← All Clare tours via Viator · From €1200 · 10 hours 
Emerald Isle Guided tour of the Cliffs of Moher & Galway
Free cancellation Booked securely via Viator
Check availability & prices →
From €1200 per person
This full-day private tour covers some of the west of Ireland’s most celebrated spots - from the dramatic cliffs on the Atlantic coast to the lively streets of Galway - all in one long, well-paced day from Dublin.
Heading west, you’ll pass Bunratty Castle before entering the Burren, a striking stretch of limestone landscape where ancient tombs sit alongside rare wildflowers that thrive in the rocky terrain. It’s one of those places you don’t expect to find beautiful, and then it completely gets you.
At the Cliffs of Moher - Ireland’s most visited natural attraction - you’ll have time to walk the cliff-top paths and take in those sweeping Atlantic views from 700 feet up. There’s also an optional ferry ride that gives you a different perspective on the cliffs from the water below.
The day finishes in Galway, where you can explore the Latin Quarter, catch some street musicians, and get a feel for why people always want to come back. Your English-speaking guide is with you throughout the day.
Note: Admission to the Cliffs of Moher is €12 per person and is not included in the tour price. A 10% gratuity is customary.
At Bunratty, arrive before the tour buses if your timing allows. Bunratty Castle is a 15th-century tower house that was bought as a roofless ruin in 1954 and restored using original 15th and 16th-century furniture sourced from across Europe. The Folk Park around it is a 30-acre reconstructed village of stone cottages, a working forge, a school and a 19th-century street - all moved stone by stone from sites across Clare and Limerick that were about to be lost. It takes longer than most people budget; allow the full Folk Park time if you have it.
Durty Nelly’s pub at the foot of Bunratty Castle claims 1620 as its founding date and looks it: low ceilings, three different bars, whitewashed walls. It’s a real pub in the early hours and late evening - if the tour passes through at a quieter time, it’s worth a quick look in.
At the Cliffs of Moher, the optional ferry gives you a sea-level view of the cliff face that the clifftop path cannot. The cliffs rise to 214 metres at their highest; from the water you get the scale of it properly. Book through your guide if you want to include it - availability depends on sea conditions.
Liscannor is the back door to the cliffs. If your guide has time flexibility, the Hag’s Head end of the cliff walk starts on the coast road above this small working pier village - no turnstile, no car park fee, and far fewer people. Vaughan’s Anchor Inn on Main Street does the local seafood properly; the lobster and crab claws come off the boats at the pier below.
Doolin is 15 minutes north of the Cliffs. The three-hamlet village has been synonymous with traditional music since Micho, Packie and Gussie Russell kept the local Clare style alive here through the lean decades. Gus O’Connor’s on Fisher Street runs sessions from February to November. If you’re ending the day in this part of Clare before heading back to Dublin, Doolin is the better stop for an evening than any of the tourist-facing villages at the visitor centre.
Galway works best if you resist the main street. The Latin Quarter is on Shop Street and Quay Street - the obvious route. The better Galway is one lane over, in the narrower streets where the restaurants are smaller, the sessions start later, and the city feels more like the working town it actually is. Your guide will know which pubs have trad on the night you’re there. Tigh Coili on Mainguard Street runs serious sessions - not for tourists, genuinely for players - and Crane Bar on Sea Road has three stories and a front room that feels like a village pub inside a city.
Timing in Galway. The day ends here, so you have some flexibility. If you want to eat before the return drive to Dublin, Ard Bia at Nimmo on Quay Street does a locally-led menu that changes with the market. If the budget allows, An Púcán has an Irish-speaking dining room with seafood from the local boats. For something quicker, Gourmet Tart Company does hand pies and proper coffee at the counter.