We departed central Dublin early in the morning and headed out towards the western coast of Ireland. On the way, our guide told us about some of the sights in Dublin as we left the city and then kept on telling about the history of the country dating back to the very beginning, as well as pointing out interesting sights as we made our way to Athlone for some snacks and restrooms.
Our first stop for the day was the city of Galway, where we had about an hour to explore the city and do some shopping. Our guide also told us some of the history behind the city and the people living there. Galway is an old coastal city and people seemed delighted in getting to explore it by themselves after the guide had shown us around parts of the city.
After leaving Galway, the bus headed for the Wild Atlantic Road to show us some of the countryside before arriving at the Burren, where we stopped for a moment to walk around, take some pictures of the bizarre rocky landscape and the baby cliffs besides the Atlantic.
After some driving up from the Burren, we arrive at the main attraction of the day, the Cliffs of Moher. We were given plenty of time to walk on and explore the cliffs as well as visit the Cliffs of Moher visitor centre for more information on this location and its history. Plus, the ticket for the visitor centre was included in the tour, so we didn’t have to spend time standing in line for the tickets and had more time to see the cliffs and what the centre had to offer. The weather was windy but otherwise clear, although our guide told us we should normally prepare for rain by bringing some raingear.
Once we had seen the Cliffs of Moher, we headed back on the Wild Atlantic Way to start our return to Dublin. On the way, we drove through a variety of small towns and villages while our guide kept us entertained by telling more of the history and stories behind these towns. This drive gave us the opportunity to also see more of the green countryside of Ireland and all of the Irish landscape.
Our last stop for the day was at the Kilmacduagh Monastery (if monastery is a thing for you, you can join the Glendalough tour as well), where we were given a few minutes to walk on the grounds and take some photographs of the old buildings and the leaning monastery tower before heading back to Dublin through more of the Irish countryside.
We arrived back in Dublin sometime at eight in the evening and as we were driving towards the city centre, our guide pointed out some of the things we could do while in Dublin, such as visiting the Dublin museums, as well as good places to eat and spend the evening after the tour or the day after, which was a welcome end to the tour, which people are sure to remember as a great part of their visit to Ireland.
M.V
*The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Finn McCools Tours.
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