Galway Boat Trip and Cliffs of Moher

About This Tour

This is a full day out on the west coast, and it packs in two of Ireland’s best - Galway city and the Cliffs of Moher seen from the water.

You’ll leave Dublin early by comfortable coach, arriving in Galway mid-morning. Your guide will point out the highlights, then you’ll have free time to wander the colourful streets and soak up the atmosphere of the “City of Tribes” at your own pace. About two hours in the city in total.

From Galway you’ll head south along the Wild Atlantic Way through County Clare to the village of Doolin - a small coastal gem famous for its traditional Irish music and its proximity to the cliffs. From Doolin, you board a boat for a cruise along the Atlantic, giving you a full 1.5 hours looking up at the Cliffs of Moher from the ocean. It’s a completely different perspective from standing on top, and well worth the trip.

The return drive to Dublin takes about three hours.

What’s Included

• Spanish-speaking guide

What’s Not Included

• Lunch

Itinerary

1. Galway city - Arrive mid-morning after approximately 2.5 hours on the coach from Dublin. Your guide will show you around the key spots, then you’ll have free time to explore the city centre for yourself. About 2 hours in Galway total. (300 min)
2. Wild Atlantic Way - The scenic coastal route south through County Clare, passing rugged headlands and spectacular seascapes on the way to Doolin. (60 min)
3. Doolin village - A picturesque stop in this County Clare coastal village, known for traditional Irish music and a genuinely friendly atmosphere. (30 min)
4. Cliffs of Moher boat cruise - About 1.5 hours on the water, seeing the cliffs up close from the Atlantic. Allow approximately 3 hours for the journey south from Galway and back. (300 min)

Meeting point: Burgh Quay bus stop, Dublin.

Good to Know

• Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
• Public transportation options are available nearby
• Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
• Suitable for all physical fitness levels
• Tour is conducted in Spanish
• Maximum group size of 50

Local Tips

Use your two hours in Galway well. The medieval core runs from Eyre Square down Shop Street to Quay Street and the harbour - a grid of laneways, each one narrower than the last, lined with pubs, craft shops and restaurants. Walk it without a fixed plan. The Claddagh neighbourhood is at the far end of the harbour walk, ten minutes from the main street. Don’t try to see everything; pick a laneway and follow it.

For a quick lunch in Galway before the coach heads south, Gourmet Tart Company is the practical choice - counter seating, hand pies and good coffee, with queues that move fast. Ard Bia at Nimmo on Quay Street is worth a longer stop if time allows, with a locally-led menu that changes with the market.

Doolin is small - three hamlets and four pubs - and the 30 minutes here is enough to walk to the pier and watch the ferries. The pier at Doolin is also where the boats to the Aran Islands leave from, so you’ll see the same departure point that connects this coast to Inis Oírr, twenty minutes across the water. If you have a few minutes to spare before the boat cruise, Gus O’Connor’s pub on Fisher Street has been pouring since 1832 - it’s the real article, not a tourist reconstruction.

The boat view of the Cliffs of Moher is genuinely different from standing on top. The cliffs rise 214 metres straight out of the Atlantic and from the water the scale makes sense in a way it doesn’t from the clifftop path. The cruise runs weather-permitting - the Atlantic can close the pier - but this is a summer-season tour and conditions are usually good. The southern end of the cliffs curves down to Hag’s Head, the headland above Liscannor - a small pier village eight kilometres south of Doolin where walkers who do the full cliff trail arrive from the other direction.

Nearby on IrelandMe

• Galway - A medieval city that is still a village underneath, with laneways too narrow for cars that haven’t forgiven themselves, pubs that number in the dozens, and a session starting around ten most nights
• Doolin - Three hamlets, four pubs, and the pier where the Aran Islands ferries leave from - the village that kept traditional Irish music alive when the rest of the country went quiet
• Liscannor - The working pier village at the Hag’s Head end of the cliffs, where John Philip Holland - the man who designed the first submarine the US Navy commissioned - was born in a coastguard cottage in 1841