Burren and Cliffs of Moher Bus Tour

Poulnabrone Dolmen, a megalithic portal tomb from 4000 to 3000 B.C.

I finally decided to try out a canned bus tour, against my better judgement. I joined Healy's Cliffs of Moher tour, taking my seat before the bus departed at ten.

For the first several minutes I was extremely skeptical. The €20 trip started off with a welcome from the bus driver, Billy, followed by some upbeat Irish folk tunes.

Canned.

However, it didn't take long for interesting facts to start pouring out of the driver. Throughout the day he talked of the fast-growing Galway economy, Irish superstitions, and of course, information about the areas we drove past.

Aillwee Caves

Speleothems, one of the interesting limestone structures we saw in the Aillwee Cave tour

First stop was at Aillwee Cave, discovered by some random dude walking his dog. He kept it a secret for thirty years before telling a couple cavers about it in a pub. I took a short walking tour of the cave.

Ducking through areas of short tunnel, we got to see examples of speleothems, stalactites, stalagmites, columns, hibernation pits, and bear remains. We also experienced "total blackout" when the guide shut off all the lights and we were left in perfect darkness. Very cool.

At the end of the tour I asked the guide if anyone had ever knocked themselves out by hitting their head on the low cave ceilling. While he'd never heard of that, he did say some people have required stitches and once, a rather large visitor passed out after trying to get out of the cave in a claustrophobic panic.

The Cliffs of Moher

My favourite shot from the heaps of pictures I took at the Cliffs of Moher. This is where Princess Bride's "Cliffs of Insanity" were filmed.

The bus driver gave us two hours at the Cliffs of Moher, warning that if we didn't make it back in time, it was a €100 taxi ride back to Galway.

We had two hours.

As soon as I was off the bus I hit the toilet and then started pounding the pavement South toward Moher Tower. The concrete soon gave way to a dirt trail which followed the edge of the cliffs with the 120m drop just a few steps away.

The weather was incredible so all the views of the cliffs were breathtaking. I'd follow the trail for a bit, then look out to the ocean and back at the cliff walls and just think, "wow." Words really aren't the best way to communicate this stuff so be sure to check out the photos.

Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to get all the way out to the ruins of Moher Tower and had to turn back to make sure I didn't miss the bus. As it turned out, I was left with an extra 15 minutes—not enough to get out to Moher Tower but enough time to check out the other one, O'Brien's Tower.

Getting back on the bus I had a little regret that I didn't get to see the ruins from closer. Still, the spectacular views from the cliffs and their overwhelming size made for an amazing experience.

Return Trip

A view of Dunguaire Castle. There's a little trail all around the outside of the castle wall.

On the way back we took lunch in the town of Doolin and stopped for a couple of photo ops at Blackhead cliffs and Dunguaire Castle. The driver spoke a bit about Irish folklore and it seems there is a lot to cover.

The faeries, magical human-sized creatures with Leprechauns for shoe-makers, are said to live inside ring forts that are scattered across the island. Visiting ring forts or "faerie forts" is a bad idea because you could be taken into the faerie world and replaced with a faerie that looks just like you. So when somebody is acting a little strange one might use the phrase, "So-and-so's gone to the faeries."

The crossroads in the small Irish towns often have so many signs they confuse drivers more than aid them. Doolin's overwhelming signage was no exception.

It's also said that disturbing the ring forts will result in bad luck and you'll often hear stories of people building on them and then dying a month later. In the story the driver told, a man built a house in a ring fort and shortly after, his son died in a bike accident. The father committed suicide and the mother died of cancer. The family that bought the house and moved in afterwards also perished. Tragic stories like these have kept the ring forts in surprisingly good condition, considering they're about 1000 years old.

Back to Galway

By the time the bus pulled into Eyre Square, the Galway city center, I was tired but happy. I saw a lot in one day: the Aillwee Cave, Cliffs of Moher, plus a few smaller attractions. I also learned a lot about Ireland from the interesting stories told by Billy, our bus driver. Getting off the bus, I definitely felt I got my €20 worth.