Visiting the Cliffs of Moher with Galway Tour Company!

You’ve definitely seen pictures of the Cliffs of Moher if you’ve ever been on Instagram. They’re one of Ireland’s most recognizable tourist attractions and have been gaining a lot of popularity lately thanks to social media. While we were in Galway, we knew we had to see them. I spent too much time trying to plan a self-guided day trip before realizing that it would be easier and more convenient to go with a traditional guided tour. I found a tour through Galway Tour Company for €35, which was less than it would have been to do it ourselves. Plus, the GTC tour took us to several other places that we wouldn’t have seen otherwise, and our tour guide, Dave, was absolutely phenomenal. I would recommend the Galway Tour Company to anyone who visits Galway; they have several different trips to choose from!

Our first stop after leaving Galway was at Dunguire Castle. There wasn’t enough time to go in and check it out, but it’s not too large and is mostly used for an event space now. I was more than content to walk around the outside and snap some photos of the castle overlooking the bay. After hopping back in the coach, we continued our drive through the Burren in County Clare, which is exactly what you would picture the Irish countryside to look like. I decided that if I’m ever lucky enough to move to Ireland, I’ll be living in County Clare. Dave taught us all kinds of interesting facts – apparently, most of the flora and fauna species native to Ireland grow in the Burren.

The next stop was at the Gleninsheen Wedge Tomb, which is an ancient Celtic burial ground. Quite interesting to walk around and check out, as well as to get out and stretch our legs for a bit. Then it was off to see the Kilfenora High Crosses. These ancient crosses look just like the traditional Celtic crosses you would picture, with the circles and intricate carving around the cross bit. Two of them are in a covered section of an old church, and the third is out in a field slightly behind the church. Of course, I made sure I found that one as well – plus who doesn’t like getting away from the crowd for a bit? 

Our last stop before making it to the Cliffs of Moher was in the little village of Doolin for some lunch and shopping. Doolin is incredibly cute and very small. We had lunch in Gus O’Connor’s pub at Dave’s recommendation – the beef stew was delicious, but the homemade brown bread was even better! I ate my lunch far too quickly so I could check out some of the sweater shops. My one goal in Ireland was to find a green wool sweater, a task that was far more difficult than you would think. Luckily, Doolin has a couple of little sweater shops, and I finally found the dream sweater I was looking for at the pink sweater shop at the end of the road. The shop clerk there was so nice and told me that was the first emerald green sweater she had seen there in the nine years she had worked there. Score! It was cold and drizzly the whole day of our trip, so my souvenir had the added benefit of keeping me nice and toasty right away. (Plus everyone else who was slightly damp looked very envious…)

Then it was finally off to the main attraction of the day, the Cliffs of Moher. I was so excited – this was the one thing I had been looking forward to since our trip started, and even the rain couldn’t dampen my mood. Except we got there, and it was so foggy that we couldn’t see much of anything… A slight disappointment, but damn, Jackie, we can’t control the weather (plus I got a pretty good caption out of it!) We looked around the visitor’s center, which provided a good background of the history of the cliffs, and luckily by the time we were finished in there, the fog had lifted slightly, and we were able to see a bit of the cliffs. Even with the fog, it was still so beautiful, and I can say that it deserves its Instagram fame! The Cliffs of Moher are definitely somewhere I would love to visit again on a clear day to do some hiking and take in the views. 

Sadly, it was about time to head back to Galway, but on our way back, Dave was nice enough to stop at a place he knew where the seaside cliffs are lower, but there wasn’t any fog. This made for a great Instagram-worthy photo shoot in which I made Allison follow me around with the camera, and she so lovingly obliged. It was a lot warmer and had stopped raining at this point. Sitting on the cliffs, smelling the salty air, and just taking in the scenery was easily the highlight of my day. Plus there were no other tourists, which was definitely a bonus! 

Overall, the fog at the Cliffs of Moher was disappointing, but we had a phenomenal time on the trip. In fact, I don’t think the weather really detracted from our experience at all. The best part was getting to see all the little attractions that we wouldn’t have found otherwise, and getting to learn more about Irish history and culture. Plus I always love a day outside of any city to just enjoy nature and the fresh air. If you liked your GTC trip as much as we did, and want to book another trip with them, do so right after you get back to the coach station. We did that with their trip to Connemara that we wanted to do the following day, and they gave us €5 off each! I cannot say enough good things about Galway Tour Company and would use them again for sure on another trip to Galway. If you’re based in Dublin for your trip, they also offer day trips from Dublin to other parts of Ireland.