51.85° N · 8.30° W
Cobh, the port the Titanic's last passengers sailed from, with Spike Island and Fota Wildlife Park, 25 minutes by train from Cork and two and a half hours from Dublin.
What to do
Each plan says how long it takes, who it's for and whether you can book.
Guided tour · short · adult €13 · the building the Titanic's last passengers left from, with a boarding card
Fortress island · 3 h 30 to 4 h · from €27.95 with the ferry · Fort Mitchel and its prison, with a guided tour and a 5 km trail
Exhibition · 1 h · the story of Queenstown harbour in the restored Victorian station, next to the train
Itineraries
Days and weekends already planned out, with how to get between each stop and who to book with.
Plan the trip
Each choice narrows the next: the season shapes how best to travel, and how you travel decides where you stay and where you eat.
When to go
From May to September, with more sailings to Spike Island and light until late. In winter the Titanic Experience and Fota open with shorter hours and the Queenstown Story centre closes from 21 November to 28 December.
How you travel
Choose how you're travelling and we'll tell you where to stay, how to get around, where to eat and which services you'll need. We only show the ways of travelling that make sense here.
For Cobh you fly into Dublin, with direct flights from many Spanish cities. From the airport, the Dublin Express takes you to Heuston station, and from there the Intercity to Cork takes about two and a half hours; at Cork Kent, the commuter train to Cobh takes 25 minutes. With a hire car, about three hours along the M7 and M8, stopping at the Rock of Cashel.
Cobh is one of the best places in Ireland to visit without a car: the train arrives at the seafront, the Spike Island ferry leaves a few steps away and Fota has its own station. The slopes, though, you climb on foot.
By car, the journey from Dublin to Cobh turns into a route: the M7 and M8 pass right by the Rock of Cashel, halfway along, and from Cork the N25 takes you to Cobh island, with Fota at the entrance. It is about three hours without stops.
Who you're with
A trip with a toddler is not the same as one with a teenager. Pick yours to see what works and what to bear in mind.
Cobh has three outings that work with children of almost any age: the ferry to Spike Island, the Titanic Experience with its passenger card and Fota Wildlife Park, all by train or on foot. Two nights give you time to do it without rushing.
A teenager will be hooked by Spike Island: a fortress in the middle of the harbour that was a prison until 2004, with a walk all the way round the island. And the Titanic Experience boarding card, with the name of a real passenger.
Where to stay
We show you what suits the way you travel.Change how you travel
Why we like it: 1854 hotel facing Cobh harbour, opened as the Queens Hotel, five minutes' walk from the station, with O'Shea's Bistro restaurant.
Why we like it: Hotel on the Cobh yacht club pier, by the water and next to the Titanic Experience, with a restaurant from breakfast and its own parking.
Services for this trip
Where to eat
From set lunch menus to Michelin stars. We mark the price level and what to order at each place.
What to order: ask about the fish of the day.
What to order: whatever the chef has in season; book a table by the window.
Map
The places to stay and services on the map are the ones for the way you travel. Turn on the layers you want and tap a point to see its details.
Nearby
The closest places, whichever country they are in.
Tips
In summer the ferries fill up; buy on their website a few days ahead.
Fota station is on the same line: you can stop on the way there or on the way back.
The Queenstown Story is closed from 21 November to 28 December.
Cobh is a port town on an island in Cork's great estuary, in the south of Ireland, with its colourful houses stacked up the hillside and St Colman's Cathedral, one of the tallest buildings in the country, above them. When it was called Queenstown, emigrant ships left from here for America, and the last passengers of the Titanic boarded here in 1912. Opposite, in the middle of the harbour, is Spike Island, a fortress island that was a prison. And 25 minutes away by train is Cork, Ireland's second city.
It is too far to go and come back in a day without rushing: better one or two nights.
Start with the Titanic Experience, in the former White Star Line office building on Casement Square: the visit is guided and you are given the boarding card of a real passenger. Next door, in the old Victorian station, the Queenstown Story centre tells the story of Queenstown and its port.
The best half-day is Spike Island: fifteen minutes by ferry from Kennedy Pier and an 18th-century fort that was a prison until 2004, with a guided tour and a five-kilometre path around the island. Allow three and a half or four hours.
Afterwards, walk up the slopes to the cathedral and the viewpoint of the colourful houses, the ones in all the photos with the cathedral behind. With children, set aside half a day for Fota Wildlife Park, which has its own station on the Cobh line.
Cork is 25 minutes away on the same train. With another day, go to the English Market, the covered market in the centre, to the Shandon district and to St Fin Barre's Cathedral. If you do not want to organise anything, Paddywagon's tour from Dublin combines Cork, Blarney Castle and the Rock of Cashel in one day.
In Cobh, the Commodore, from 1854, looks over the harbour five minutes from the station, and the WatersEdge is on the yacht club quay. Both have a restaurant; for dining out, Azure Harbour Bistro, on West Beach.
Questions
Intercity from Heuston to Cork Kent, about two and a half hours, and commuter train from Kent to Cobh, about 25 minutes, every half hour.
You can with the first train, but it is a very long day. Better to stay one or two nights.
Adult €27.95, child €14.95, family €74.95, with the ferry included.
Because it was its last port of call: from here, then Queenstown, its last passengers sailed in 1912.
Spike Island, the Titanic Experience with its passenger card and Fota Wildlife Park.
Geocaliahttps://www.geocalia.com/en/ireland/cobh-and-cork
