Just moved to Cork - any advice... ?

TheIcelander

Hi,

Just moved to Cork city, to study at UCC,.. and I have some questions,..

Where do you shop, what is the cheapest and best grocery shop to do a weeks shopping for a family of five ?

What are the must sees/ dos / and such - before school starts ?

Is there anything I should know, tips and such ?

Thank you all for reading

blindsider

I'm not going to try to answer all your questions immediately - and others will have better advice ....

1. Aldi/Lidl for groceries - keep an eye on Dunnes Stores and Tesco for 'special offers'. Local butchers often have offers for meat e.g. Bresnans in Douglas shopping Centre (Tesco) is a very good butcher - the meat is excellent there.

2. There's lots to see and do - depends on what you're in to. How old are the kids? Kinsale is a nice day trip: Charles Fort is good. Scilly Walk, beach, stroll through the town..coffee...lunch..

There are some nice walks around: http://www.coillteoutdoors.ie is a useful resource

Hope you enjoy your time here!

Iceland is high on my list of places to visit!!!

TheIcelander

Thank you for your reply,... the kids are 15, 5 and 2,5 years old - and we are planning to stay here for good. At least we feel like that at the moment.
We have been having some problems settling in,.. finding out where the best deals are and where you should sign up for gas, electricity, waste and such - but I think we'll manage allright.

Iceland is a great place to visit, not for living though...

ABajaninCork

Welcome to Cork! Whereabouts in Cork are you? By that I mean the locality? Might be able to advise better then...

pwurple

Hiya, welcome to Cork.

For food, Cheapest for grocery buying is aldi or lidl alright. Best is the English market in the center of the city. Lots of fresh fish, meat, speciality foods and veg. Good butchers around alright.

Exploring the city is fun with a family. Take them for a hot chocolate in O'conails hot chocolate shop on French Church Street. There is a small toy shop on pauls street near there... Can't think of the name.

The lifetime lab is good and not expensive. http://www.lifetimelab.ie/

There are loads of libraries around, depends where you are, but the city library is across the road from the english market. Free for children to join, there are toys in there and they can check out ten books at a time.

Playgrounds for the smaller kids, here is a list of county ones.
http://www.corkcoco.ie/co/web/Cork%20County%20Council/Departments/Divisional%20Services/Coastal%20%26%20Recreation/Recreation%20and%20Amenities/Playgrounds?did=645999744
There are city ones as well, depending on what area you live... Main City center one is fitzgeralds park.

If you like art, the crawford art gallery is free, and is stuffed full of things from cork artists. Nice cafe in there as well.

For parks, fitzgeralds park is by the river in the city. Further west you have ballincollig regional park, which has a skateboard park at the west end of it, if your 15 year old does that.

The tourist office in the city is on grand parade (again, where the market and library are) so they can point you in the direction of loads of things.

Fota wildlife park is fun for kids, lots of animals and playgrounds. It can be expensive though for a one off trip, unless you get the memberships. You can get the train there if you don't have a car. http://www.fotawildlife.ie/
There is a free area of fota which we use a lot, over by fota house. This has lovely gardens and is good for picnics.

seefin

Have lived in cork for years but only recently discovered blackrock castle.gorgeous walk nearby and castle itself is nice.cafe decent too

GalwayChelle

I have just moved here too - relocated with work and dont have a clue where to go...hep would be much appreciated...thank you :-)

lostinsuperfunk

Aldi and Lidl are definitely the cheapest. Local butchers and greengrocers also have good offers. Near UCC, Con's Fruit and Veg shop and Sean Murphy's butcher shop on Bandon Road are both very good value and friendly too.

The nearest beaches are at Myrtleville and Fountainstown near Crosshaven. There is a bus service to Fountainstown. There are better beaches further away at Garretstown near Kinsale and Garryvoe in East Cork. If you invest in some wetsuits and boards, you can take the kids surfing or bodyboarding. The water is cold, but you are from Iceland.:)

Culture Night is on Friday September 21st -- lots of interesting things to do.

The three main electricity utilities are Electric Ireland, Bord Gais Energy and Airtricity. Read the threads on boards.ie about Airtricity before agreeing to anything.

Cheapest telecoms : Tesco mobile is good for international calls, but watch for the hidden extras. There is a price comparison website, callcosts.ie . DSL broadband is expensive, around €38 per month for the cheapest package. Mobile broadband might be better value, but your kids probably need a lot of bandwidth.