Ireland – Places to visit near Cork on the Atlantic Coastal Route

On this trip we could meet cute towns like Clifden or Westport , hike the impressive cliffs of Moher , see castles like those of Dunguaire and Kinvarra , or the manor house Westport House .

Now we have made another route around Cork and the area of ​​the peninsulas in the south of Ireland.

And we have seen beautiful villages, a castle, a manor house and we have hiked in a natural area along cliffs.

How to get to Cork

The starting point to know these interesting places is the city ​​of Cork , the second most populated in Ireland, which can be reached in summer by direct flight from Madrid or Barcelona.

Our trip was before the availability of the same, so we flew to Dublin, where we rented a car to go to Cork, a city that is just over half an hour from the Irish capital.

What to see near Cork

Here we tell you what to see and what to do around Cork , in the south of Ireland .

Cobh

One of the most beautiful images that after this trip we have of Ireland (perhaps the most beautiful?) Is the one that you can see from the port of Cobh on the front of colorful facades houses, with a neo-Gothic cathedral that rises above them.

Cobh is located on the coast, just over half an hour from Cork, and is part of its port complex.

Its history is linked to the emigration of the Irish to America , since from that port more than 6 million Irish people left between the mid-nineteenth century and the mid-twentieth century.

Now that port is a stopover for cruise ships that sail through the British Isles, but if there is a scale that has marked the history of Cobh that has been the Titanic , which is remembered in the attraction known as Titanic Experience.

And this place was also the protagonist of another maritime disaster, the sinking in 1915 of the Lusitania , transatlantic that was torpedoed by a German submarine.

This caused the death of 1,198 people and the subsequent entry of the United States into the First World War .

Cobh can be a place to do various activities , but the essential thing is to walk around its port and enjoy the beautiful scene of its multi-colored houses culminated with the neo-Gothic cathedral , a building that began to be built in 1868.

Titanic Experience in Cobh

The port of Cobh was the last stop of the Titanic during its maiden voyage and before its sinking.

There, 120 passengers went up and another seven passengers got off, and one of them made the last picture of the missing boat.

In Cobh, the pier is still preserved from where the passengers left for the ship and in the building that used to be the headquarters of a shipping company, you can now visit the Titanic Experience attraction .

There, above all you will know the history of the scale of the Titanic in the port of Queenstown , which was how it was called this town,

The visit takes place with guided tours and will take you about 45 minutes.

During the same you will see a multimedia presentation, as well as corners that emulate how were the Titanic cabins and various objects and photos.

The visit times of Titanic Experience in Cobh are, from April to September, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., with tour every 15 minutes, and from October to March, from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with tours every half hour.

The price of the entrance of the Titanic Experience is for adults 9.50 euros, with discounts for children, families and seniors.

Blarney Castle

Just 10 kilometers west of Cork you have one of those castles that we love so much.

In a beautiful setting of a large garden is the Blarney Castle , which was built in the thirteenth century.

Of the same hardly is the Tower of the Tribute and some enclosure.

You must climb to the top of the tower where many visitors come to kiss the so-called Stone of Blarney , or Stone of Destiny , which was used in the coronation of the Scottish kings during the Middle Ages .

That if, for it you will have to throw yourself to the ground and practically hang yourself towards the precipice, all an exercise of contorsionismo.

The visiting hours of Blarney Castle are, according to the time of year, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in winter, and until 7 p.m. in summer.

The general admission price is 18 euros, with discounts for seniors, students, children and families.

Kinsale

Another must-see near the city of Cork , just over half an hour to the south, is the pretty village of Kinsale .

It is a coastal town that stands out for the multicolored facades of its houses, which you will discover in a walk through its streets.

As you can see in the video that heads this article, our visit coincided with a rally of classic cars , which increased the attractiveness of the same by the charm of the many participating cars, whose color contrasted with that of the facades of the houses .

Bantry House

Following the route by car to the southwest of Cork , towards the region known as West Cork , you arrive at the coastal town of Bantry where you can visit Bantry House .

It is an imposing manor house facing the sea and surrounded by splendid gardens, which you can see with the images of the second video inserted in this article.

This mansion was built around the year 1700 and since 1750 it belongs to the White family , dukes of Bantry .

Bantry House can be visited from the middle of the last century, and during your tour you should stroll through its beautiful gardens, Italian style in the interior, arranged on several terraces with a long staircase of more than 100 steps.

In the visit you will also walk through the stables and inside the mansion, where you will see several stays in the public area, because you have to take into account that it is a house where the owners still reside.

It is worth ending the visit by spending some time sitting on the terrace of the tea room .

The visiting hours of Bantry House are, from April to May and from September to October, every day of the week, from 10 am to 5 pm.

The prices of the tickets for the visit of the house and the garden are 11 euros for adults, and only the garden, 5 euros, with discounts for children, families and seniors.

Garnish Island

Not far from the village of Bantry you have the opportunity to make a curious excursion from Glengarriff in Bantry Bay .

It is a question of crossing in a small boat to Garnish Island , where you arrive in just 10 minutes, and in whose route through the calm waters of the bay you will pass by a seal colony  with about 250 specimens.

Garnish is actually a park with nice and nice gardens to walk around.

In this place an Italian garden, with its fountains, a Greek temple, and even a stone tower where you can climb and from where you have views of the surroundings of the aforementioned bay.

Here you can check the schedules to visit Garnish throughout the year, with ferries frequently every 30 minutes, and a price of 12 euros.

Hiking in Sheep’s Head

To enjoy the wildest landscapes of this area of ​​the southern peninsulas of Ireland, you can go to the lighthouse located on the tip of the known as Sheep’s Head .

In an arid landscape as a result of being habitually hit by wind and rain, Sheep’s Head is the domain of sheep and cows.

When you reach the end of the road, where in the parking lot you will find a small tea room , you can walk to the lighthouse in a route of an average.

Eyeries

If you like villages with colorful houses, in the nearby peninsula of Beara you have the small town of Eyeries .

To this corner we get the tourists with the claim to take pictures of their streets with houses whose facades are decorated with striking colors.

It is another of the curious places that you can write down for your trip along the Atlantic Coastal Route in the area of ​​the peninsulas of southern Ireland.