We are senior citizens about to leave for Ireland in two weeks. Traveling by train or bus.
We will be taking the train from Shannon Airport to Cork.
Question is: Once we get to Cork to see the above should we take tour (s) from Cork or can be "wing it on our own" by bus to various destinations?
Any ideas on this would be greatly appreciated.
Richard and Mary Shaw
If your primary interest is to tour Kerry and Dingle without a car you'd probably be better off basing yourselves in Killarney rather than Cork - which is a hour and a half away from Killarney and about 2.5 hours from Dingle town. Would make for a very long day indeed. There are a number of day trip and tour providers based in Killarney that offer both full and half day excursions to all of your points of interest, whereas any tour originating from Cork will likely be limited in scope due to the time involved just getting over to Kerry and back.
Another advantage of basing in Killarney is that you could explore the very pretty National Park on foot or bicycle at your leisure rather than having to rely on an organized tour.
There is no train service that I'm aware of between Shannon and Cork (or Killarney) - it'll be a bus trip whichever direction you elect to go. There is train service between Cork and Killarney - about 1.5 hours each way.
Probably your hotel plans are set, but definitely agree with Killarney. We flew into Dublin, and took a bus to Killarney. 4 hours, 40 Euros each. Stayed at McSweeney Arms hotel, very nice. From our hotel in Killarney, we walked to the Tourist Office and took a 1 day bus tour of the Ring of Kerry with Paddywagon Tours. It was very nice. Enjoyed the pubs in Killarney, had good Indian food near the hotel.
Mr. and Ms. Shaw: Consider changing your plans. Rather than going to Cork, it would be better to use Dingle town, Tralee or Killarney as a base for the Dingle Peninsula, Lakes of Killarney and Ring of Kerry. Maybe you could stay in one of those towns and then shift to Cork or vice versa.
As far as mode of transport, I have taken the bus or train all over Ireland. I prefer those to a car.
However, I rented a car twice in my five stays in Ireland. If you rent a car, you will have to get used to driving on the other side of the road. In 1993, I rented a car with a stick shift, meaning I quickly learned driving on the other side of the road with a stick to boot.
Can you change where you stay? Rabbies Tours has day tours based out of Killarney. One goes to Dingle and Slea Head, the other to Ring of Kerry and surrounds. They could resolve your transportation problem since you won’t have a car. https://www.rabbies.com//en/tour-search?q=Ireland&destination%5B%5D=Ireland&departure_point%5B%5D=Killarney&days%5B%5D=1&start_date=&end_date=&sort=popular&order=desc
If you're unable to change your plan at this late date and are committed to staying in Cork, I'd suggest checking out the Irish Rail website to see if their schedule would allow you to join one of the many day tours based in Killarney, which might be your only option for seeing Dingle. The fares are relatively cheap and the journey isn't an unpleasant one - just time consuming.
Relying on the train to get you to Killarney and back would be a cost- effective way to spend the day wandering around the National Park too, which would be well worth the effort I think.
We stayed in Killarney and did daytours with Deros Tours to Dingle ,the Ring of Kerry and the Gap of Dunloe
Enjoyed daytours in a group very much
When you prefer touring on your own I can recommend Walkwithme.ie Ray and Mary are great Guides for the Area
Highly recommended
Perhaps they pick you up in Cork for tours To contact them see link above
