Dublin or Cork?

Hi all,

This is my first post so go easy on me :)

We are primarily staying in the Dingle area for 4 nights and wanted to include Dublin in our trip (we will have a rental car). But, it is a lot easier for us to get to Cork, and it appears to be an interesting city. Or, is Dublin not to be missed?

We want to spend two or three nights on either Cork or Dublin. I would prefer two nights, but if Dublin (or Cork for that matter) is an essential, we could take a day from somewhere else in our trip.

Thanks for all your help. I have been lurking on this website for awhile now and this message board has been invaluable to my planning!

Cork's a great city and one I like a lot more than Dublin, though the latter has more "famous sights", if that matters to you.

Hi....
If you get up early enough, it's easy to do both.

I'm with #1, more or less.

If you're not sure that you're ever going to get back to Ireland, it might well be a shame to miss Dublin. It's a great city with sites deeply linked to Irish history, like the General Post Office, Kilmainham Gaol, and Dublin Castle, as well as some great cultural institutions such as the National Museum, Chester Beatty Library, and Hugh Lane Gallery and the Gate and Abbey theatres.

Dublin also has some really fabulous scenery right on the edges of the city, but if you're spending four days in Dingle beforehand, that may not be such a consideration in your choice of city.

But I would say that two days is a minimum.

Cork is a very nice town, lots of nice pubs, some pretty appealing districts, some good restaurants, and a great brewery-bar (Franciscan Well). If you just want a taste of Irish city life, then while it has a very different feel from Dublin, it would be just as interesting and as much (more, some might say) fun, but certainly with less historic attractions and cultural options.

You don't say what time of year you're going. Beware of the Cork Jazz Festival (26 to 29 October this year), which leads to massive crowding around the city, unless of course you like jazz, in which case you should check out the events and book tickets for the ones you're interested in well in advance.

Dublin, more to see, more to do, more lively. I wouldn't suggest doing both.

Thanks for the info everybody! Much appreciated :)

We are planning to head to Europe next summer actually, I know this is an early start but we are excited!

I don't think we want to do both.....would rather concentrate on one rather than rush through.

From the sounds of it, Dublin has more"sights" than Cork, but, in terms of nightlife, restaurants and atmosphere, Cork is at least equal to Dublin. Is this the general opinion?

Thanks again!

Yup, I'd say that sums it up, for me at least.

There's certainly much more nightlife, restaurants etc in Dublin, in function of its being a much bigger city, but for a day or two, Cork has easily enough to keep you interested.

What mode(s) of transport are you travelling with.

#8 .. try reading an OP's post for once in your life ....."we will have a rental car"

Being from Dublin, I'm a little biased! ..... but Dublin is a great city and Fear-Rua has given you a great overview of some of the attractions. Its definitely a much more "city" feel than Cork city ... and with that, your options for nightlife, restaurants etc increases. Not to say you can't have an enjoyable time in Cork.

With the good roads now .... you can make it up to Dublin pretty quickly ..... so that's what I would do!

Sorry I overlooked the rental car bit in brackets.
Usual charm.