Blarney Castle, Ireland

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Blarney Castle

Unique Suggestions: Blarney Castle is a great landmark in the southern part of Ireland. Apparently Blarney Castle is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow because the Irish are making a fortune with the story of the Blarney Stone and the fact that people will play to kiss a piece of a wall. Admisson is 8 euro and includes a photo of you kissing the stone. In defense of the Irish, the castle does sit in a beautiful park. Some of the other castles charge 2-4 euro to get in, so Blarney considerably more expensive, but if you don't go, your friends will never let you live it down. A huge tourist trap, but a must see. The castle is in good shape and provides great views from the top.

Blarney is the ultimate touristy thing in Ireland. It's a must do for any first trip to Ireland, but if (ok, when) I make a second trip, I'll likely avoid it. It was very crowded, and, frankly, I was a little grossed out after kissing the Stone, because everyone else was kissing it too...but that's just me.

I spent the most time in Blarney at the various shops, and there are lots of them. It is the best tourist shopping that I saw in Ireland.

I'm glad I visited Blarney and it's definitely worth doing, but I spent a little too much time there. I wish I'd left a little earlier, and saw more things

Unique Suggestions: What I liked best about Blarney Castle was the views-you can see all over from the top of the castle, and will get great pictures. Plus, I could probably see my grandmother's birthplace somewhere off in the distance!

is worth the trip. If your worried about cost, don't take the vacation/holiday!!! We went up and about the castle-wonderful views. The grounds are fantastic, you can only imagine what it was like centuries ago. we went at Thanksgiving time (USA) and the waits were nonexistant.

Unique Suggestions: Kiss the damn stone, it's worth the experience. I can't believe I was upside down looking straight down 100 feet. I am/was 285 pounds and it sure was spooky.

Fun Alternatives: The whole country--I/we are going back as often and regular as I can. The people are fantastic and the most hospitable in the world. The Castle Hotel downtown has wonderful food and drink.

After seeing a number of castles this was just one more on the list. The kissing the stone part was all touristy but fun for those who participated. It could be missed. While the castle was interesting - I'm sure there are other more impressive ones to find.

Unique Suggestions: The best part of the stop was the Blarney Woolen Mills store. Great selection of all things Irish. Kind of a one stop Ireland buying spot. Get it all over with at once. Looked like good quality and prices seemed fair.

Fun Alternatives: If you're traveling in the area (to or from Kerry) it's an OK stop if you want to get your Irish shopping done. I'm not a shopper - I just wanted to get it over with and this put everything Irish under one roof. Skip the castle and do the Woolen Mill if shopping is on your agenda.

Probably the most blatant tourist trap is Blarney Castle, in Blarney, outside Cork City. You pay to get on the grounds and though the grounds are nice, and the castle is picturesque, what they want you to do is climb a narrow stone staircase up inside the square tower, line up and bend over backwards to "kiss the blarney stone" and buy a photo of yourself doing it. Pah! I had no intentions of doing that, I had wanted to take a photo but wasn't willing to pay the entrance fee to the grounds so i walked around the area and took this photo over a wall. I think it's actually quite a good picture and enough to say i was in Blarney!

Unique Suggestions: Avoid the castle malarkey. The town is nice, with some attractive shops. I found an interesting cemetery near the center of town as well. The Blarney Woolen Mill complex is actually a very good place to get your Irish sourvenirs, including woolen goods, Aran sweaters, Waterford and other crystal, China and other miscellaneous things. As much as it is a tourist shopping store, the prices are actually decent and there is a wide variety of goods under the one roof. for instanc, we were at the Waterford factory and crystal prices here matched or beat the factory. The cafeteria serves ok food but there are probably some nice pubs and cafes in the town as well.

Fun Alternatives: There are hundreds of castles and castle ruins all over Ireland far better for photos and exploration. Some are set up with medieval banquets for the tour groups. I might avoid these though you may enjoy it. We did go during the tour and the entertainment was nice and the food tasty (mind you, you are supposed to eat with your fingers as they did in medieval times but the wine is free flowing)

Blarney Castle was not on my list of "must sees", but when you travel, you have to make some compromises. The Blarney Stone is located at the top of the castle and a man is there to help lower you backwards so you can acquire the "gift of gab" You are allowed to take pictures of your friends bending backwards from a not so great angle ,but there is a photographer who snaps pictures from an excellent view. If you desire to purchase this picture, it is 7 Euros. You can also buy a small certificate with your name on it verifying that you have indeed kissed the stone for 2.50 Euros.
There are the rumours that I am sure most people have heard about what locals do to the stone. Although I doubt these stories are true, I didn't feel like slobbering on it.

Unique Suggestions: I wouldn't visit here during high season when there are crowds of people from the tour buses climbing the narrow steps and then waiting in line to kiss the stone. In December, there weren't any lines at all.

Fun Alternatives: If you are with people who insist that they can't visit Ireland without kissing the Blarney Stone , you can of course, visit the castle with them(it is worth checking out) and snap their pictures for them. You can also take a stroll around the grounds which have pretty winding paths with a stream ,bridges and a rocky glen. It is a pretty place.

The story with the Blarney stone is that if you kiss it you'll "gain the privilege of telling lies for seven years".
After kissing it you can even pay a few euro to get a signed certificate that you kissed it :-).

Unique Suggestions: Don't kiss the stone! There are stories that local teenagers take a leak on it and laugh when see all the tourists kiss it..

When visiting Blarney Castle you may want to skip kissing the Blarney Stone. Besides that fact that there is a fee and you can only have your picture taken by one of the Castle photographers, we were told by more than one local that they pee on the rock after hours. They think it is hysterical that tourists will kiss a rock.

Unique Suggestions: I would climb up to the top and take pictures of all the silly tourists literally bending over backwards to kiss a rock.