Cork – one of top 10 cities in the world to visit in 2010, according to Lonely Planet

Cork where the ‘city centre crackles with youthful energy… thanks in large part to award-wining University College Cork, which each year pumps out new graduates – and therefore new life, enthusiasm and ideas – into the city’.

Lonely Planet's Best in Travel 2010 tracks the world's hottest travel trends, destinations, journeys and experiences for the year ahead. 

Cork along with cities such as Vancouver (Canada), Abu Dhabi (UAE) and Charleston (USA) has been chosen by the backpacker’s bible as one of THE top 10 cities in the world to visit in 2010.

Why does Cork deserve this accolade?  According to the book’s editor Tom Hall, the city is at ‘the top of its game right now…. with great restaurants, galleries, bars and shops, as well as stunning scenery on its doorstep’.  Students can expect to study in a city which is ‘sophisticated, vibrant and diverse’, but still retains ‘its friendliness, relaxed charm and quick fire wit’.  

According to Louise Tobin, Director of International Student Recruitment and Strategy at UCC, this represents good news, not just for the University itself, but also for the city and the surrounding region.  Students, national and international are becoming more and more discerning in their choice of destination.  In selecting their preferred University, students want and deserve not only a first class education, but also a first class student experience within their chosen city.  Of particular interest to international students is the fact that Cork offers some of Ireland’s ‘most traditional and historical towns and villages dotted along its vast harbour and throughout its countryside’. In addition, it is the famed hospitality of Corkonians’ which is winning the hearts of tourists the world over.