Staying at the Kinlay House Hostel in Cork, Republic of Ireland🇮🇪

It was a weird and emotional return to Cork City for me this month, it had been a twenty year wait to get back here and things just sorted themselves out. I arranged to do a tour with IrishDayTours.ie out to Blarney Castle and to kiss the famous Blarney Stone, which you may have read about.

I had been to Cork in life just once before, back in 1996 for an incredible Oasis concert. So here, 20 years on I had three days and three nights in the city to explore it, have some reunions and reminisce. As a long term backpacker, I decided to stay at the Kinlay House Hostel in Cork City. This place is a brilliant base and Cork City is a true gem to visit, a much much nicer city than Dublin. Cork locals claim that Cork is the real capital city of Ireland (Republic) and I have to agree with them, I loved my three days here. Here are five reasons why I’m glad I stayed at Kinlay House in Cork.

1.Brilliant Location
Kinlay House in Cork is in a great location. It’s 5 minutes walk from the River Lee, it’s right NEXT DOOR to St. Anne’s Church and the famous Shandon Bells. It’s also up a hill on a quiet street and it’s easy to find.

During my time in Cork, I toured all the main sights of the city centre (which is on an island) as well as getting to ring the bells at Shandon Bells in St. Anne’s Church.

2. Spacious Rooms
It’s very spacious inside at Kinlay House. I loved the common room and kitchen, for sheer size. It’s easy to relax here. Instead of staying in a dorm, for a change I had my own single room, which was also brilliant.

3. Good WiFi
I had WiFi in my room so I could blog and I also had a desk. I was in Room 3, which is near the reception and it had fast WiFi.

4.Breakfast Included
In Western Europe, it’s not always easy to find a hostel that includes breakfast and when it happens, it’s a bonus. Breakfast is included here at Kinlay House – tea, coffee, toast and jam to set you up for the day. There’s also a full working kitchen so you can cook here.

5. Good Mix of Local and Foreign Staff
I always like a hostel that has a good mix of local and foreign staff and here there are locals working as well as a good mix of foreigners. Tom checked me in to the hostel, he’s a local lad and we talked about football. There are also lots of long term stayers here which reminded me of my previous long term stays in Tasman Backpackers and at Apple Hostel Bishkek.

My travels are pretty busy this month as I am leaving Ireland to head to Italy then overland into France to watch Euro 2016. But I won’t forget my amazing time in Cork City and will write more about it when I can.

Here are the details for booking Kinlay House:
http://www.kinlayhousecork.ie/
Address: Bob & Joan’s next to St. Ann’s Church Bells, Bob and joan’s Walk, Shandon, Cork
Phone:(021) 450 8966
Email: [email protected]

Here is a video I made at Kinlay House: