Ireland & the back arse of nowhere #2: Cliffs of Moher

What can I write that will do the Cliffs of Moher justice? Should I tell you that I went there 3 times and would definitely return endless more times? That I would build my house on the cliffs if they let me? That this is only a small part of the amazing Wild Atlantic Way that you MUST have on your bucket list? Maybe I should just show you so that you can see for yourself!

Yes, that is me blocking the view

Google Cliffs of Moher and you'll get tons of pictures just like the one that I took. It is the most famous view of the cliffs and just looks really nice. But the Cliffs of Moher are more than this.

I hadn't seen much of Ireland yet. A friend came to visit and we decided to cross the country and check out the Cliffs of Moher. A bit "to get it over with", since everyone at work kept telling me that it is the best thing that Ireland has to give. We got on a bus in Dublin, went all the way to the West coast where we were dropped off in a parking lot, not having a clue what to expect. The first thing that we noticed was that the visitor centre looks a bit like a massive hobbit house. This amused me so much that I didn't really care if the cliffs would suck or not. We had to walk a little and around the corner, the cliffs would show.

They blended in the visitor centre pretty well

When you arrive at the cliffs, there are 2 directions that you can take. Left and right. If you have all day it doesn't matter what direction you take, because you can easily do both. But the first time we were there we took the path on our right hand. This is the path past the place where you shoot the postcard picture from. We had no idea that we would never have time to do the left part too, that day. I would later come back to explore the other direction.

The right-hand path with the tower in the distance

I am afraid of heights...and the cliffs rise 120 meters above the Atlantic ocean. I, therefore, was very happy that -especially for me?- they invented something like the sissy path. I assume it was the intention that everyone would stay behind the stone wall that will keep you safe from suddenly jumping or falling off the cliffs. But it clearly doesn't work and they don't do anything about it. Almost everyone walks on the edges of the cliff, snapping selfies and acting crazy stupid for the best shot.

Taking the sissy path

If you follow the (right) path, at some point you get at a fence. This is the end of the "Cliffs of Moher"-park. But no reason to stop there. The rest is open to the public (but at your own risk) and if you'd like you can walk all the way to Doolin. This would take you 1,5 hours if you don't stop for the many photo opportunities. From Doolin you could take the ferry to the Aran Island or a "cruise" to view the cliffs from sea-level.

I'd advise everyone to keep walking at least for a fair bit since the view will change a few times and everything is equally spectacular!

Aran Islands in the distance

The path is sometimes pretty narrow and that can be challenging with the busloads of people visiting the Cliffs of Moher every day. I couldn't help myself thinking about the number of people not returning from their walk on the cliffs. (Some research taught me that about 10 people every year die here, either by accident or suicide)

Not everyone took the sissy path

Marking the highest point of the cliffs, there is O' Brien's Tower. It was built in 1835 as an observation tower and doesn't really have that much use but to look pretty in photos.

The tower in the distance

If you ever decide to visit the Cliffs of Moher, take into account that the weather in that area isn't always as nice as in my photos. Actually, I have been extremely lucky to have this weather twice in a row. Since it is the west coast of Ireland, fog, clouds, rain & wind often happen. What that looks like might be clear if you see the shot I took from the water... Imagine you walking on those cliffs now!

The tower from the water

Just check it out. Explore the Wild Atlantic Way and take plenty of time to explore the cliffs and the surrounding area. I will be back and I believe that you might as well!

Bye-bye cliffs, I will be back!

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In this series
Ireland & the back arse of nowhere #1: Aran Islands