Ireland Guide
Cork
Arrival
Regional and national buses arrive at the Bus Éireann station on Parnell Place alongside Merchant's Quay ( 
021/450 8188), while the train station, known as Cork Kent Station ( 021/450 6766), is a kilometre out of the city centre on the Lower Glanmire Road. Harrington's and O'Donoghue's private buses stop near the Bus Éireann station on the east side of Parnell Place, while Aircoach and Citylink buses use St Patrick's Quay on the north side of the river. City and local buses stop on the central St Patrick's Street.
Local buses run into the centre from the ferry terminal at Ringaskiddy, 13km southeast of town. Travelling by plane, you'll arrive at Cork Airport ( 021/431 3131, 
www.corkairport.com ), which lies 7km south of the centre off the Kinsale road and has a small tourist-information kiosk. From here, you have a wide choice of bus services into the centre: Bus Éireann's coach runs to the bus station on Parnell Place in 25 minutes (frequency varies from roughly hourly on Sun to at least every half-hour Mon– Fri daytimes; €3.90 single, €6.50 return, free to Bus Éireann express-coach ticket-holders; talking timetable on 021/422 2129, www.buseireann.ie ); while Skylink ( 021/432 1020, www.skylinkcork.com ; €5 single, €8 return) operates two hourly, circular routes, one via Jury's Inn, St Patrick's Quay, Shandon and MacCurtain Street, the other via the tourist office and the university on Western Road. If you're arriving by car, note that parking on the street requires a disc, which can be picked up from any newsagent. There's a useful multistorey car park on Coal Quay beside the Opera House.