Posted by The Cliffs of Moher are without any doubt one of the most impressive sites in all Ireland. The steep cliffs are mighty big, imposing, beautiful and also frightening. They are over 200 metres high and they are steep. A gaping abyss basically. If you aren’t sure whether or not you got vertigo, you’ll know for sure once you look down the Cliffs of Moher.
Book excursions to the Cliffs of Moher online: There are many bus tours (day trips) from Dubin, Galway and other cities. You can also buy tickets for admission online for 4 Euro. A very good overview of tours to the famous cliffs can be found on the great website Getyourguide.com
There are good news and bad news when it comes to the Cliffs. Some of the good news I already shared. They really are as beautiful as they look on pictures. 15 years ago I would have recommended to just go there, jump out the car and enjoy the view. These days are gone though. A visitor center was built right next to the most beautiful part of the Cliffs. They built walls and enhanced security. While in a way that sounds like a good idea, it also means that you can no longer get a close look at the edge of the cliff. This was one of the main reasons people went there.
There are other cliffs in Ireland. Some are even higher. But none of them had this nice platform with a vertical drop of almost 200 metres. You can still see it in old pictures. I am not sure, when I took this picture. You can tell, it was before the visitor center opened.
I’ll be honest, I never did close to the edge, even when it was accessible. To put it mildly, I am not very good with heights. I did admire the spectacular view though. This has now become a little more difficult now. I am not saying it isn’t possible, but these days you need to know your way around. At this stage I would actually recommend the guided tour to the cliffs. At least you get to see something.
Officials will point out to you that, before they added the security measures, people died there every year. I am not sure that I follow this argument. If you now try climbing around the security fences (admittedly a stupid idea), you are much more likely to put yourself in harms way. I honestly believe it was safer before. That platform or terrace, whatever you want to call it, was a pretty good place to go close to the edge.
I do not have a robust statistic of how many people died in that particular spot as the result if an accident but I would assume it did not happen very often. There are much more dangerous spots around the cliffs and they are not secured.
How to get there
The Cliffs of Moher are near Doolin, a small town south of Galway in County Clare. Doolin used to be one of my favourite spots in Ireland. With all the building that went on there I am not so keen any more. It still is a good starting point for the hike to the Cliffs of Moher but I would not necessarily stay there for longer any more.
There are bus tours from Galway, Limerick and even Dublin. Depending on where you stay, you can probably go straight there without all the hassle of either driving yourself (and easily get lost following Irish road signs) or navigate the Irish public transport. Also, they charge you for parking at the Cliffs and that is before admission.
The landscape around the Cliffs is the Burren. It is quite impressive in a way, renowned for the abundance of plants and animals in the region. That is a bit of a surprise considering that most of it, is a karst landscape. To an amateur like me it is basically a gigantic rock.
Opening Hours Cliffs of Moher:
Jan./Feb.: 9.00-17.00 daily
March: 8.00-18.00 daily
April: 8.00-18.00 daily
May – August: 8.00-21.00 daily
Sept./Oct.: 8.00-19.00 daily
Nov./Dec: 9.00-17.00 daily
Admission (last updated 2020)
Adults: € 4.00
Children under 16: FREE
Book excursions to the Cliffs of Moher online: There are many bus tours (day trips) from Dubin, Galway and other cities. You can also buy entrance tickets online for only 4 Euro. A very good overview of tours to the famous cliffs can be found on the great website Getyourguide.com