Blarney Castle Tour from Cork including Cobh

Run by locals. Got us there just before the crowds. The grounds of Blarney Castle are beautiful. Loved the walk out to the lake. Trip to Cobh also interesting and very scenic.

This tour is essentially a bus ride and entrance fee to the Blarney Castle. The tour did not go to Cobh that day, but offered to drive us to the Jameson Distillery, which would have been nice. Except the entrance fee to Jameson is 25-Euro, and we can buy a bottle for that price, don't need a tour. From Cork, you can take a public bus to Blarney Castle at 2.80-Euro and pay the Castle fee. The tour Viator promoted was good in that it cost only a few dollars more but was worth not having to wait for the public busses.

Unbelievable castle and surrounding grounds. To kiss the Blarney Stone you have to trek up 120 steps in a spiral type staircase. The view from the top of the castle is fantastic. The castle itself is very interesting. The grounds around the castle are beautifully maintained. There are a number of other interesting structures and beautiful gardens. Plan on 2 to 3 hours. If you want to kiss the Blarney Stone, get there early or you may have a 1 to 3 hour wait. Early morning before 10am is best. Definitely a must see.

This is hard to write a review because I know some of the blame lies with me but I want to save others from my same fate. We were coming off of a cruise ship and saw the Cork, (Cobh) excursion which I booked. I wrongfully assumed that Cobh was the Irish word for Cork. Sadly, that was not the case. We should have purchased the excursion with port pickup. We were supposed to meet the tour in Cork which was about a 30 minute train ride away. This is a cautionary tale to check and doublecheck when you book your excursions. We lost the money and I know that people who signed up for the correct excursion had a great time. I don’t want to bash Paddywagon Tours. Some of the responsibility lies with me but I guess my defense is you don’t know what you don’t know. Check your meeting places carefully.

The driver was very knowledgeable and made the ride fun. The Blarney Castle was great but be aware you might have to wait 1/2 to 1 hour to kiss the blarney stone. The town of Cobh is nice and check out the Church up the hill and the Titanic museum.

Having called the Viator Help Center, we were advised that "no taxi necessary, 600 meters, an 8 minute walk" with a pick up at 9:30am. We arrived at the supposed pick up point at 9:03am and there was no vehicle. We waited around until 9:40am and when we asked some of the other independent tour operators still looking for a guest we were told that the pick up bus left a few minutes before 9:00am. Obviously we never got to take the tour. We will be looking to request re-compensation from Viator as we followed their directions and still couldn't take the tour. Very disappointing!!!!!

It is pretty cool to see a castle :) The gardens are great and the walk around is very nice! Wait time for the inside of castle and to kiss the blarney stone was about an hour, the wait to get into the top of castle where the stone consist of dark small quarters, narrow, and a lot of steps, just advising because some people may find it limiting, no strollers, and not suitable for small children ....was cool if those don't apply to you :)

Loved visiting the castle and gardens , we waited about and hour to go up to kiss the Blarney Stone , very narrow and small but worth it the views are beautiful. Cobh, its a very cute town , I wished we had more time.

Great tour bus ride to Blarney Castle and Cobh. The driver was very professional and knowledgeable about the area.