The Cliffs of Moher

Once we were settled into our room @ the Atlantic View B&B in Doolin, we decided to take advantage of the delightful day to visit the Cliffs of Moher ... just a 10-minute drive from the guest house.

Yes, it was already 6:00p, but the days are long in Ireland this time of the year. Plus, we were hoping that at that hour the tour busses would be gone ... as would most of the independent visitors. We were not disappointed. I’d be surprised if there were more than 20-30 people viewing the Cliffs and hiking the paths while we were there.

After checking out the exhibits at the Visitor Center, we headed off to see the Cliffs. The rays of the sun lit the face of the Cliffs, allowing us to see details that would have been hidden otherwise. Walking north first, we went to O’Brien’s Tower, which was built in 1835 as a lookout for visitors to enjoy the views. Alas, the tower is under restoration, so we didn’t get to climb up to the observation terrace.

Instead of continuing past the tower, we retraced our steps and headed south. The paved path eventually gave way to a dirt path that hugged the top of the cliffs. The barrier wall designed to keep visitors away from the edge disappeared as well. With nothing to stop us from tumbling down the 700-feet+ tall Cliffs, we stayed safely on the path.

We stopped frequently for photo ops ... sitting on boulders on and off to enjoy the scenery ... and the solitude. I’d resigned myself to visiting the Cliffs of Moher with people crawling all over the place, so it was especially nice to have it mostly all to ourselves.

We would like to have stayed to enjoy sunset here, but that wasn’t set to happen until after 10:00p ... too late for us after a long day of driving.Read more