The Cliffs of Moher above the Atlantic, County Clare

County Clare · The Wild Atlantic Way · Regional Edit

The Clare Edit

The Cliffs without the coach park, and the Burren after.

The county that lands at Shannon: the Cliffs of Moher before the crowds, the limestone moonscape of the Burren, music in Doolin and the links at Lahinch. Six places, the stays we book, and the hours that make them yours.

12 minute readShannon to Loop Head

The briefing

Clare in one minute

Clare is the easiest county in the west to reach and the hardest to leave. Land at Shannon, sleep in a castle, and be on the Cliffs before the coaches arrive from Dublin.

The mistake is the day trip: in from Galway or Dublin at eleven, gone by three. The county rewards the people who sleep in it, because the Cliffs at eight and Doolin at nine are different worlds from the midday version.

Base
The Burren, or Dromoland
Give it
Two nights, four for Loop Head
Arrive
Shannon Airport, fifteen minutes
Best weeks
May, June, September

The Quick Answer

Clare is small, close together and entirely a question of timing. Base two nights in Doolin for the Cliffs of Moher at either end of the day rather than the middle, and two in Ballyvaughan for the Burren. Fly into Shannon if you can: it is fifteen minutes from Dromoland and the gentlest first morning of left-hand driving in Ireland.

  • Cliffs of Moher entry is timed and cheaper booked online in advance
  • Best cliff hours: before 9am or after 6pm
  • Doolin to Inis Oirr by ferry: about 40 minutes
  • Shannon Airport to Doolin: 1 hour 10 minutes

Related:the ultimate Ireland road tripIs Ireland Worth Visiting?Top 10 Hotels in Ireland

Why Clare

Kerry gets the posters. Clare gets the people who land at Shannon.

Most trips race through Clare between Galway and Kerry. Here is the honest difference.

AspectKerryClare
The headlineThe Ring of Kerry, by coachThe Cliffs, before the coaches
The landscapeMountains and lakesLimestone pavement and cliff edge
EveningsKillarney's restaurantsA Doolin session on a Tuesday
GolfWaterville and BallybunionLahinch and Doonbeg
Best forThe first trip to IrelandThe trip that lands at Shannon

Six places

The places, and the hour to be there

The Cliffs first, then the limestone, then the music. Each stop has a best hour and a better alternative for when the day goes wrong.

  1. The Cliffs of Moher above the Atlantic, County Clare
    The Cliffs of Moher, County Clare. Photograph: Holger Uwe Schmitt / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    01

    The Cliffs of Moher

    The edge of Europe, twenty minutes from the Burren

    Seven hundred feet of Atlantic, if you time it

    Eight kilometres of cliff face rising to seven hundred feet above the Atlantic, with O'Brien's Tower at the highest point and the Aran Islands offshore. The single most visited natural site in Ireland, and still worth it.

    Expat perspective

    The car park opens before the visitor centre, and the clifftop is the point. Be on the path at eight and you will have the south platform nearly to yourself. Between ten and four it is a queue with a view, and we mean that literally.

    Best hour
    Before nine, or after five in summer
    Do instead
    If the car park is full and the day is gone, walk the cliff path south from Hag's Head instead: the same rock, a fraction of the people, and the tower in the distance for scale.
    From the Notebook: The Cliffs of Moher at five thirtyThe full Cliffs of Moher guide
  2. Poulnabrone dolmen on the limestone pavement of the Burren, County Clare
    Poulnabrone, the Burren. Photograph: Niki.L / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.

    02

    The Burren

    The limestone plateau between the Cliffs and Galway Bay

    A moonscape with gentians growing in the cracks

    Two hundred and fifty square kilometres of glaciated limestone pavement, where Arctic and Mediterranean plants grow side by side and Poulnabrone dolmen has stood for nearly six thousand years. The strangest landscape in Ireland, and the one people remember longest.

    Expat perspective

    Wear proper shoes. The pavement is beautiful and ankle-breaking in equal measure, and the people limping back to the car park in sandals are a daily sight. Give Poulnabrone ten quiet minutes, then walk out onto the limestone behind it.

    Best hour
    A grey afternoon, honestly. The rock reads better
    Do instead
    If the weather closes in, the Burren Perfumery at Carron: a small garden, a serious tearoom and the best wet afternoon in the county.
    From the Notebook: The Burren on a grey afternoon

  3. 03

    Doolin

    The music village, and the Clare ferry port for the Aran Islands

    Three pubs, a pier and a session most nights

    A small village between the Cliffs and the Burren that has been the capital of Irish traditional music for fifty years, and the departure point for the Aran Islands ferries on the Clare side. Gus O'Connor's, McGann's and McDermott's are the three names to know.

    Expat perspective

    Go on a weeknight. The weekend coach crowd treats the music as wallpaper; on a Tuesday the session is the point and the musicians are playing for the room. The Aran crossing from here is shorter than from Galway, and weather-dependent in both directions.

    Best hour
    Nine o'clock on a Tuesday, when the session finds itself
    Do instead
    If Doolin is full of buses, drive ten minutes to Roadford and eat at Wildes at the Lodge, the quiet table the village keeps for itself.
    From the Notebook: Music in Doolin on a Tuesday
  4. Fairways and dunes at Lahinch Golf Club, County Clare
    Lahinch Golf Club, County Clare. Photograph: Joseph Mischyshyn / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.

    04

    Lahinch

    The surf town on Liscannor Bay

    A championship links behind a mile of beach

    A one-street seaside town with one of the great links courses in the world behind the dunes and a beach that taught Ireland to surf. Old school in the best way: no pretence, excellent fish, and the sea in everything.

    Expat perspective

    The golf is the headline, but the town works even if you never swing a club. Walk the promenade at low tide, watch the surfers from the seawall, and understand that the links is best booked months ahead through the club's own visitor system.

    Best hour
    A still morning on the beach, before the surf schools
    Do instead
    If Lahinch is slammed on a summer weekend, drive twenty minutes south to Spanish Point: the same Atlantic, a longer beach and half the cars.
    From the Notebook: Lahinch on a still morningBooking Lahinch, properly
  5. The cliffs and lighthouse at Loop Head, County Clare
    Loop Head, County Clare. Photograph: Ludwig Bickel / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    05

    Loop Head

    The peninsula at the mouth of the Shannon

    The cliffs without the crowds, an hour further on

    The finger of land between the Shannon estuary and the Atlantic, ending in a lighthouse and cliff edges that rival Moher with a fraction of the visitors. Dolphins work the current off the point most days in summer.

    Expat perspective

    This is the answer we give when someone says the Cliffs of Moher felt like an airport. The drive out the peninsula is the experience: Kilkee's cliff walk, the Bridges of Ross, then the lighthouse at the end of the world.

    Best hour
    The last hour of light, facing back up the coast
    Do instead
    If the fog is down at the point, turn back to Kilkee and do the Pollock Holes instead: natural tidal pools on the reef, best at low water.

  6. 06

    The Flaggy Shore

    New Quay, on the north Clare coast road

    Oysters and still water, looking across at Galway

    A limestone shore on the inner bay where the Burren meets the sea, with Linnane's Lobster Bar at New Quay serving shellfish pulled from the water in front of it. Seamus Heaney wrote the place into a poem, and the light explains why.

    Expat perspective

    Order the lobster and the oysters and take the table facing the water. Opening hours are not always published, so telephone before you drive out. Then walk the shore road afterward; it is fifteen minutes and perfectly flat.

    Best hour
    Lunch, on any day the tide is in
    Do instead
    If Linnane's is closed, continue the coast road into Galway and let the evening take over. It is one of the best drives in the west either way.
    From the Notebook: The coast road from Galway to Doolin
The fourteenth hole on the links at Doonbeg, County Clare
Doonbeg links, County Clare. Photograph: Terrance Siemon / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

An interlude

Two of the great links, one county

Lahinch is the old master, running through the dunes above the surf town since 1892. Doonbeg, an hour south, is the modern championship links on Doughmore Bay. Together they make Clare the quietest serious golf county in the west, and both pair naturally with Ballybunion across the Shannon.

Book Lahinch months ahead through the club's own visitor system. Doonbeg pairs best with a night at the lodge.

Booking Lahinch, properly

Where to stay

A country house in the Burren, or a castle by the airport

Two stays we book for clients, and one more for the links.

Garden-facing exterior of Gregans Castle Hotel in the Burren, County Clare
Courtesy of Gregans Castle Hotel

Ballyvaughan, in the heart of the Burren

Gregans Castle Hotel

For the Burren at your window and the Cliffs twenty minutes away

A Michelin Key country house from 1750, family run since 1976, sitting in the Burren with views across the hills to Galway Bay. Tolkien, Heaney and Sean Scully all stayed. The nearest luxury house to the Cliffs, which changes what the Cliffs feel like.

Book a Junior Suite or Premier Suite with the Galway Bay aspect. The Classic Rooms are the entry tier, and if you are here for the Burren light, buy the view.

Check availability Our review
Dromoland Castle and its parkland, County Clare
Courtesy of Dromoland Castle

Newmarket-on-Fergus, fifteen minutes from Shannon

Dromoland Castle

For the full castle experience at the start or end of the trip

A sixteenth century castle on four hundred and fifty acres with its own golf course, a private lake and a walled garden, fifteen minutes from Shannon Airport. The rare five star castle that genuinely works for children without sacrificing the grown-up dining.

Book a castle room rather than a wing room. The main house rooms have the lough views and the weight of the original building; the newer wing is comfortable but generic.

Check availability Our review

Orientation

Where to base yourself in Clare

Four bases, and the trip each one is quietly designed for.

Where to base yourself in Clare
BaseFrom ShannonBest forGive it
BallyvaughanThe Burren, north Clare1 hrGregans Castle, the Cliffs at eight, the Flaggy Shore2 nights
DoolinBetween the Cliffs and the Burren1 hr 10 minThe music, the Aran ferries, walking the cliff path1 to 2 nights
LahinchThe surf coast1 hrThe links, the beach, families1 to 2 nights
Newmarket-on-FergusEast Clare15 minDromoland, the first or last night1 night

If the Cliffs are the point of the trip, sleep in the Burren or Doolin. Twenty minutes away beats two hours away every single morning.

The shape of it

Four days we would do ourselves

  1. Day one

    Land at Shannon, sleep in a castle

    Fifteen minutes from the runway to Dromoland. Tea, the walled garden, an early night. The jet lag day, solved.

  2. Day two

    The Cliffs at eight, Doolin at nine

    On the clifftop before the visitor centre opens. Lunch in Doolin, the afternoon in the Burren, back for the session after dinner.

  3. Day three

    The Burren and the Flaggy Shore

    Poulnabrone in the morning quiet, the Perfumery at Carron, then lobster at Linnane's looking across the bay at Galway.

  4. Day four

    Loop Head, or the links

    West to the lighthouse at the end of the peninsula, or a morning round at Lahinch. Then the Killimer ferry south into Kerry.

Coming from the north? Read The Galway Edit, or the coast road down: Galway to Doolin, the slow way.

Want this shaped around your dates?

Tell us who is travelling and when. We will set the stays, the tee times and the tables that sell out first.

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Field notes

More Clare from the Notebook

Continuing south? The Kerry Edit is across the Shannon on the Killimer ferry, or see where Gregans Castle ranks among the country's best value stays.

Clare · Insider Intelligence

The nearest luxury house to the Cliffs is twenty minutes away.

Clare is the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren, and almost everyone sleeps in the wrong place for both. One Michelin Key house sits twenty minutes from the Cliffs in the heart of the Burren, which is the difference between a car-park visit and a proper morning.

The Cliffs of Moher above the Atlantic, County Clare
The Cliffs of Moher, twenty minutes from Gregans Castle, which makes an eight o'clock arrival possible.Photograph: Holger Uwe Schmitt / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Poulnabrone dolmen on the limestone pavement of the Burren, County Clare
Poulnabrone in the Burren. Limestone pavement, so footwear matters more than you expect.Photograph: Niki.L / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 3.0
The cliffs and lighthouse at Loop Head, County Clare
Loop Head, the far end of the county and the day most visitors never make.Photograph: Ludwig Bickel / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

The room we would ask for

Ballyvaughan, in the Burren

Gregans Castle

Ask for: A Junior Suite or Premier Suite with the Galway Bay view

Published categories are Classic Rooms, Superior Rooms, Junior Suites and Premier Suites. The house dates from 1750, has welcomed guests since the 1940s, has been family-run since 1976, and publishes views across the Burren hills to Galway Bay.

Classic Rooms are the entry tier. If you are here for the Burren light, buy the aspect.

Check rates and availabilityRead our full review

Newmarket-on-Fergus, east Clare

Dromoland Castle

Ask for: A castle room rather than a wing room

The practical alternative if Gregans is full, and closer to Shannon Airport for a first or last night.

Check rates and availabilityRead our full review

The table, and when it actually opens

Gregans Castle

The hotel holds a MICHELIN Key for 2025 and is one of only 14 hotels in Ireland to do so. It publishes its dining opening times, sample menus, a breakfast menu, a Corkscrew Bar lunch menu and a wine and drinks list.

The hotel publishes its dining opening times on its own site. Check them before you plan the Cliffs, because the two schedules have to agree.

Read the published breakfast menu. It is one of the few Irish country houses that puts it online, which tells you how seriously the kitchen takes the first meal.

The hotel publishes separate pages on children and pets. Read both before you book if either applies.

Linnane's Lobster Bar

The New Quay shellfish bar on the Flaggy Shore, north Clare. Approved imagery on this site is used with permission.

Current opening hours are not published, so telephone before you drive out.

Lobster and oysters, at a table facing the water.

Ground truths

  • Gregans Castle is twenty minutes from the Cliffs of Moher, which makes an eight o'clock arrival possible.
  • The Cliffs of Moher car park opens before the visitor centre. The clifftop is the point.
  • The Burren is a limestone pavement. Footwear matters more than you expect.
  • Doolin is the ferry port for the Aran Islands from Clare, and the crossing is weather-dependent.
  • Guests at Gregans have included J.R.R. Tolkien, Seamus Heaney and Sean Scully, per the hotel's own history.

Being honest about it

The Cliffs of Moher between ten and four is a queue with a view. If you are not willing to be there early or late, we would spend the day in the Burren instead and mean it.

Paste this into the booking email

Please confirm a suite category with the Galway Bay aspect, the published dining times for our dates, and your child and pet policies.

Checked 28 September 2026. Every detail above was read on the operator's own site. Where an operator does not publish a price, a menu or an opening time, we say so rather than guess. Sources: Gregans Castle.

Book before you fly

The Clare days worth booking ahead

Most of Clare rewards wandering. Two days do not: the Cliffs, which punish the late arrival, and the oyster coast on the Galway border.

  • The Cliffs of Moher, privately, from Ennis

    From Dromoland or Gregans

    A private car to the cliff edge before the coaches, and back for lunch. The single booking that changes how the Cliffs feel.

    Check dates and availability

  • Oysters with locals on the Flaggy Shore

    The Burren's northern edge

    A private tasting where the Burren meets Galway Bay. Pair it with the Flaggy Shore walk and lunch at Linnane's.

    Check dates and availability

If you book through these links we may earn a commission, at no cost to you. It never changes what we recommend.

Arrange it with the people who run it

  • Inis Oírr ferry from Doolin

    Direct operator · Doolin

    The Doolin Ferry crossing to Inis Oírr. Check the operator's timetable and sailing conditions for your dates.

    Check details with the operator

  • Burren Guided Walks

    Direct operator · The Burren

    Walk the limestone with Burren Guided Walks. Ask the operator about a suitable route and date.

    Check details with the operator

Plan Clare in luxury

Luxury hotels in Clare, and the routes through it

Itineraries through Clare

Want the hotels held and the days built for you? Ask the Private Client Desk.

Common questions

Planning Clare, answered

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