Hamilton & Chase Tours
Private tours in Cork, Ireland

Private Cork Tours

Cork appears in 3 of our itineraries across Ireland, ranging from 7–11 days. Every one is private, and every one can be reshaped around the time you want to spend here.

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From our itineraries

What a day in Cork looks like.

Taken from the itineraries themselves — these are real days from trips we run, not a generic description of the city.

Day 3 · Essence of Ireland

Cork: The Real Capital

Cork is built on islands in the River Lee and has a character — self-aware, argumentative, and proud of its food culture — that distinguishes it from Dublin in ways that every Cork person will explain at length. The English Market, a covered food market established in 1788 whose traders have been selling Cork specialities — tripe, drisheen (blood sausage), crubeens (pig's feet), and the local butter that Irish dairy makes differently from everywhere else — since the Georgian period. The Crawford Art Gallery, whose collection includes the finest group of Irish art outside Dublin. Blarney Castle and the Blarney Stone — which visitors kiss to gain the gift of eloquence, suspended upside down above a forty-metre drop — are thirty minutes from Cork: less than the mythology might suggest and more atmospheric than the cynical dismissal implies. The castle itself is a substantial 15th-century tower standing in mature woodland. Dinner in Cork at a restaurant in the English Market building or on one of the city's food streets.

  • English Market Cork — the 1788 food market and its singular produce
  • Crawford Art Gallery
  • Blarney Castle and the Blarney Stone

Day 1 · Wild Atlantic Way

Arrival in Cork and Kinsale

Cork announces itself from the air: a city built on islands in the River Lee, surrounded by farmland that supplies the food culture that Cork people will tell you is better than anywhere else in Ireland. Your private driver meets you at Cork Airport. The afternoon belongs to the English Market — the covered food market established in 1788 that has been the heart of Cork's food identity for two centuries, selling tripe and drisheen alongside the finest artisan cheeses, dry-aged beef, and seafood from the south coast. Kinsale is forty minutes south: a natural harbour town of painted Georgian houses that was the first landing point in Ireland for the Spanish Armada in 1601 and is now the most celebrated food town in a county that takes food seriously. Welcome dinner at one of the restaurants that made Kinsale's reputation — Atlantic fish, Cork beef, and the exceptional dairy that Irish cheesemakers have been quietly perfecting.

  • Private airport transfer to Cork
  • English Market Cork — the 1788 covered food market
  • Kinsale harbour — the painted town where the Atlantic Way begins

Day 11 · Epic Ireland

Cork and Departure

Cork has been insisting it is the real capital of Ireland for as long as Dublin has been claiming the title. The English Market — established 1788 — sells the produce that Cork's food culture is built on: tripe, drisheen, crubeens, Cork butter, dry-aged beef, and the freshest Atlantic fish. The Crawford Art Gallery holds the finest collection of Irish art outside Dublin. Blarney Castle is thirty minutes from the city — the 15th-century tower house whose Blarney Stone visitors kiss to gain the gift of eloquence, suspended upside down above a forty-metre drop. Your private driver transfers you to Cork Airport at the agreed time. Eleven days and the full island covered.

  • Cork English Market — the 1788 food market and its singular produce
  • Crawford Art Gallery
  • Blarney Castle and the Blarney Stone

Itineraries

3 tours visit Cork.

Wild Atlantic Way — Private Package 8-day tour: The Beara Peninsula, Ring of Kerry, Dingle, Cliffs of Moher, and Connemara — the full Atlantic coast.
8 Days
From €2,990 per person

IRELAND

Wild Atlantic Way

Private · Semi-Private · Self-Guided

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IRELAND

Wild Atlantic Way

The Beara Peninsula, Ring of Kerry, Dingle, Cliffs of Moher, and Connemara — the full Atlantic coast.

Cities You'll See

Cork · Kenmare · Killarney · Dingle

Highlights

  • Beara Peninsula — Ireland’s least-visited and most dramatic coast road
  • Ring of Kerry and the view of Skellig Michael
  • Slea Head — the westernmost road in Europe

8 Days / 7 Nights

From €2,990

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Essence of Ireland — Private Package 7-day tour: Dublin, the Ring of Kerry, the Cliffs of Moher, and Galway — the essential Irish circuit.
7 Days
From €2,690 per person

IRELAND

Essence of Ireland

Private · Semi-Private · Self-Guided

Hover for Itinerary View Itinerary

IRELAND

Essence of Ireland

Dublin, the Ring of Kerry, the Cliffs of Moher, and Galway — the essential Irish circuit.

Cities You'll See

Dublin · Kilkenny · Cork · Kerry

Highlights

  • Trinity College Long Room and the Book of Kells
  • Glendalough — the 6th-century monastic city in the glacial valley
  • Ring of Kerry — the 179-kilometre Atlantic coastal circuit

7 Days / 6 Nights

From €2,690

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Elsewhere in Ireland

Galway Dublin
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