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Scenic through Ireland visiting The Cliffs of Moher and Galway
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From €950 per person
If you’re based in Dublin and want to see the west of Ireland properly, this private day trip is hard to beat. You’ll travel through the heart of the country to reach the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare - all 700 feet of them, Ireland’s Best Visitor Attraction 2023.
The route out takes you along the Atlantic coast via Liscannor, birthplace in 1841 of John P. Holland, the marine engineer who developed the first submarines commissioned by the US Navy and the Royal Navy. You’ll pass by St Brigid’s Holy Well in Co. Clare - one of at least 3,000 holy wells across Ireland and long associated with miraculous cures. St Brigid herself was the patron goddess of the Druids, connected with higher learning and consciousness.
At the Cliffs of Moher you’ll have time to explore the award-winning, eco-friendly visitor centre with its interactive exhibition on the local geology and wildlife, and walk along the cliff path.
From there you continue into Doolin for a hearty Irish lunch at Gus O’Connor’s or McGahan’s, then take the coastal drive along the Burren and the rugged shore at Fanore, stopping in Kinvara before arriving into Galway City. You’ll have free time to wander the narrow streets and catch the street musicians performing on Shop Street.
The return journey follows the Esker Riada - the ancient glacial ridge road that once divided north and south Ireland - passing through counties Galway, Roscommon, Longford, Leitrim, Offaly, Westmeath, Kildare, and Meath before arriving back in Dublin.
This is a private tour.
Liscannor is the back door to the Cliffs. The route passes through Liscannor on the way to the visitor centre - a working pier village where the southern end of the cliff walk begins. Most visitors reach the cliffs from the north through the visitor centre car park. The Hag’s Head end of the walk starts just north of Liscannor, on open headland with no entry fee and far fewer people. If you have time to stop before the visitor centre, even fifteen minutes at the pier gives you a sense of the place that the car park doesn’t.
The cliffs are best walked from the Liscannor side. The visitor centre sits at the midpoint of the cliff range. Walking north from the centre toward O’Brien’s Tower is the busy route. The path south toward Hag’s Head is quieter - open headland, no railings on the southern stretch, and a Napoleonic-era signal tower at the head. The view back toward the visitor centre from Hag’s Head gives you the full scale of the cliffs without being in the crowd.
Doolin is the lunch stop. The itinerary lands you in Doolin after the cliffs - Gus O’Connor’s has been pouring since 1832 and the kitchen does chowder that earns its reputation. McGahn’s is the local-leaning alternative a hundred yards up the road. The village is three hamlets spread along Fisher Street and the harbour, and the music starts from about nine in the evening, so if the tour is running ahead of schedule it’s worth a short walk to the pier before heading north.
The Burren coast road passes through Ballyvaughan. Coming north from Doolin toward Kinvara, the route follows the coastline through Ballyvaughan - the front door of the Burren, where Corkscrew Hill climbs up the limestone behind the village and the bay opens toward the Aran Islands. Monk’s Pub at the pier is the right stop for a coffee or a bowl of chowder if there’s any time in the schedule.
Kinvara is worth the stop. The route along the Burren coast passes through Kinvara - a small harbour village where Dunguaire Castle, a 16th-century tower house in red stone, sits on a promontory into the bay. The castle catches the afternoon light in a way that makes it one of the most photographed buildings in Connacht. Even a twenty-minute stop at the pier, with the Burren limestone climbing away behind you and the bay in front, is one of the better moments of the day.
Shop Street in Galway - stay for the musicians. Galway’s free time is usually an hour, which is enough for the Latin Quarter, the Spanish Arch, and a walk along the river. Shop Street and Quay Street are where the buskers and street musicians gather. If the session is going in a pub doorway, stop. The city is at its best in the middle of the afternoon before the evening crowds arrive.