Interesting place to stay in Ireland (Counties Cork or Kerry)?

Question

I am looking for a really interesting place to stay in Ireland. My wife and I will be touring the southwest by car. I am interested in staying somewhere interesting. Preferably, near the coast, but if the scenery is better away from it, I would consider. Looking for cottages, hotels, castles, whatever. Any ideas or resources?

Answer 1

south west is beautiful for scenery, people, sites, food & drink.  Clonakilty in west cork is a fab place lots of bars with good music & irelands only model railway village.  \the beautiful beach of Inchydoney is situated also, there are golf courses to play on also. Kerry is fab too, there is so much to do you wont be bored

Answer 2

I just posted this answer to another question by another user but as I just would answer yours the same way, I have given you the same answer (see below).  Hope that's ok.

For holiday rentals in Ireland visit www.shamrockcottages.co.uk

We are just finishing a 2 1/2 month tour of Ireland and apart from this final weekend, we have booked cottages all the way. As we spent 6 weeks in Galway and Mayo in Jan-Feb, and then came back to tour round Ireland in March (visiting Tipperary, Kilkenny, Carlow, Wexford, Wicklow, Cork, Kerry and Limerick), we have stayed in 10 cottages altogether, and about 8 out of 10 were with Shamrock.

If you're looking for a particularly great place to stay, try the cottage in Clogheen, South Tipperary. We stayed at Castlegrace Cottage for a fortnight and it was fab! Though as it had 4 bedrooms and is huge, it was more expensive (£248/week, I think) than what we usually go for, but it was by far the best house we ever stayed in. It's owned by one of the anglo-irish gentry, the Grubbs, and they own the mountain nearby. Really lovely people, they stay in a mansion up a long driveway across the other side of the road, so they're on hand if you need them but don't intrude.

The area of South Tipperary is not much visited compared to other parts of Ireland such as Kerry, Cork and Galway, but it has loads to offer. The house is in the Vee valley, a very scenic area and you can get to loads of interesting places very easily (this is why we chose it). It was full of historic ruins and great walking areas, and as most tourists don't think of visiting that area, it's pleasantly not overrun.

Out of everywhere we've visited, this was the favourite house and area of both me and my man and I totally recommend the house if it's in your budget and the area no matter what!

Of course, if you're in the Southwest, then I was most impressed by Kerry - staying near Killarney gives you the option of touring into Cork and also going around the ring, and Killarney National Park is gorgeous.  Beware though - Cork and Kerry are tourist traps at the best of times, but especially in High Season.  If your plans are not fixed, do consider maybe the sunny south-east (South Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford and some of Wicklow) - they are so pretty and tend to be less overrun than the more well-known South-West.

Answer 3

Dont go to Kerry it will take ages to figure out what they are saying.

Cork is lovely try mallow

Answer 4

One word. Kinsale. The coolest place in county cork, and right on the coast. Also, try the "Beehives" on the coast. (Monestary)

Answer 5

As Ireland is fairly easy to travel around by car, I'd recommend taking a wee detour from your proposed route.

Kilkenny is an excellent place to visit. The Smithwick Brewery tour is a must. For excellent seafood restaurants I'd go for Galway. Pubs down by the quayside/dock are fun with a great atmosphere.

Answer 6

What he said below is basically wat i would have recommend.

Answer 7

naun

Answer 8

Baltimore village in west cork is lovely. Stay in the Jolie Brise B&B in the harbour. It does great pizza downstairs. On a nice evening you can sit outside, eat your pizza, or seafood from one of the bars and order a pint of Murphys from Bushes Bar. Watch the boats in the harbour and take in the world. The next day, hop on the ferry over to Sherkin Island (15 mins crossing). A gentle 1.5 mile stroll to an empty, pristine sandy beach. Then stroll back to catch the ferry and have another swift pint in the Harbour Bar. When you see the ferry leaving the harbour in Baltimore, stroll down to the Sherkin Harbour and meet the ferry as it pulls in.

It's a dreamy place.

Answer 9

You might like to check this place out, really nice people run it.

www.sunfort.com

Also, there a lovely pair of villages called Ballyvourney and Ballymakeery on the main road from Cork to Killarney, in Ballyvourney there's a B&B called Weston House, run by Peg Twomey and her family, really really nice place. You can go over the mountains to the coast, it is a spectacular drive.

Answer 10

The Dingle penninsula in Kerry. very scenic and close to Killarney, Cork, and Clare. While there I'd recommend Killarney forest park and keep an eye out for a place in it called Lady's View. Its a spectacular view from it.

Dingle has plenty of places to stay in it and there are a couple of other towns close by that are also good.