Ireland (Dublin or Cork) - travelling alone

Hi! I'm from Ireland! It really depends on what kind of city you want to visit! Personally I prefer Cork but there is allot to do in Dublin.

Well I start off with Cork. Cork was voted the third best city to visit in the world by Lonely Planet in 2009! Cork is very pretty and the buildings are beautiful. Here is a picture of the main street, St. Patrick's Street: http://wikitravel.org/upload/shared/7/7d/Cork1.jpg
There are lots of really great shops in Cork and the whole city is covered by a bus system. One great thing about Cork is that it's on hills. The city centre isn't but if your hotel is on one of the hills you can see the whole city lit up at night! The river Lee flows through the city and the city centre is actually built on an island which is in the middle of the river. There are many bridges in Cork because of this. There's also allot of attractions in Cork like the English Market (which the Queen visited), the Crawford Art Gallery, Cork City Gaol, Cork City Museum, the Shandon Church where you can go and ring it's bells, the Butter Museum, St. Fin Baree's Cathedral, Blackrock Castle and Observatory and UCC.

Dublin is much bigger than Cork with a population of over 1,000,000 vs Cork's 192,000. Yes if you go to Dublin you can visit the Guinness and Jamestown factories. Dublin does have many nice old buildings too but not as nice as Cork in my opinion. Although Grafton Street is lovely: http://jenhanen.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/06302006011.jpg
Merrion Square, the Dáil, Government Buildings, the Four Courts and O' Connell Street also have many nice old buildings. Dublin is easier to get around than Cork because of the Luas(tram) and the Dart(city train) aswell as bus services. There are many museums and galleries in Dublin, the Zoo, the Spire, it's great for shopping! I love Dundrum shopping centre! There's Dublin Castle too! Dublin is great to visit if you like History and old buildings! Dublin is also the easiest city to get to from outside of Ireland. There's too much to list to do in Dublin to be honest!

What you could do is visit Cork from Dublin or vice versa. But there really is allot more to do in Dublin, even though I prefer Cork! There is a train every hour and it takes 2hrs 45mins.

Check out these for more info:
http://tourism.cometocork.ie/
http://www.visitdublin.com/

I hope you have a nice time here wherever you decide to visit!
Hope I helped!

IMO unless you are willing to rent a car then you will find less in Co. Cork than you will in Dublin.

I am of the opinion that Dublin needs a good solid two days (one centring around the west end and sights like the modern art museum, St Michan's Church (check for tour times as a tour of the vault is a key part of the visit), the Guinness Storehouse, Kilmanhaim jail, Phoenix Park/zoo, modern art gallery and Collin's Barracks (more likely a selection of) and a second day centrally to include the national gallery, Merrion Square (and Oscar Wilde statue), the Kildare St archaeology museum, Chester Beatty Library, Trinity College/Book of Kells, The National Gallery, Temple Bar, Grafton St and St Stephen's Green. IMO, the Guinness factory and the Book of Kells are not worth it (particularly price wise) but visitors seem to come away satisfied from visits to both. St Patricks and Christ Church can fit it into either day. As you can see, this could easily stretch to three days. I've highlighted the places I think are the best lesser known highlights of Dublin.

In terms of good places for a few Guinness in Dublin Dawson Lounge in Kildare St, Kehoe's in Sth Anne St off Grafton St, and The International Bar in Wicklow St are all good with a bit of traditional atmosphere. For live music try Donohoes near St Stephen's Green (particularly Sunday afternoon session), McNeill's in Capel St (Saturday night's from 9.30-midnight's great but the last time I was there the players were in the backroom which wasn't as good), Cobblestones in Smithfield, and Temple Bar pub in Temple Bar (Saturday afternoon can be great but it depends on who is playing and you are paying EUR4.95 a pint).

The Jameson factory is not a factory, they do not make whisky there any more. It is a history of the factory which used to be there and so forth. I presume the Jamestown factory referred to in #1 is the Jameson factory.

Day trips from Dublin could include Dalkey and Howth (both easily accessible by train), Newgrange, Glendalough/Wicklow (although this may need to be done as part of a tour group) and this could provide a quite full week. The alternative could be a couple of days in Galway which is only 2-3 hours away by train or bus.

Edited by: markfawkner

Wow. Those responses have given me so much to go on, thank you both. Now one last question that I didn't see in either response was on me traveling alone. I assume it is a pretty safe city to site see in on my own, but I want to get a local opinion as I am a female in my late 20's. Thoughts??

Also - I will be there for St. Patricks Day. Any suggestions on the best place to celebrate?

Dublin is as safe as any capital city to travel in and probably safer than most. The usual rules apply (keep your wits about you slightly more than you might in your home city, use the hotel safe if you've got one, keep separate your cards and keep your cash in two separate amounts if you are carrying a bit) and you are unlikely to find yourself in anywhere in Dublin which might be regarded as particularly unsafe.

Great. Thanks for the tips - and yes, besides the typical precautions, I wanted to be sure I would be alright on my own traveling around, as well as if I decide to take day trips to Cork or surrounding areas by train. I assume the train is easy to use and understand? And did you have any particular suggestions for St. Patricks Day celebrations?

Edited by: kcushing

St Pat's is not big in Ireland as a celebration. There'll be some wimpy effort at a street parade but that's about it.

There are three train stations in Dublin - Heuston, Connolly and Pearse. To work out whatever you need to do, go to the Irish Rail (Iarnród Éireann) website and that'll put you straight. it is Bus Éireann for the government buses but check the web for private operators too.

OK. Good to know. On the Cork website it made it sound like it was a pretty big celebration there. Definitely don't want to make an ass outta myself on that one. Thanks! And I'll check into the information on the train stations. Thanks so much for your help!

We spent time in both cities earlier this year and enjoyed both. Even though I really liked Cork, I would prefer to spend more time in Dublin. It's a great 'walking city' (as is Cork) but there are scads of things to see and do. Have a great trip!