The Cliffs of Moher

The Cliffs of Moher are a must-add stop to any Ireland itinerary! In fact, it’s the #1 visited natural attraction in the country. If you don’t recognize the cliffs by name, you’d surely recognize what they look like, since they’ve been featured in a number of movies, including Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, The Princess Bride, and Leap Year.

There’s no solid origin story here, other than the fact that the Cliffs of Moher formed millions of years ago above the Atlantic Ocean. In the 1830s, an observation tower (O’Brien Tower) was built at the site, and since then, there has been a steady stream of visitors coming from near and far to check out the natural wonder. The tower sits are the highest point on the property — 702 feet — and offers a spectacular view (especially on a clear day)!

I can only imagine what this was like when people first stumbled across it way back in the day. To think that you could wake up and spend all your days looking out at this view.. just wow!

Seeing the cliffs in person was a lot different than I expected. First, you can’t really see them from the road. When you arrive at the entrance, all you really see is a parking lot and the Visitor Center. Just beyond that, it doesn’t look too terrible, but there’s an uphill walkway that you’ll definitely feel the effects of! Who needs the gym?!

There’s a fork-split in the walk way where you have to choose to walk left or right, and per the suggestion of our bus driver, we went to the right first, toward the watchtower. And we’re glad we did because that’s where the best views of the Cliffs of Moher are! And also, because it was FREEZING and insanely windy, so ducking into the O’Brien Watchtower (which was an extra couple euro) was a welcome escape.

After wandering around a bit on the right side, we decided to venture over to the side the main cliffs that we had been admiring actually are. A lot of people were stepping over the barriers to get a better picture, but with the crazy wind, we played it safe and admired it all from where we stood.

I tried to snap SO many photos to capture the beauty of these Irish cliffs, but the pictures don’t do it nearly enough justice!

There are 2 major things to keep in mind when visiting. 1: The ropes are put in place for safety reasons. While getting the “on the edge” perfect Insta photo would be great, it’s not worth it! Cliff erosion is a real thing and if you’re out on the edge of the cliff and the cliff decides to erode (from the waves crashing below), it won’t be a good situation. Just stay behind the rope! 2: The wind is NO joke. When we visited in October it was a bit chilly but as I was walking, the wind was so strong that it felt like someone was standing behind me pushing me forward. This also reinforces #1 in the fact that you should stay where it’s safe to stand.

We had a set 90 minutes to explore the Cliffs of Moher, the Visitor Center (which had some cool exhibits), and the O’Brien Watchtower. It was enough time to see the highlights, but I wouldn’t have minded a little extra time to walk along more of the trail along the coastline.

Related posts:

A very important learning about the project that I’m doing at Pernix, is the knowledge that I’ve acquired about testing. At the beginning, I didn’t understand why we had to test everything in the…

I remember looking down at my infant son, entrusted to my care. My wife just left for her first weekend away as a mom. Panic started setting in. I stared at him and thought, “Am I really the best man…

I like to think I cultivate an air of aggressive unlikability, which may or may not be the way I deal with being an introvert. I wake up at 4:30AM most days — not because I have to, but for the…