Cork - places to go, stay, do, eat...

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coolaboola

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I'm toying with the idea of taking a cycling hollier with a group of friends next year (in the hope that the rain may have stopped by then!) Cork (city and county) tickle my fancy. But I'd love some inspiration for an itinerary.

I know there are companies that organise this sort of thing but obviously there's a premium to be paid for bike hire, guide and organising. We all have our own bikes and are happy to do the organising bit ourselves. In fact I hope it will give us the flexibility to tailor the holiday to our preferences.

Anyhoo, am eagerly looking for inspiration for where to go. Any 'mustn't miss' towns, restaurants, sights, B&B's, hostels, etc? Any suggestions much appreciated.
 
How about heading west from Cork City and taking in the coastal towns of Clonakilty, Glandore, Union Hall, Skib, Baltimore, Schull,and so on? Beatiful beaches, places to see.
Or , depending on the level of fitness within the group, you could look at cycling the Ring of Kerry - maybe going from Killarney to Kenmare, again taking in spectacular scenery particularly between Glenbeigh and Sneem. You would see a lot of cyclists in this area in the summer months.
 
Nice suggestions Deefox. I'm thinking we might aim for a moderate cycle so the Ring of Kerry might be a bit ambitious. I took a stab at putting together a draft itinerary and came up with Cork city - Kinsale - Rosscarbery - Schull/Baltimore or environs - Bantry/Glengariff or environs - Dunmanway or environs - Cork City. Haven't measured up the distances so I'm not sure if that's all wildly ambitious but it gives an idea of the sort of loop I'm talking about. How does that look?
 
in the city you can check out Firzgerald park and the museum there. Apparently it is good. Walking the beara area is supposed to be good too although.
I woudl recommend lough Eign (don't know the correct spelling) its the only saltwater lake in ireland and at night the plankton there gets bright so there is a green glow from the water (kinda like the lee...)
 
I'd suggest that you check out the Beara Way cycle route - it starts in Cork City and continues all the way to the end of the Beara peninsula - it's speicifically designed as a cycle route, so will take you off the busy roads as much as possible.

I'm not a cyclist, but I do a bit of walking in the region so I'm relatively familiar with the route. I was in the Beara peninsula over the August bank holiday weekend and there were quite a few cyclists who appeared to be following the route

The other routes suggested above would pass through interesting towns, but the roads connecting these are very busy during the tourist season and when I drive them, I always feel pity for the cyclists traveling along them.
 
coolaboola said:
Nice suggestions Deefox. I'm thinking we might aim for a moderate cycle so the Ring of Kerry might be a bit ambitious. I took a stab at putting together a draft itinerary and came up with Cork city - Kinsale - Rosscarbery - Schull/Baltimore or environs - Bantry/Glengariff or environs - Dunmanway or environs - Cork City. Haven't measured up the distances so I'm not sure if that's all wildly ambitious but it gives an idea of the sort of loop I'm talking about. How does that look?
Click to expand...

You're missing Clonakilty between Kinsale and Rosscarbery, that would be a pity. Also, skip Dunmanway, nothing to see there.
 
Thanks for all your suggestions! Very helpful.

Dicette, noted about the Beara cycle route. I'll look into it. I don't particularly fancy cycling along fast roads (I cycle daily in Dublin, but the traffic bearly moves - I freak out a bit on more open roads further out i.e. where traffic moves at more than 10 mph!)

Will add Clonakilty to route and skip Dunmanway! Am a bit short of stops on the return journey now (or we'll have one hell of a cycle on our last day!) Any suggestions of suitable stops on the return loop from, say Bantry/Glengariff back to Cork city?
 
While Dunmanway itself is not inspiring, the hinterland is picturesque.

There is somewhere in the area where you can stay in one of the old horsedrawn caravans (think Wanderly Wagon), also there's supposed to be a nice hostel in the area (it may be called Shiplake). There is a strong possibility that both of these are run by the same people and in the same location. I've never stayed in either, but a friend stayed in the caravans a few years ago.
 
Thanks a million for all the useful suggestions! I'm refining my itinerary and was wondering which of Skibbereen, Schull and Baltimore to include (they're all relatively close and I can't find much to decide between them). Any recommendations?
 
coolaboola said:
Thanks a million for all the useful suggestions! I'm refining my itinerary and was wondering which of Skibbereen, Schull and Baltimore to include (they're all relatively close and I can't find much to decide between them). Any recommendations?
Click to expand...

Well you basically need to go through Skibbereen to get to Baltimore so you could do both.
PM me know if you want anymore info on either.
 
If you go from cork city to kinsale,go the western road,as i think it better(safer) than airport road,you could stop and have lunch,have a cycle up by charlesfort,fab' views,then head out towards ballinspittle,follow route to killbrittian,corkmacsherry,(this is coastle route)down into clonakilty,you could stop here or go on down to roscarberry.
the next day you could cover west cork,and bera area,you dont say how many days you wish to cycle,but theres quite alarge area to cover.as far as comming back to cork city,ithink i would plan to do all my cycling in west cork and get someone to collect you and your bikes at a specific area and drive you back.
 
Thanks again for ideas.

Yob, I'm planning on 7 days cycling. Noted re routes. Thanks.

My schedule is currently: Cork City - Kinsale - Clonakilty - Skibbereen or Baltimore - Bantry - Dunmanway (Shiplake, on Dicette's suggestion) - Bandon - Cork City.

To be honest, after Bantry its just a matter of getting back to Cork City (no offence intended to Dunmanway or Bandon but they're just stop-overs to avoid too long a cycle in one go back to Cork) However, Yob, you're idea of spending the majority of our time in the scenic parts and arranging a lift back to Cork City is a good one. I'll look into it. Just have to figure out if we can get a taxi service or similar who'll take us all (numbers yet to be confirmed) and our bikes ...
 
Hiya Coolaboola,

Came across this site that seem to have a good selection of hotels in Cork with good rates, they might be worth checking out if you are looking for accommodation in Cork ;)

Best Of Luck with the trip!
 
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