One Saturday in September, I took a €40 day trip with The Dublin Tour Company to the Cliffs of Moher. I boarded the shuttle bus departing from outside the Dublin Discover Ireland Centre at Suffolk Street at 7am, where I met up with some tourists and a few Dubs who were heading off for the day.
We pulled in at 8.30 for a spot of breakfast and then on to Galway, where we met up with a local guide, Fiona Brennan. She gave us a wonderful tour of the City for an hour. The walk began at the River Corrib beside the Spanish Arch and Claddagh Village, followed by a walk to the ancient medieval quarter. The walking tour highlights included St. Nicholas Collegiate Church, the Lynch Memorial Window, Eyre Square and Kennedy Park.
At 11.30am we headed off for the Burren. We travelled along the spectacular Coast Road with a really fun driver, Damien Noonan, who was cracking jokes and giving us a lot of history about buildings along the way.
The highlight of the drive for me was the dancing dog that does a little dance as the coach goes past and the llamas which one of the local farmers has been breeding for the last few years.
After we explored the archaeology and unique rocky landscape of the Burren we got back on the coach to have lunch at O’Connors Pub in Doolin. After lunch we went straight to the Cliffs of Moher, which were only 15 minutes away.
The Cliffs of Moher (left) are still Ireland’s number one tourist attraction and well worth a visit if you have never been there. It is over 200 metres high and 8 kilometres long. Some of you may have seen them recently in Harry Potter’s Half-Blood Prince. I really enjoyed the stunning views over the Atlantic Ocean and spent two hours there soaking up all of the natural beauty.
Afterwards, we stop-ped off at the 5,800 year old Poulnabrone Dolmen (right) which is Ireland’s oldest known monument.
There were two more stops on the way back to Galway. First was the Ballyalban Fairy Fort – home of the little people, and the 16th century Dunguaire Castle. We returned to Galway and after a short break went straight home to Dublin City, arriving at 9pm.
The day tours can be booked online with the Dublin Tour Company and the Cliffs of Moher tour operates 7 days a week, all year round.
www.dublintourcompany.com
Tel: 00353 (0)91 566 566
By Jason McDonnell
