Cliffs of Moher tours from Galway run seven to ten and a half hours south into County Clare, with the cliffs about ninety minutes down the coast road. That proximity is what a Galway base buys you: a shorter day, a later start, and more choice about how long you stand on the cliff top.
Ninety minutes on the cliff top with the gate ticket in the fare, plus Poulnabrone Dolmen and Doolin. The cheapest full coach day here at eight and a quarter hours.
From $64 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Leaves Galway at noon and gives two hours on top in better afternoon light. Seven hours in total and the entry fee is inside the fare.
From $64 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Two guaranteed hours on the cliff top with Visitor Centre entry paid, which is what the title promises and what it delivers. Eight hours out of Merchants Road, fifty-three seats, and Fanore Beach and Black Head Lighthouse on the coast road home.
From $69 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Dunguaire Castle, Aillwee Cave, ninety minutes at the cliffs and Doolin. Free hotel pick-up on a day's notice; neither cave nor cliff admission is named in the fare.
From $76 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Four hours on the cliff path, the longest stay of any tour here, in a group of eight with entry paid. Moderate fitness asked for and a €5 taxi at the end.
From $104 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Ferry to Inis Oírr for two hours, then an hour on the cliff top with both the crossing and the admission in the fare. Ten and a half hours.
From $94 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
The island, a cruise along the base of the cliffs and an hour on top, all in one fare out of Merchants Road at nine. The cruise sails only when the sea allows it, which is written into the fare rather than left to the morning.
From $99 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Two and a half hours on Inis Oírr and the cliffs from the water. This day does not stop on the cliff top at all.
From $153 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
An hour-long cruise below the wall as well as an hour on top, with Atlantic Edge entry in the fare. Ten hours out of Kinlay House.
From $97 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Express ferry to Inis Oírr, a guided cruise under 214 metres of rock and cliff-top admission, all on one fare out of Merchants Road at nine sharp. The one open question is how long you get on the cliff top, which this fare does not state.
From $92 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
One fare covering a party of up to seven, with two hours at the cliffs, Poulnabrone Dolmen, a sheepdog demonstration at Caherconnell and ninety minutes at Fanore. Collection from your Galway address; the cliff-top admission is not in the fare.
From $678 per group, up to 7
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Five to six hours for a party of up to four, with ninety minutes at the cliffs. The listing does not mention admission either way.
From $725 per group, up to 4
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
A Galway base is the single biggest saving available on this coast, and it is measured in hours rather than dollars.
Compare every Cliffs of Moher tourA day south into County Clare, with the cliffs about ninety minutes away by road. That proximity is the whole advantage. Days out of Galway run seven to ten and a half hours against thirteen from the capital, for the same stop or a longer one.
The coaches load at two kerbs in the city centre, both within four hundred metres of Eyre Square. Check-in runs from twenty to nine in the morning to twenty to twelve for the midday start.
Several name the Cliffs of Moher entrance fee outright, so the coach parks and you walk in. Where a fare does not name it, the card here says so.
The Burren is the limestone country inland from the cliffs, and Poulnabrone Dolmen, Dunguaire Castle and Aillwee Cave all sit on the road south through it. A self-drive day rarely stops at more than one of them.
The coast road is narrow and winding for the last hour, and travellers repeatedly name the driving as the part they were glad to hand over.
Morning departures for a full day and a noon departure for the better afternoon light. Only Galway offers both.
Same cliffs, same stop, five hours of difference. If you have any say in where you sleep the night before, this is the table that decides it.
| From Galway | From Dublin | |
|---|---|---|
| Day length | 7h to 10h 30m | 12h 30m to 13h |
| Check-in | 8:40am to 11:45am | 6:45am to 6:55am |
| On the cliff top | 1 to 4 hours | 1¾ to 2 hours |
| Driving each way | About 90 minutes | About 3 hours |
| Other stops | Poulnabrone, Dunguaire, Aillwee, Doolin, Inis Oírr | Galway, the Burren, Ennis or Limerick |
| Cheapest fare | $64 | $81 |
The fares are within a few dollars of each other. What differs is the six hours of your day that a Dublin departure spends on a motorway.
Fares start at From $64 a person, which is the cheapest full coach day on this coast and carries the gate ticket. Book ahead from May to September, when the small-group days fill first; a day or two is enough in winter.
Two boarding points matter. The Galway Tour Company office on Merchants Road is an office check-in rather than a kerbside pick-up; the other is the kerb outside the HYDE Hotel on Forster Street. They are a five-minute walk apart and their times overlap, so read your confirmation the evening before. How to get there has the roads and the approaches.
If you want hours rather than minutes on the cliff top, the guided walks give four. If you want the wall from underneath, the boat tours put you on the water for an hour. And if you are a party of five or more, price a private Cliffs of Moher tour properly before buying five coach seats — one fare can cover the lot.
Ninety minutes on the cliff top, the Burren on the way, and free cancellation up to twenty-four hours ahead.
Check availabilityNext: every fare on Cliffs of Moher Tours, the ticket and access detail on visiting the cliffs, and the month you are coming on the weather page.