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Small Group Cliffs of Moher and Castle Tour from Dublin
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From €129 per person
This is one of Ireland’s classic west coast days out, and it’s well worth doing. You’ll travel from Dublin in a spacious luxury Mercedes van - maximum 25 passengers - with your guide pointing out what’s worth knowing along the way.
The day takes in three of Co. Clare’s big hitters: the medieval Bunratty Castle and Folk Park, the Cliffs of Moher, and the strange limestone landscape of the Burren. It’s a long day (around 12 hours), but the stops are well paced and you’ll have real time at each one.
Bunratty Castle and Folk Park - You arrive at Bunratty around 11:30 for a two-hour visit. The castle itself is a remarkable 15th-century tower house in excellent condition. The Folk Park alongside it shows what life looked like in this part of Clare across the centuries. If you fancy a pint or a late bite, Durty Nelly’s Pub next door has been entertaining visitors - and castle guardsmen before them - for a very long time.
Liscannor village - Around 14:15 you’ll stop in the tiny village of Liscannor for around 45 minutes. There are good local options for lunch including meats, seafood, vegetarian, and vegan dishes, plus soups and sandwiches.
Cliffs of Moher - You arrive at the cliffs around 15:30 for 90 minutes - which is exactly right, based on years of guest feedback. The cliffs rise 820 feet above sea level, stretching over the Galway Bay, the Aran Islands, and the Connemara coastline. You can walk the clifftop trails and keep an eye out for the 30,000 birds that nest here. Departure back to Dublin is at 17:00.
Dublin drop-off - You’ll be dropped at College Green between 20:00 and 20:30, depending on traffic and weather. From there you’re minutes from Temple Bar and Grafton Street, with public transport and taxis nearby.
Meeting point: The Merrion Hotel, Merrion Street
At Bunratty, the two hours go faster than you’d expect. The Folk Park is a thirty-acre site with over thirty reconstructed buildings - cottages, a forge, a school - all moved stone by stone from sites across Clare and Limerick that were about to be lost. Budget time for the buildings, not just the castle courtyard. If you want a pint at Durty Nelly’s (which claims a founding date of 1620), go before the evening banquet crowd arrives - at 11:30 in the morning it’s still genuinely a pub rather than a function room.
Your 45 minutes in Liscannor is your best opportunity for lunch. Vaughan’s Anchor Inn on the main street is the local anchor - a third-generation family pub with a serious kitchen, Michelin-recommended, good seafood off the local boats. The bar food is solid and quicker than a full restaurant sitting. Egan’s Bistro is also on the main street for soup and sandwiches if you want something lighter.
At the Cliffs of Moher, the 90-minute window is genuinely well-judged. The visitor centre is worth a quick look, but spend most of your time on the clifftop path - the cliffs stretch north and south and the views toward the Aran Islands are the point. About 30,000 seabirds nest on the cliff faces; look for puffins in spring and summer on the ledges below O’Brien’s Tower.
The Burren landscape you pass through between Liscannor and the cliffs is the real wild card of this trip. The limestone pavement - flat grey rock with flowers growing from the cracks - looks like nothing else in Ireland. Ask your guide about the Burren plants; rare species grow here that you won’t find anywhere else on this island.
If you want more time near the cliffs, Doolin is 15 minutes north of Liscannor on the same coast road. The three-hamlet village sits at the Hag’s Head end of the clifftop walk - you can reach the same cliff edge from Doolin’s harbour for free, with no visitor centre between you and the drop. The four pubs run trad sessions most nights of the year; Gus O’Connor’s has been pouring since 1832 and the Russell brothers gave the village its musical reputation in the 20th century.