Cork’s famous market, a harbour town made for lunch, and a whiskey to finish.
Start Point
Your Hotel Or
Address In Cork
Duration
9 Hours
Difficulty
Easy
If you only have one day to get to know Cork, this is the one we’d plan for you. This private Cork city and Kinsale tour starts in the heart of the city at the English Market, takes you down the coast to the colourful harbour town of Kinsale for lunch and a wander, and finishes with a whiskey tasting at Jameson Distillery Midleton. The drives are short, so most of the day is spent out of the car and in the places themselves.
We start in the heart of Ireland’s second city at the English Market, a covered food market that has been trading since 1788 and is loved by locals as much as by visitors. From there it’s a short climb up to Shandon, where St Anne’s Church and its pepper-pot tower look out over the city, and you can ring the famous Shandon bells yourself. If you enjoy a good story, Cork City Gaol brings the city’s history to life, and the riverside walks along the Lee and the grounds of University College Cork make for an easy stroll between stops.
Around half an hour south, Kinsale is a small harbour town that punches well above its weight. Charles Fort, a 17th-century star-shaped fortress, watches over the harbour from the headland, and in the town the old courthouse, where the inquest into the sinking of the Lusitania was held, is now a museum. Kinsale has long been known as one of Ireland’s great food towns, so lunch here is a pleasure rather than a pit stop.
To finish, we head a short drive east of the city to the old Midleton Distillery, where Jameson tells its story on a guided tour of the historic buildings and warehouses, with a tasting at the end. It’s a relaxed, sociable way to round off the day.
We’ll meet you at your hotel or address in Cork, or at the ship in Cobh, and bring you back when the day is done. As with all our private day tours from Cork, the day is yours to shape: linger over the market stalls or take a longer lunch in Kinsale. Your driver-guide knows Cork as a local does, food and pub tips included. It’s also our easiest Cobh shore excursion, with every stop a short drive from the port.
Behind the day is a family business that has been guiding visitors around Ireland since 2006, led by a certified, badged tour guide and rated 5.0 from reviews on TripAdvisor. You’ll travel in a Mercedes from our own fleet, sized to your group.
Kinsale is a small harbour town on the coast south of Cork, and it is best known for three things: its history, its looks and its food. Charles Fort, a star-shaped fortress on the edge of the harbour, has guarded the approach to the town since the 17th century, and the old courthouse in the centre, where the inquest into the sinking of the Lusitania was held, is now a museum. The town itself is compact and colourful, with narrow streets and painted shopfronts running down to a busy harbour, so it is a lovely place simply to wander. Kinsale has also long been known as one of Ireland’s leading food towns, with a strong tradition of seafood, so lunch here is one of the pleasures of the day. On a private tour, your driver-guide can drop you in the centre, point you to what suits your group, and meet you when you are ready to move on.
Yes, and it is the easiest one we offer. Any of our day tours can be arranged as a private shore excursion from Cobh, but Cork city, Kinsale and Jameson Distillery Midleton are all a short drive from the port, so far more of your time goes on exploring and far less on the road. That makes it a good choice for shorter port calls, or for anyone who wants a full, varied day without long drives. We meet you at the ship, plan the order of the stops around your arrival and all-aboard times, and bring you back to Cobh with time to spare. When you enquire, send us your ship’s name and your times in port, and tell us what matters most to your group, whether that is food, history or the whiskey, and we will shape the day around it. Because the tour is private, the vehicle waits for you, and your driver-guide keeps an eye on the clock so you do not have to.
The English Market in the centre of Cork is open Monday to Saturday and is normally closed on Sundays and public holidays, so if the market is high on your list, it is worth planning your day around it. It is a covered market, which makes it a good stop in any weather, and it is at its liveliest in the morning, when the stalls are fully stocked with fish, meat, cheese, bread and local produce. It is a working market as much as a visitor attraction, used every day by people from Cork, which is a large part of its charm. If your tour or your port day falls on a Sunday, we will simply adjust the plan: there is plenty more of the city to see, and your driver-guide can suggest other food stops instead. Tell us your date when you enquire, and we will confirm the best order for your day.
Yes. The tour is private to your group and fully customisable, so the stops on this page are a starting point rather than a fixed plan. Blarney Castle is close to Cork city, so if kissing the Blarney Stone is on your list, tell us when you enquire and we will look at fitting it in, adjusting the rest of the day to suit. Equally, if you would rather skip the distillery and spend longer in Kinsale, or add Cork City Gaol and the Shandon bells to a longer city morning, just say. We have a saying on tour, “we never say no,” within what the time and the road allow. If you would like to see Cobh and the Rock of Cashel alongside Jameson, our Rock of Cashel, Cobh and Jameson tour covers those instead. Your driver-guide will help you get the balance right, so the day feels full without ever feeling rushed.
A badged national guide and a family with more than sixty years of showing people around Ireland.
Book this day tour below, or send us your dates and we will plan the day with you. If you would like to see more of Ireland, we can build it into a longer tailor-made trip.
