center. It boasts a restaurant, bar, and a courtyard for you to have amenities to enjoy on site. The price is good as well at about 109 – 150 EURO per night.
We stayed at the Moxy Hotel, which is a branch of the Marriott chain. This hotel was in an ideal spot, right across the river from where the main shopping street is, just a short 2 minutes away from the action.
I often select to stay in this chain when traveling around when it’s available due to it’s modern look, social atmosphere, and moderate pricing. The rooms are always super clean yet basic, and you are always given a drink voucher upon arrival for a nice touch. They also offer an included breakfast if you’d like to add that to your booking, this saves you from having to leave your hotel if you aren’t someone who’s interested in sampling breakfast outside of the venue.
1 night around ~125 EURO or $145 USD.
Lower Budget:
Bru Bar & Hostel – This hostel is great because you have the option of booking a single bed for 34 EURO or a private room for about 84 EURO. This makes it perfect for solo or couple travelers who are trying to snag accommodation on a budget. It has an on-site bar, outside terrace and a kitchen.
Sheila’s Tourist Hostel – This hostel is also in the city and offers cinema nights for a bit of socializing (if you can even socialize during a movie lol). They also offer single beds for about 33 EURO or a private room for 80 EURO. This hostel is rated oh so slightly higher than Bru Bar.
Where To Eat In Cork, Ireland
As I mentioned previously, Cork is so close to the sea so I highly recommend enjoying the seafood scene while you’re here. Of course there is also local Irish fare to enjoy as well as butter and cheeses. Fun fact – Cork used to be the world’s largest butter exporter. If you love butter like I do, you can visit their butter museum.
Gallaghers Pub – Their pies are what they’re famous for. We were in the mood for seafood and heard from a couple on our walking tour that they tried their seafood pie that was to die for. So of course we said say no more and went immediately ourselves to find out. Verdict: they weren’t wrong. We scarfed it down, basically drooling for more. This is a small restaurant that was super busy when we arrived. Without a reservation we had to sit at the bar which was fine for us as we ordered a nice pint of Beamish and Murphy’s each while we waited, however if you’re a larger group or wish to have guaranteed seating, I’d recommend calling ahead and making a reservation. Nearby to the Moxy if you stay there.
Quinlan’s – This is a lovely, proper restaurant that doesn’t have a bar. If you’re looking for somewhere nice to have lunch or dinner, I recommend coming here. We saw so many dishes that looked incredible. We had already had a large lunch so we popped in for just a simple appetizer “dinner” so we could be sure to try their famous seafood chowder. We also ordered their garlic chili prawns. Both were so so good we wished we had more time in Cork to come back again and order proper meals. My recommendation – Be sure to ask for more bread right away! Trust me, you’ll want to use it to sop up that lovely garlic chili oil the prawns are cooked in and use it as a spoon for the chowder. It’s that good!
Lennoxs MacCurtain Street – This place is by no means a high rating type of place, but if you know anything about Ireland, the late night meal is always going to be at a chippy shop. This spot was near our hotel so we stopped in here each night after our pub hopping to soak up the booze with a nice curry and cheese chips. It’s greasy and fattening, the perfect way to end the night. If you haven’t ended your night with one of these, you’re definitely missing out!
Tongue Singh in Marina Market – You can’t come to Ireland and not have a spice bag. There’s no obvious “best place” here like you’ll find in Galway or Dublin, but if you’re craving one this is the spot that many recommend. There’s nothing like that spicy, garlicky-pepper chicken and chip combo. *By the way, the best spot in Galway is Xi’an Street Food.
Son Of A Bun – If you’re craving a good burger, this place comes by great recommendation. It’s right near the Moxy Hotel if you end up booking there.
Reiwa Japanese Restaurant – We ate here on our first night to Cork because unbeknownst to us, everything is freaking closed on Boxing day. We had a spot on our list to eat and on the way we realized everything was closed: shops, restaurants and even most bars. Luckily we found this Japanese spot that wasn’t. It was very delicious and decently priced. My boyfriend had the vegetarian udon noodles and
Crust Cork Pizza – After a long day of exploring Blarney town and Cobh, plus having several pints, we were feeling too tired to leave the hotel. We ended up ordering pizza near our hotel from this highly rated spot. The pizza was very good, and I definitely recommend getting a couple of their garlic aioli/mayos. Holy crap they were divine.
Other Recommendations:
After our walking tour, the guide graciously gave us a ton of recommendations for places to eat. Seeing as how we were only there for a few days, we didn’t get a chance to try these other places but will definitely do when we go back, to which I’ll update that here. However if you’re interested in what those places are so you can check them out on your visit, I’ll list them below.
Izz Cafe
Miyazaki Japanese
Kelly’s (Irish Food)
The Thomond
Market Lane
The Farmgate
Greenwich Cafe
Scoozi
Isaac’s Restaurant
O’Reilly’s
Catch of the Day
For the vegetarian options – The Quay Co-Op, Sunflower, Paradiso
Things To Do And See In Cork, Ireland
Eat, Drink and Shop around
Cork is a great city to explore simply by walking around. It has so many cafes, restaurants of all types, and endless pubs to wine and dine at, and if you care to shop there is a whole strip of stores as well from H&M to Urban Outfitters. This is what I recommend doing during your trip when you aren’t busy sight-seeing.. in fact it’s what we mainly went there to do!
English Market
This famous market is open Monday-Saturday from 8:00am – 6:00pm. It’s closed on Sundays. Hopefully you’ll be able to check it out during your trip, unfortunately for us we went during the weekend after Christmas so most of the stalls were closed. We did walk around and check out what was open, and according to our guide it’s a really amazing place to check out.
Free Walking Tour
Recommend to go with Owen Fox from Freetour. We try to do a free walking tour everywhere we travel to. There is truly no better way to learn the history of the place you’re at than from a local expert, and they always dish out loads of recommendations afterwards! Plus it’s free – you can’t beat that for value.
*Make sure you always have cash to tip your guide.
Day Tour to Blarney Castle, Cobh & Kinsale
If you are short on time and want to be shuttled around to explore all 3 places instead of taking the time to do your own day trips, consider booking a group tour. For just 77 EURO you can easily and seamlessly see the best of all 3 towns. You can book the group tour here.
Bicyling Tour
If walking isn’t your thing, you can embark on this wonderful 2 hour bicyle tour around the city to all of the amazing spots with a tour guide. You can book this tour here for just 48 EURO.
St. Fin Barre’s Cathedral
This cathedral can’t be missed during your trip as it sits in the heart of the city. It was built in the 1800s and boasts gothic style architecture and is honestly just breathtaking to look at. You just don’t get this back in Florida where I’m from, it never gets old to look at.
Cork City Gaol
This castle-like building used to be where they kept prisoners. It’s spelled gaol but pronounced like jail. You can come here and do a tour if you’d like, you can book your tour here for 12 EURO.
Shandon Bells & St. Anne’s Church
Shandon Bells is the name of the tower of St. Anne’s Church. This is right near the hotel Moxy that we stayed at. It’s also known as the 4 Face Liar – due to the four clock faces showing four different times. Our guide joked that it’s recently been showing signs of accuracy, hence the reason they were doing construction works on it during our time there, lol.
Nano Nagle Place
This is a museum that honors Nano Nagle, who is famous for secretly teaching the poor of Cork. She is responsible for founding schools and convents and creating a volunteer Catholic education. You can do a self-guided tour for 8.50 EURO or opt for a guided tour for 11 EURO.
Fitzgerald’s Park
The most wonderful park in all of Cork. It has many amenities like a playground, cafe and a museum. If you’re looking for a place to stroll and find yourself in good weather, I’d recommend checking it out.
Butter Museum
Cork used to be the world’s largest exporter of Butter. If you’re familiar with the Kerrygold brand, then you’ll know that Irish butter can’t be beaten. If you’re looking for something different to do during your visit, consider checking out this museum that is near the Shandon Bells & St. Anne’s church. Tickets are 5 EURO to visit. Note though that they do butter making demonstrations which are on Weds & Sat at 12 noon – and you’re unable to buy tickets in advance for this. If you’d like to watch, make sure to get there in advance before they sell out to get a ticket upon arrival.
Street Art
You’ll find street art all over Cork City. To do your own little street art tour, wander through the streets and alleys collecting all the ones you can find.
Short Day Trips From Cork City
Blarney Castle & Gardens
Located in Blarney Village about 15 minutes from Cork City. It’s home to the famous blarney stone where people from all over the world come to give it a kiss for the gift of the gab. (Luckily for me I’ve already been born with this, just ask my elementary school teachers LOL).
This castle also has a beautiful garden. Tickets are 26 EURO each so we actually opted to skip this during our trip since we came in the winter and the garden was mainly dead. We’ll be back in the spring or summer when the flowers and trees are in full bloom to really get our monies worth. However, if you’re here any other time of the year and don’t have the luxury of just coming back, I’d just book it!
This little town is also cute and has some some shops and places to eat and have a drink so you can make a day trip out of it.
Blarney Woollen Mills
This is an old, famous hotel located just 15 minutes from Cork City. A must to check out when you visit Blarney Castle. You can book a room here, shop in their store or enjoy a pint or meal at the restaurant. We stopped in to explore their store which to my surprise when we went to the top floor, I discovered they make their own yarn there. I purchased a scarf that was beautiful as a little souvenir for myself. The stuff is a bit pricey, but knowing it’s made with such great quality and locally instead of some cheap polyester from China makes it worth it. They also do free shipping to the USA if you spend over like 200 or 300 Euro.
Cobh
Cobh is about a 25 minute drive from Cork City. It used to be called Queenstown and is famously known as being the last port of call for the Titanic. It’s also the port where most of Ireland’s emigration occurred, in fact the first person to ever enter Ellis Island as an immigrant was Annie Moore, who boarded in Queenstown. If you are able to see the shore from the water or even in different vantage points, you will notice that many of the buildings are multi-colored like a rainbow. I saw a video online of someone flying their drone to the right of the magnificent church there and they were able to catch the shot of all the colorful buildings. I’ll def be back to do the same next time! There’s a few things here for you to do to spend your time.
Visit the Annie Moore statue & Walk along the water – there’s a lovely sidewalk along the port here where you’ll run into the statue where you can learn more about Annie Moore.
Check out St. Colman’s Cathedral – You won’t be able to miss this as it towers over the small town and has a stunning view on the hill overlooking the harbor.
Titantic Museum – Visit here to learn more about the Titanic, you’ll be given a passenger name (one of the 123 who embarked from there) and find out at the end of your experience whether you (the passenger) survived or not.
Have a pint at Rob Roy Hotel – This hotel is famously known for holding “American Wakes”. Similar to a wake when someone dies, back then when people emigrated from Ireland to America they were never seen again, so in some regard it was like them dying. So they would hold these wakes to say goodbye to one another. This hotel is also the place where those Titanic passengers stayed the night before they left. We made sure to pop in and have a pint in an effort to try to absorb some of that history.
Kinsale
Kinsale is a lovely seaside town about 35 minutes drive from Cork City. Here you’ll find a few things to do if you’re looking for a nice day trip from Cork:
Visit Charles Fort & Desmond Castle – The fort is from the 17th century and the castle has a medieval tower with a wine museum.
Check out the Lusitania Museum & Old Head Signal Tower – Here is where you can learn more about the tragic sinking of the Lusitania.
Scily Walk – This is a popular walk along the harbor where you can enjoy the views.
Enjoy the beach or water activities – If you’re coming during summer you can relax on the beach or do kayaking or sailing. The water is likely still going to be quite cold though!
Spike Island
Located right across from Cobh harbor, you’ll find Spike Island. This place is in such a strategic location that it was used as a military fortress and a prison. You can take a tour there that is 3.5 hours long including the ferry crossing. If you have a few hours to kill, consider adding this to your itinerary.
Jameson Distillery Tour
Jameson is probably Ireland’s most famous whiskey, known world-wide. The original distillery was in Dublin I believe, but it’s since been moved to a small town near Cork, called Midleton, where it is produced today. Midleton is just a short 15-minute drive from Cork City. If you love whiskey, this is a popular place to visit as they offer tours, tastings, and cocktail classes.
You can book your tour here for the Jameson Distillery for just 27 EURO. If you’d like to take it a step further, you can also book a cocktail making class which is a great experience. Click here to book.
Places To Drink In Cork Ireland
We were only here for a short 3 days, but we tried to fit in as many pubs as we could. We visited 12 different pubs, and have a list of others to check out when we return. All had such lovely, unique vibes depending on what you’re looking for. The only thing that was missing were cosy fireplaces which would have been lovely during the colder winter nights. We didn’t see any which we thought was strange but maybe they aren’t allowed for whatever reason or we just didn’t go to the right spots.
Costigan’s – This place is probably the most popular pub here. It’s quite large and was packed when we went. It used to be an old grocer, as you’ll see the walls decorated with the old timey products. Some of the rooms are still decorated as if they were actual sets used back in the day. The restrooms are up this really old staircase made out of old wood that really felt like the Titanic.
Sin É – This spot is small and cosy and has live music every night. In fact it has the longest run of traditional music sessions, since 1972. Apparently even superstars have sang here. You can find the live music daily from 6:30-8:30 and 9:00-11:00. Get there early for a good spot because it gets packed quick. Right next to the Moxy.
The Shellbourne Bar – This spot was good fun, with a few people dancing and having a great time. This spot is near the chippy and the Moxy.
The Rob Roy Hotel – This is located in Cobh and had an attached pub where American Wakes used to be held, it’s also the location of where the Titanic passengers who embarked from Cobh stayed. If you’re there, def worth to have a pint here.
The Oval – This place is across from where the old Beamish brewery was located. The people who lived in the Oval worked there and eventually tuned the downstairs into a bar. It was a really old, cool looking spot so we had to check it out. It had a very cosy vibe with little seating nooks for you to cram in with your friends. Apparently it’s famous for it’s gorgeous oval ceiling, which we weren’t aware of so we missed it on our visit. Be sure to look up when you are there!
The Gallagher – We had a pint here with our meal, it’s called a pub yet it’s a restaurant actually so I’d probably skip for simply a pint but definitely you must eat here!
Franciscan Well – This is a craft beer pub that sells all of their own brewed beer. It’s located inside of an old 13th century Franciscan monastery. They also sell food and there is a large outdoor area that’s covered, serving delicious pizza from a wood-fire oven.
Hi-Bar – This place was recommended because it’s an old pub that doesn’t allow cell phones so we thought that sounded cool let’s check it out. However upon arrival it was a small little place the size of someone’s living room and the lights were so bright… that yeah we just decided to turn around and leave lol. They probably don’t let you use your phone there because you can see everyone’s business!
Mutton Lane – Old-school pub that was very packed and small inside yet there’s an outside lane you can chill in if you’re able to snag a table.
Brick Lane – Cool vibe, less old-school pub feel. They had a DJ here and host live music some nights.
The Raven – This bar was very cute, date-night vibes. Reminded me of a bar you’d see in a big city. It also sold food. Definitely recommend coming here if you’re looking to go somewhere that isn’t that typical Irish pub vibe.
The Impala – Again, this is another more fancy, fashionable bar that isn’t pub-style. They had craft beers on tap too and had different tables and rooms you could snag if they were empty or had a few empty seats. Seems to foster a more social environment, yet it’s more sitting down than standing.
xx, christine
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