Today began the grey, overcast drive from Galway to Doolin near the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher. It was kind of an odd driving day, as it took much longer than I'd thought, and we ended up backtracking and even retracing our steps inadvertently.

Most of the real excitement came as we finally got into the Doolin area, which is probably the largest town near the famous Cliffs of Moher. Along the way, there were several ruins (as usual), including this cool castle looking down into the Atlantic.

Castle on the drive to Doolin

And of course, Elizabeth couldn't stop when we passed these donkeys!

donkey with huge ears on drive to Cliffs of Moher

We decided to try to head straight to our destination first, the Atlantic View B&B in Liscannor, which is within walking distance from the Cliffs. Mary and Daniel were our hosts, and they were great help - Daniel even drove us up to the Cliffs to avoid the 20-minute walk. One thing about the cliffs though - while they are pretty, they're nowhere near as large as the Slieve League near Donegal, nor arguably as pretty as the Causeway in Northern Ireland. Plus, it is a really popular tourist destination, meaning it's quite built up and is overrun with tourists. Given how many tour buses were there, and how busy the 8,00 Euro parking was (free if you walk), I'd suggest trying to show up either really early or really late. Regardless, I still took several photos.

Cliffs of Moher, western Ireland

Cliffs of Moher near Doolin & Liscannor, Ireland

Cliffs of Moher, Ireland

viewing tower along the Cliffs of Moher

Atlantic View B&B, Liscannor, Cliffs of Moher, Ireland

We didn't spend that long, and retraced our drive back to Ballyvaughan, where we met up with Shane Connolly, a rather reknown tour guide for the Burren. The Burren is a huge expanse of mostly desolate limestone that is home to an incredible array of flora due to its unique environment and ecosystem - tundra flowers thrive hear, as well as near tropical ones. Having grown up in and around the Burren, Shane led us up one of the huge expanses and gave us a great 3-hour tour explaining the local flower, the history of the Burren and how over thousands of years. What was most fascinating is that the Burren is the result of both human actions in tree-cutting and farming thousands of years ago, and natural actions in eroding the landscape. Scientists suspect that many of the stone walls and even the old stone road we walked along have been around for several thousands of years! Our tour culminated near the top at an old stone fort.

along the Burren, western Ireland

Shane Connolly guiding Elizabeth along the Burren

stone fort thousands of years old at the Burren

By the time we returned near Doolin, it was dinnertime so we had some nice soup, chips (french fries) and salad at the Stone Cutter's Kitchen. Then it was off to bed at Atlantic View and ready for the next day!

08/18/09 by visitEarth
Tags: Doolin, Cliffs of Moher, Moher, Burren, the Burren, Ireland, Liscannor, Atlantic View B&B