Cliffs of Moher & The Burren Coach Tour from Dublin
This is the longest single day out of Dublin: 12 to 13 hours door to door, most of it on motorway to County Clare and back. Your group gets the cliffs in good light, lunch in Doolin, a run across the Burren and one more stop on the way home.
What the day covers
- Cliffs of Moher visitor experience
- The Burren limestone terraces
- Doolin village
- Corcomroe or Kilmacduagh on the return
When it runs
- Year-round; longest daylight May to September
Running order and time on site
Leave Dublin early. The coach takes the M6 west and the M18 south through Gort, passing the M4 and Galway to Ballinasloe tolls, or the M7 to Limerick and the M18 north through Ennis, passing the Limerick Tunnel. Allow roughly four hours each way with a comfort stop. The cliffs come first, with the two hours on site that the visitor centre recommends. Lunch is in Doolin. The afternoon crosses the Burren, and the return calls at Corcomroe Abbey or the round tower at Kilmacduagh.
Booking the cliffs for a coach
The visitor centre needs a booking at least 72 hours ahead for any coach, and for any party of ten or more however it travels. Coaches have their own entrance and park on the same side as the cliffs, a side closed to ordinary cars, so nobody walks across traffic. From the centre, roughly 800 metres of paved path follows the edge. Between November and February the site keeps winter hours of about 9am to 5pm, one more reason to put the cliffs first.
Drivers' hours on a 13-hour day
Add the Burren roads and the wheel time comes to seven or eight hours. Under EU rules one driver may drive nine hours in a day, or ten no more than twice in a week, and must pause for 45 minutes once four and a half hours have been driven; the cliffs stop provides that pause. What really binds is the working day: each 24 hours must hold 11 hours of daily rest (nine on up to three occasions between weekly rests), so a 13-hour day leaves one driver almost no slack. For a late dinner stop, or a coach based outside Dublin, expect a second driver or a night in Clare.
Who the day suits and what to bring
It suits overseas visitors with one free day in Dublin, and clubs who want the west coast without a hotel night. It is a long sit for young children. Bring waterproofs and a warm layer: the cliff edge is exposed and windy in every month. The longest daylight runs from May to September, which leaves time for the Burren in the evening. In midwinter some groups swap the Burren for a longer stop in Doolin.
Can we add Galway city to the same day?
Not comfortably. A city stop on top of a 12 to 13 hour day takes it past what one driver can work. Ask for a two-day programme with a night in Galway or Clare instead.
Which vehicle suits this tour?
Anything from a 16-seat minibus to a 53-seat executive coach. For a large group, the 53-seater's reclining seats and washroom help on the motorway legs; a minibus suits a small party and the narrow Burren lanes.
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