Cork

Cycling

With spectacular terrain for cycling, West Cork offers awesome landscapes and rugged coastal routes.

Cycling

West Cork offers spectacular terrain for cycling with awesome landscapes and rugged coastal routes.

Fishing

A true angler’s paradise, the Cork region is ideal whether your line is deep-sea fishing, shore fishing, game fishing or coarse fishing.

Blarney Castle

If your kids don’t enjoy the gift of the gab just yet then bring them along to the historic Blarney Castle. The castle contains the infamous Stone of Eloquence, which has the traditional power of conferring eloquence on all who kiss it…or so they say! But whether it works of not, kissing the Blarney Stone is a right of passage for all visitors to County Cork.

Dursey Island Cable Car

Test whether you’ve a head for heights with Ireland’s only cable car service, which brings you to an island of remarkable scenic beauty and total tranquility.

Foto Wildlife Park

Take a walk on the wild side in Cork's fabulous wildlife park, with wallabies, cheetahs, penguins and many, many more, it's a nature trail to remember.

Kinsale Fringe Jazz Festival

Running at the same time as the Cork Jazz Festival, Kinsale’s Fringe affair has a more intimate atmosphere with a host of acts from Ireland, the UK and the US.

West Cork Chamber Music Festival

Bantry House on the beautiful Bantry Bay is the setting for this acclaimed music festival that provides chamber music in a very intimate environment. 

Ballymaloe Restaurant and Country House, Shanagarry, County Cork

Ballymaloe may be becoming more famous for its internationally renowned cookery school but this elegant country house is where it all started. The restaurant uses the finest local ingredients, many of which are grown in the farm and garden and focuses on high-quality home cooking. 

Island Cottage Restaurant and Cookery School, Skibbereen

Whether you want to learn to cook or simply enjoy the fantastic food, Island Cottage is a unique spot on a small island.

Kinsale Food Festival

Kinsale’s popular gourmet food festival in October draws the food cognoscenti from all over Europe, and is a celebration of all the town has to offer. 

Boo, 3 Faulkner’s Lane (off Patrick Street)

Hip bar that gets packed on weekends.

Instinct, Market Lane, off Patrick Street, Cork;

Cork’s premier gay venue with karaoke, drag queens and dance tunes.

The Other Place, St Augustine Street, Cork;

Full-on parties on Friday, Saturday and Sunday with a predominately male crowd.

Stephen Pearce Pottery, Midleton

This large store contains an extensive selection of work from renowned Irish potter Stephen Pearce, as well as other excellent crafts.

The Barn Gallery, Drimoleague

Professional artist Sheila Hooks paints the local West Cork landscape and her paintings are in corporate collections in Ireland, and private collections throughout Europe and the US.

Bantry House and Gardens

Ancestral home of the Earls of Bantry, Bantry House is still the home of their descendant Egerton Shelswell-White and has been open to the public since the 1940s. The house is beautifully and elegantly furnished while the beautifully restored and terraced gardens are an absolute delight.

Charles Fort, Kinsale, County Cork

Constructed in the late 17th century, this is a classic example of a star-shaped fort. The magnificent fortress of 1677 is the largest military citadel in Ireland.

Garnish Island

Situated in the harbour of Glengarriff, Bantry Bay, Garnish Island covers 15 hectares and is a garden of rare beauty. Its sheltered location and position in the line of the Gulf Stream means that exotic plants have positively flourished.