Shore Excursion From Cork: Including Blarney Castle and Kinsale
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Cobh, Ireland
- 8 hours (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Maximize your time on land in Ireland on a full-day shore excursion. From Cork Harbour, travel through the Irish countryside to the 13th-century Blarney Castle. Kiss the world-renowned Blarney Stone for good luck, if you like. Return to Cork for a coach tour of the city’s sights; visit the charming town of Kinsale, and make a brief stop in Cobh, famous as the departure point of the Titanic.
- Explore the best of County Cork on a shore excursion
- All entrance fees and round-trip port transfers are included
- Learn more about the region through live guided commentary
- Avoid rushing with a full-day tour on land
What's Included
- Driver/guide
- Live commentary on board
- Port pickup and drop-off
- Blarney Castle and Gardens Entry Fee included
- Air-conditioned vehicle
- WiFi on board
- Back at port 1 hour before last boarding.
- Gratuities
- Lunch
Meeting and Pickup
You can head directly to the meeting point, or request pickup
Operating hours.8:00 am
Itinerary
Cobh (Pass By)
1
Blarney Stone
1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
The English Market (Pass By)
2
Charles Fort
20 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included
3
Kinsale
1 hour • Admission Ticket Free
St Colman’s Cathedral (Pass By)
Port of Cobh (Pass By)
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Infant seats available
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Near public transportation
- Most travelers can participate
- 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.
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 58 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.2
based on 471 reviews
Hardy_C, Oct 2025
An excellent tour, with a cordial, competent and safe driver. Kevin did a great job driving and informing our bus of passengers through the day. The visit to the Blarney Castle was great fun and kissing the Blarney Stone was a uniquely enjoyable experience. I highly recommend this excursion and Kevin as your driver/leader!
Amanda_R, Oct 2025
Kevin shared so much history and was very funny. Thoroughly enjoyed every stop of the day! Got us to the castle early so very little waiting time to go up to the stone. Wait times were 2 hours by the time we left!
Kevin_S, Oct 2025
A long trip which could have been much nicer if it was a little shorter. Too long in Kinsale where, once we had had lunch and a walk round we still had an hour and a half to kill. The guide was ill informed and quite often telling outright lies. In addition we found his description of the potato famine to be very depressing and interminable.
Andrea_T, Oct 2025
Well organized, getting to Blarney Castle right when it opened meant a very short wait to kiss the stone. Kinsale is a beautiful seaside town with great pubs and shops galore
Richard_M, Sep 2025
The organization, actually the lack of organization was terrible. We had to walk at least 1/2 mile I a crowd of people who like us had no idea where we were going. I walked ahead of the line, several people were upset to asking a man were to go. He checked and said not with us to get back in line. I kept going and found a man with a green Paddywagon sign in his front pocket talking to someone whose name wasn’t on his list. He led us across, j-walked, two danger streets with cargo trucks entering and leaving the port. We were lucky. several people got on the wrong bus and at least on couple had to hire a private car to get to the castle. The exterior of the Castle and grounds were beautiful but to stand in line for 90 minutes to just turn around because we couldn’t climb the stairs was a joke. The town of Kinsale was cute but we only had 2 hours so lunch was about all we got to do. I’ve used Viator in Europe, Australia and New Zealand using small vans with expert guides, they were great. So far in Iceland, Ireland and the UK they have fallen short, large poor quality buses and the absence of true professional guides…our driver to Blarney was both driver and guide. I think I spend enough money traveling it’s time to hire professional guides and not depend on 3rd party services.
sbergslp, Sep 2025
Our tour was outstanding Our guide Zikor from Croatia made our excursion memorable. He spoke clearly, was extremely informative and told jokes and played music for us (Irish and popular) on our ride back to the cruise port. The bus was waiting and he got us to the castle before all the other buses showed up so our wait was not that long.👍We had experienced an excursion with friends to Glasgow with Viator and was very disappointed with the guide Therefore we were a little concerned how this excursion would be. What a wonderful experience and because of Zikor we kept our Viator excursion to Normandy. 👍👏
Jacky_W, Sep 2025
This excursion took us to the Blarney Castle, Garden, and the Kinsale downtown. The driver from Paddywagon is very punctual and humorous. He is not only the tour bus driver but also a tour guide. He highlighted all the attractions and interesting things along his drive. We listened Irish music along the way so it was very relaxing even though there was traffic. Since the drive was punctual, we were the second bus arrived the Blarney Castle, so the queue wasn’t that long. We were able to walk up the castle and the Kissing Stone without a long wait. Garden is very pretty. If you enjoy nature and garden, you can a whole day there. We only had less than three hours in Kinsale, so we didn’t have much time to walk around after lunch. I wouldn’t blame on the driver because he had to bring us back to our cruise ship. Other than that it is a well worthwhile tour.
Glen_P, Aug 2025
Nice tour not overly expensive. Bus driver was well aware of the problems with Castle Blarney, the hordes of people. We were the second bus there that day and were able to kiss the stone. Later in the day the line up to ascend the castle were well over 1.5 hours
Jane_S, Aug 2025
Blarney castle and grounds was great. It would have been better if the driver gave more info on the history, economy, traditions etc about Ireland. Also, a drive around and tour of Cork with some time to walk around.
Debbie_I, Aug 2025
Great bus driver/tour commentator Paul. Better price and destination stops than Princess Cruise excursion.
Sarah_E, Aug 2025
This was a great experience. If you want to kiss the Blarney Stone, there is a long line to do so. We opted instead to enjoy the beautiful gardens. The kids and adults enjoyed the property.
Scott_D, Aug 2025
The bus got is to Blarney Castle. Although there was a bit of a language barrier. Our driver talked fast, so with his Irish accent, it was difficult for these old American ears to catch everything that was said. There was also an issue with his microphone cutting in and out. The driver was told we couldn't hear him but he gruffly told us he was using the mic. It was basically a bus ride.
Helen_W, Aug 2025
Great value , very funny and informative. Got us to Blarney Castle as it opened enabling us to get up to kiss the stone before all the queues.
Susan_C, Aug 2025
We had a wonderful time! Lots to explore at Blarney Castle and Gardens. Our driver was a lot of fun and kept us entertained. Kinsale was really nice to explore.
Jonathan_B, Aug 2025
The driver/guide did a great job. His commentary was interesting and informative. The tour was a great value when compared to the cruise ships in-house excursion prices. Not only did we save money using a third party tour operator but we got a better itinerary than the cruise line offered.
Susan_O, Aug 2025
The trip was exactly has described. We were the first tour bus to reach Blarney Castle. Kevin the guide was excellent.
Viktor_K, Aug 2025
If you are not native speaking English you. should not book this excursion! We speak English fluently, but could not understand most of what was said by our bus driver.
Randy_R, Aug 2025
Our tour made 3 stops which our driver allowed us to decide where among a group of 10. Blarney castle and gardens were better than expected. Go to the castle first and be prepared for a wait. If on a schedule you don’t want be cut short and miss the castle.
This tour doesn’t really have a tour guide, only a driver who provides a very minimal amount of information on the tour. The stop in Kinsale could easily be skipped and the time better spent in Covb seeing the Titanic museum and Cathedral. Overall, tour was decent value for the money.
Bob_L, Jul 2025
We had a wonderful day visiting Blarney Castle & Gardens, Cork, and Kinsale, Ireland. Our driver (Paul) added depth to our trip by sharing his knowledge of locations and Ireland. His narrative and interactive delivery style kept us informed and entertained throughout the day. He made us wish we had more time to explore the areas on our itinerary.
Ken_A, Jul 2025
Went with Paddywagon tours.
First the driver said we were late, but the ship was always docking at 8 am and did so with us arriving to bus 30 mins later so not late.
The driver also acted as on board commentary and started well with some interesting facts about castles, population etc.
Unfortunately he spent the rest of the day carrying on about Irelands “struggles” against the English.
The plight of the Irish and how badly they were treated, which may have been true, the glorious IRA and there fight for independence. Not mentioning the atrocities carried out by the IRA such as the murder of Lord Mountbatten or attacks on London.
We found this commentary biased and was made worse by playing Irish songs that were miserable laments about the Irish treatment.
We did not want to hear this all day.
We also asked to be dropped off near the shops on our return which he agreed to only to be taken direct to our ship.
The driver did not instil us with confidence when he smashed into the fence at entrance to Blarney castle causing severe damage to the bus.
Melissa_N, Jul 2025
Our tour guide was Kevin and he did an amazing job! We got going early in the morning and reached Blarney castle just as it opened. We were able to get in right away and enjoy the tour. Kevin shared a lot of history about both Cork and Kinsale as we drove and he used humor which made the tour even more fun! He gave great recommendations and was very clear on what time we needed to be back on the bus at each stop. This was the best tour on this trip and Kevin was a top notch guide! Thank you for an amazing tour!
Candace_G, Jul 2025
We loved our time at Blarney Castle and in Kinsale. Kinsale was the cutest town we could have stayed there for days. Our guide was informative, timely and courteous.
MaryJane_D, Jul 2025
Great driver—got us to the castle so our wait to kiss the stone was less than 15 min! Also gave us recommendations on eating!
Barbara_H, Jul 2025
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!
John_D, Jul 2025
Great tour, reasonably priced too.
Our tour guide Martin was excellent and very knowledgeable and helpful
Rosa_W, Jul 2025
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.
John_B, Jul 2025
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.
Mark_W, Jul 2025
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!
valerie_m, Jul 2025
Great experience! I recommend this excursion! We only had to wait 30 minutes to kiss the stone! Everything was wonderful! If coming off the cruise go outside the gates, we had to wait for people to figure that out!
Kathryn_S, Jul 2025
The tour to Blarney Castle was wonderful. It was a great experience to walk up all the narrow stairs to kiss the Blarney Stone. Michael did an excellent job driving us and telling us some interesting things about the area.
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Shore Excursion From Cork: Including Blarney Castle and Kinsale
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