Clare is the county everyone visits and almost nobody plans
We have driven friends from the States out to the Cliffs of Moher more times than we can count, and the trip splits cleanly in two. The ones who arrive at eleven in the morning see a car park, a queue and a wall of weatherproof jackets. The ones who arrive at half seven in the evening see the reason the place is famous. Same cliff, different trip.
That is Clare in one lesson. The county is small, the attractions are close together, and the entire difference between a good day and a mediocre one is timing. You are never more than an hour from anywhere here, which means you can afford to eat lunch slowly and be in the right place at the right light.
It is also the most musical county in Ireland, and we do not say that loosely. Doolin and Miltown Malbay hold trad sessions that are not staged for anybody. If you have one night in Clare and you spend it in a pub in Doolin listening rather than talking, you have used the county correctly.
The four Clares, and which one you actually want
Visitors treat Clare as a stop between Galway and Kerry. It holds four distinct trips, and they want different things from you.
- The cliff coast
- Moher, Doolin, Hag's Head and the Cliff Walk. The reason most people come. Doolin is the base that lets you be on the cliffs at either end of the day rather than the middle.
- The Burren
- A hundred square miles of grey limestone pavement with Arctic and Mediterranean flowers growing side by side in the cracks. Poulnabrone, Caherconnell, the green roads above Ballyvaughan. The quietest great landscape in Ireland.
- Lahinch and the golf coast
- Old-school links golf, a surf beach that genuinely works, and a town that stays awake. Lahinch and Doonbeg together make the golf case for the county on their own.
- Loop Head and the estuary
- The peninsula almost nobody drives. A working lighthouse, dolphins in the Shannon mouth, and cliff edges you can stand near without a barrier or a crowd. Half a day, and the best half day in Clare.
Timing the Cliffs of Moher, properly
The visitor centre car park opens early and stays open late, and the entry fee is timed and cheaper when booked online in advance. Between roughly ten in the morning and four in the afternoon, the site takes the full weight of the Galway and Killarney coach circuit. Before nine and after six, it is a different place.
If you want the cliffs without any car park at all, walk. The Cliff Walk runs from Doolin south to Hag's Head, about eight miles one way on an unfenced coastal path, and the stretch north of the visitor centre is the good bit. There is a shuttle bus in season so you do not have to walk both directions.
The Doolin boat is the other answer. An hour out under the cliff face gives you the scale that the top never quite conveys, and it also runs to Inis Oirr, the smallest Aran island, which makes an easy half day from the same pier.
Driving Clare, honestly
Clare roads are mostly good. The N67 coast road through the Burren is wide, scenic and easy. The exception is the network of small roads inland from Ballyvaughan and the Corkscrew Hill descent, which is spectacular and narrow at the same time.
Shannon Airport sits in the south of the county, and it is the single best transatlantic arrival in Ireland for a first-time driver. You clear US preclearance on the way home, the airport is small, and you are on a quiet road within ten minutes rather than fighting the M50.
Our rule for visiting friends: fly into Shannon, sleep the first night at Dromoland or in Ennis, and start the coast the next morning with clear eyes. Do not attempt the Burren on the day you land.
