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Known as Ireland’s second city, or ‘the Real Capital of Ireland’ according to its fiercely proud residents, which is famous for its hospitality, creative buzz, food, and entertainment. No one has ever been stuck in Cork with nothing to do…
Europcar Cork City offers you the freedom to explore this fantastic city with your own compass and on your own time, hiring a car also allows you to travel further afield throughout the vast unsullied countryside of Cork. Our locations can cater to leisure customers and business customers, availing of the flexible short, medium and long term business fleet management service offered by Europcar and customers renting a van.
The rugged and beautiful scenery that makes up the landscape can take up a vast amount of time to fully experience. Hiring a car and taking the drive out to Mizen Head, Ireland’s southernmost point, or Sheep’s Head, or the sprawling Beara Peninsulas can make every mile feel like so many steps back in time. However, there is far more to occupy visitors than just the surroundings.
Seemingly entirely comprised of narrow streets, waterways and pubs, there is far more to see and do in Cork than first appears. The young, cosmopolitan feel is at odds with the old world design of the city, but its reputation for fun nightlife and live music is a tradition as worthy as other in Ireland. Coffee shops and restaurants are everywhere, which lends credence to the argument for Cork City possessing one of the best food scenes in the country.
In the oldest tradition, Cork City Market is a lively, noisy and colourful collection of market stalls that offer local fresh meats, cheeses, fish and seafood, vegetables and assorted other items. Mix with the local characters buying their groceries, or go for breakfast in the upstairs cafe. Surrounded by many other local shops, the Cork City Market is a thriving example of real Irish local culture and a glimpse into a simpler time in the not-too-distant past.
Fota Wildlife Park Island is home to Co. Cork’s most visited attraction, Fota Wildlife Park. In the park live nearly 100 species of animals and birds. Many of the mammals, such as lemurs and squirrel monkeys, run free with the visitors while larger creatures, such as giraffe and bison, roam their enormous paddocks as if they were in the wild. The park also houses cheetahs, zebras, gibbons, ostriches and many more exotic species.
Just west of the Co. Cork town of Macroom is Gougane Barra which has undergone an extensive forestation program since 1938. This has allowed it to develop into a sumptuous forest park that is home to over twenty different species of tree. Over six miles of walking trails criss-cross the park, taking in the surrounding lakes, waterfalls, valleys and a picturesque medieval chapel. There are also the ancient ruins of a monastery on the island, which was a popular location for Roman Catholic Mass to be held during the Penal Laws.
There’s simply not enough room to cover everything that brings visitors to Co. Cork time after time. And there’s no real way to put a finger on one thing exactly that makes the region so popular. It’s easy to speculate, as there’s so much to choose from, but one thing is certain; exploring Co. Cork by hire car allows you unprecedented access to one of the most magical, most breathtaking and most inspiring parts of Ireland there is.
