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2-Day Cork, Blarney Castle and Ring of Kerry Rail Trip from Dublin
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From €551 per person
This two-day trip from Dublin combines two of Ireland’s most visited spots into one relaxed overnight trip. You’ll travel by rail and coach to Blarney Castle and Cobh on Day 1, then spend the night in Killarney and set off on the Ring of Kerry on Day 2.
It’s a good trip for anyone who wants to cover a lot of ground without rushing - the overnight stay in Killarney gives you time to explore the town and enjoy the company of the locals before heading out along the coast.
Check in is 20 minutes before the 6:40am departure at Dublin Heuston Station. Look for the yellow check-in stand near the Customer Service Desk - the Railtours Ireland representative will be in a bright yellow jacket.
The group is a maximum of 53 people. Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller, service animals are welcome, and it’s suitable for all fitness levels. Conducted in English.
If you’re booking a double occupancy room, note your preference for a double or twin bed in the Special Requirements field when booking (subject to availability).
At Blarney Castle: the queue for the Stone is part of the experience, not an obstacle to it. While you’re waiting, the castle battlements (1446, built by Cormac MacCarthy) give you a proper view of the grounds. Once you’ve kissed the Stone, spend fifteen minutes in the Rock Close - the Victorian rock garden at the foot of the castle. The Wishing Steps, the Witch’s Kitchen, the moss-covered stone chamber - it’s all theatre from the 1850s dressed up as something older, but it’s atmospheric in a way the castle queue isn’t. Walk the Lake Walk if your guide gives you free time: it’s flat, takes 45 minutes return, and the tour buses haven’t found it. Full detail at Blarney.
At Cobh on Day 1: the Queenstown Story Heritage Centre at Victoria Station tells the emigration story properly. The pier where the Titanic’s tenders left in April 1912 is two minutes from the train station. St Colman’s Cathedral is up the hill at the end of West View - free entry, the 49-bell carillon plays on the quarter-hour, and the view back down over the Deck of Cards terrace is the photograph. More on Cobh.
Your night in Killarney: Killarney is a proper town with a national park starting at the end of the high street. The pubs the locals use are on Plunkett Street - Courtney’s Bar has trad sessions most nights from about half nine, and Tatler Jack is the Kerry GAA pub, which tells you something about the town. High Street is the tourist strip; two streets over it’s genuinely quieter. If you want dinner somewhere that doesn’t need shamrocks on the wall, Bricín on High Street (upstairs over the craft shop) does boxty - a potato pancake stuffed with whatever’s good that day - and has been doing it for thirty-odd years. See the full picture at Killarney.
The Ring of Kerry on Day 2: the 179km loop starts and ends in Killarney, so you’re on your own doorstep. Your driver/guide will take it anti-clockwise, which is the right direction - you follow the coaches going clockwise rather than meeting them head-on on the narrow sections. The Ring passes through Kenmare - a planned town in three streets laid out by Sir William Petty in 1670, with Mulcahy’s restaurant on Henry Street if you want a proper dinner on a return trip. Further round, Sneem is the knot in the Ring - the Irish word means exactly that - where the village splits in two around the Sneem River and the Blue Bull pub on South Square is the honest local option. The Knockreer estate, just ten minutes’ walk from Killarney station, is worth a morning visit on its own if you have time before departure - through the demesne gates beside the cathedral, down to the lake edge, Carrauntoohil framed across the water. Almost nobody else does it before breakfast.
Full Irish breakfast tip: the breakfast in your accommodation is included, and in Killarney the full Irish is taken seriously - Kerry sausages, black and white pudding, the works. Eat properly; the Ring of Kerry doesn’t have many options for a sit-down meal outside the main stops.