Planning Your Time

When you plan a trip to County Cork, you'll need to make a pick of the ports. The biggest one, Cobh, to the east of the Cork City, was the point of embarkation for most 19th-century Irish transatlantic passengers. Dominated by its tall-spired cathedral, the town, filled with 19th-century buildings, climbs vertiginously up- and downhill and faces southward out to sea. Ballycotton, farther to the east, is one of those soft, nostalgic towns set in the peaceful shoreline and still connected to its maritime past. Kinsale is more of a village than a town, built beside a hill at one end of an unspoiled fjordlike harbor. With its yacht marinas and tempting restaurants, Kinsale has a cosmopolitan air, but it also offers serious history at Charles Fort. Clonakilty, Schull, and Castletownbere are small and perfectly formed, while Bantry and Skibereen are larger market towns where the ghosts of the past still haunt the streetscape. Many visitors like to find a base in any of Cork's rugged three peninsulas, while others prefer the sheltered waters of subtropical Glengarriff.

If You Have Three Days

If you're here for a short stay—three days or fewer—you'd do well to base yourself in Cork City, which is easy to explore on foot. Allow a morning to take in the sights of the city center, including the Crawford Art Gallery and the indoor English Market. Take an afternoon amble from the city center to visit Blarney Castle and gardens, before settling into one of Cork's great pubs to sample the city's very own Murphy's Stout. In the morning head west to visit any of the county's stunning peninsulas, Mizen, Beara, or Sheep’s Head, with their pretty villages, alluring coastlines, wide open coves and hidden pubs. On your last day, ramble close to home by visiting Cork's maritime past in both Kinsale and Cobh, where the Titanic and many emigrants caught the last glimpse of the magical Irish coastline. Return that night to Kinsale or Cork, both handy for the airport.