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Blarney Castle Tour: Explore Cork, Kinsale, and Cobh
4.3
452 Ratings
Cobh
Discover Blarney Castle, explore Cork City, and tour Kinsale on this immersive shore excursion from Cobh. Book your adventure now!
Discover Blarney Castle, explore Cork City, and tour Kinsale on this immersive shore excursion from Cobh. Book your adventure now!
Duration:
8 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Cobh - Passengers will be collected in style from their Cruise Ship. Upon disembarkation, turn right, and the guide will be waiting near the pedestrian exit gate. Collection is at 07:30 for an 08:00 departure. If the ship docks later than 07:30, the tour will start 30 minutes after disembarkation begins. This ensures an early start to avoid the…
- Cobh - Passengers will be collected in style from their Cruise Ship. Upon disembarkation, turn right, and the guide will be waiting near the pedestrian exit gate. Collection is at 07:30 for an 08:00 departure. If the ship docks later than 07:30, the tour will start 30 minutes after disembarkation begins. This ensures an early start to avoid the queues at Blarney!
- Blarney Stone - The first stop is Blarney, home to Ireland’s most famous castle. Visitors can lie back and kiss the magical Blarney Stone to receive the gift of eloquence. Admission is included, saving 15 euros. Admission to Blarney Castle is included, unlike other tours that require queuing and paying at the gate. There will also be time to visit the renowned Blarney Woolen Mills, the largest Irish store in the world, offering tax-free shopping on quality Irish products.
- The English Market - After Blarney, the tour continues with a panoramic drive through Cork City, showcasing highlights such as the River Lee, St Finbarre’s Cathedral, Shandon Bells, English Market, and Grand Parade. Cork was recently named one of the top 10 must-see cities in the world by Lonely Planet. Notable figures from Cork include Henry Ford, Michael Collins, and footballer Roy Keane.
- Charles Fort - The journey proceeds through the scenic Cork Countryside to the charming town of Kinsale. Enjoy views of the rolling fields of West Cork and a stop overlooking picturesque Kinsale Harbor and its two forts, Charles Fort and James Fort. The Lusitania tragically sank off the Old Head of Kinsale in 1915.
- Kinsale - The next stop is the historic town of Kinsale, known for the Battle of Kinsale in 1601. Today, it is Ireland’s gourmet capital, featuring winding streets, great pubs, and fine restaurants. On standard 8-hour tours, there is a lunch stop in Kinsale, but this is at the driver’s discretion depending on the ship’s departure time. The town is beautifully situated at the harbor’s mouth, with colorful postcard-like buildings and locals with unique accents.
- Cobh Cathedral - If time permits, there will be an exploration of Cobh Cathedral.
- Port of Cobh - The tour departs Kinsale to ensure passengers are back at least 1 hour before the ship’s departure. The service concludes at the dockside after approximately 8 hours. If the ship departs earlier, the itinerary will be adjusted accordingly.
What's Included
- On-board WiFi
- Driver/guide
- In-vehicle air conditioning
- Port pickup and drop-off
- Live commentary on board
- Blarney Castle and Gardens Entry Fee included
- Back at port 1 hour before last boarding
- On-board WiFi
- Driver/guide
- In-vehicle air conditioning
- Port pickup and drop-off
- Live commentary on board
- Blarney Castle and Gardens Entry Fee included
- Back at port 1 hour before last boarding
What's Not Included
- Gratuities
- Lunch
- Gratuities
- Lunch
Additional Information
The journey starts with a pickup from the cruise liner terminal in Cobh, Cork Harbour, your chauffeur will be there to escort you to the Blarney Castle. The entry fee for the Blarney Castle and Gardens is covered. Enjoy a scenic drive through Cork City, as your guide identifies the notable sights of the southern capital. An afternoon trip to Kinsale and…
The journey starts with a pickup from the cruise liner terminal in Cobh, Cork Harbour, your chauffeur will be there to escort you to the Blarney Castle. The entry fee for the Blarney Castle and Gardens is covered. Enjoy a scenic drive through Cork City, as your guide identifies the notable sights of the southern capital. An afternoon trip to Kinsale and a tour around Cobh await.
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- Booster/Baby seats required, and available. Please advise if you require at booking.
- Collapsible scooters and wheelchairs can be stored under coach. Responsibility for the passenger for the day.
Location
Port of Cobh
Cobh (Cork) Cruise Ship Terminal - We collect passengers from the cruise ship at 07:30 for departure @ 08:00. If your ship docks later than 07:30, don't worry! The tour will begin 30 minutes after disembarkation commences.
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.3
(452 Ratings)
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Barbara_h
Jul 12, 2025
Blarney Castle - Involves a lot of walking. Impossible to get up to the Blarney Stone if you have physical limitations though I still enjoyed the grounds. The bagpipe player at the entrance set up the whole experience!
Review provided by Viator
John_d
Jul 12, 2025
I kissed the Blarney Stone 😂 - Great tour, reasonably priced too.
Our tour guide Martin was excellent and very knowledgeable and helpful
Review provided by Viator
John
Jul 11, 2025
Paddy tours - Excellent trip good guide very informative good value comfortable coach and very aware of needing to get back to ship on time
Review provided by Tripadvisor
B
Jul 6, 2025
Paul was a great host and driver. - Great tour. Everything went smoothly. Good sites and time at each stop. Would recommend. Many places to buy drinks and food along the way.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mark_w
Jul 6, 2025
Great tour if you want time to do things. - We loved that we got to Blarney Castle right before it opened. We walked straight to the castle and pretty much straight up to the top. When we got back down, the wait was already an hour. We had plenty of time to walk the grounds and do some shopping.
Then off to Kinsale, where we had lunch much and some more shopping. Plenty of time was given as well. Two thumbs up!
Review provided by Viator
Rosa_w
Jul 12, 2025
Learned nothing. This excursion is basically just a transportation. - Disappointed. The guide would not accompany you into the complex of Blarney Castle. He just dropped you there for 3 and a half hours. You have to go through it by yourself. You will learn nothing and a lot of waiting. He didn't warn you that the wait to get into the Castle is at least 2 1/2 hours. And when it's time to return to the bus, you are on your own to rember the route. The next stop is Kinsale village. It's gaudy and has a lot of neon color. Not worth visiting. Ultimately, the bus didn't drop you off at the Cork Cathedral. We must hike up a steep street to get there, while other buses drop people off right by the Cathedral. Very disappointed and overpriced.
Review provided by Viator
Eileent565
Jul 11, 2025
Okay Excursion - We (family of 5 adults) started the trip searching for the tour bus off the cruise port. There was no one there to greet you when you exited the port and give you direction as to where the bus was. The buses are designed very cute on the outside so there is no question if you are getting on the right tour once you find it. However as we entered the bus it was clear that it was already completely full with passengers and there was no bus driver. One of the passengers informed us he was talking with someone in another area but believed there were additional buses on the other side of the road. As we started to walk away the bus driver walked up and told us there was another bus "over there". After walking around other tour buses we found the other bus. We were not alone at this point as others were looking for the same tour. The driver was out there and was just letting people on. No checklist. We were supposed to leave at 8:00 and at 8:20 the driver finally came on the bus. He was dealing with a group of people that were apparently on the tour but they had no room for them because the buses were full. So that issue ate into our tour time. Once we left the first stop was the Blarney Castle. The line was already long to get in. The driver ended up having an issue getting us in to the parking lot (admission was included with the tour). As he spoke with a Castle employee we were stuck on the bus as the line for entry continued to grow. Finally we were able to exit the bus and had to walk very far to get on line for entry, however, we did get in and had time to kiss the Blarney Stone which was very important to us. When we started to our next destination I do not remember passing the English Market, or being told about the English Market and other facts about Cork, but I could have just missed that. We did not stop at Fort Charles as the itinerary states for 20 minutes (probably because of leaving 20 minutes late due to disorganization). We did stop at Kinsale and had lunch. The driver recommended a few places to eat. After lunch we headed back to the cruise Port in Cobh. We did sing songs on the way back. When we arrived into Cobh the driver offered to let anyone off who would like to tour on their own before getting back on the cruise line. We were the only ones who did this. We were so glad we did. Cobh was a great place where we timed it right and was able to enjoy live music and tour the Cathedral and views. It was a very short walk back to the boat. This tour was not awful but did not provide what they said it would such as having a guide waiting for you as you exit the port (have to wander around looking), leaving on time to avoid long lines at the Castle (can only speak for our bus as I did see other Paddywagon buses leave on time), drive by and narration of Cork, and the stop at Charles Fort.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Dennismccutcheon2222
Jul 19, 2025
- The air conditioning did not work on the bus, and we could not understand the commentary due to the microphone lack of quality. almost no stops to and from Kinsale.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
John_b
Jul 12, 2025
Kind of disappointing - The castle was a bit disappointing. We didn't have enough time to wait in line to go up to the Blarney Stone. The wait in line was 3 hours and we didn't have a full 3 hours there. The tour guide seemed disorganized and caused us to wait an additional half an hour to enter the gate, as the line to enter the grounds grew fast. He wanted to try to get closer to the gate instead of letting us off the bus at the end of the line. By the time we got to the end of the line, it tripled in size.
Review provided by Viator
L5012tfbrians
Jul 7, 2025
They will leave you even if you are on time, be warned - I never write bad reviews of anyone, but I felt like I needed to let people know what they do for bookings from the cruise port. They seem to overbook and then just leave when the bus is full. We got there within plenty of time of their given window, but the bus had already left. After talking with them and panicking for 30 minutes, we were saved by a taxi driver that helped us get a refund from them and then gave us an awesome tour of Cork/Kinsale/Blarney.
Be warned that they will not wait for you and don't seem to care when they leave people behind. We were not the only ones that day - they left about 20 people stranded just like us and the taxi driver said the exact same thing happens every week there.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
