Cliffs of Moher Day Trip from Dublin: Which Tour, and Is the Long Day Worth It?
Updated October 13, 2026 · 6 min read
For most visitors, book the Cliffs of Moher, Burren & Galway City day tour: €78 per person, 13 hours, 4.8 stars from 28,000 reviews, with two hours at the cliffs, two hours in Galway and the Visitor Experience entry included. For a premium entry to the new Atlantic Edge exhibition: the Atlantic Edge and Galway tour costs €75. For the cheapest day with entry: the 12-hour tour with a pub lunch stop is €68.25.
The five tours side by side
| Tour | Duration | From | Rating | Time at the cliffs | Entry included |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cliffs of Moher, Burren & Galway City Day Tour | 13 hours | €78 | 4.8 (28,000) | 2 hours | Visitor Experience |
| Cliffs of Moher, Atlantic Edge & Galway City | 13 hours | €75 | 4.7 (6,429) | 2 hours | Premium Atlantic Edge access |
| Cliffs of Moher, Burren & Galway with Entry | 12 hours | €68.25 | 4.6 (5,119) | 80 minutes | Cliffs of Moher |
| Cliffs of Moher, Galway & Burren Day Tour | 13 hours | €69 | 4.6 (2,328) | 1.5 hours | Visitors Centre and O’Brien’s Tower |
| Cliffs of Moher and Galway Tour in Italian, Spanish or Portuguese | 12 hours | €89 | 4.5 (3,065) | 2 hours | Cliffs and visitor centre |
All five leave from Dublin by coach and return the same evening. Lunch is not included on any of them.
Is the long day worth it?
Be honest with yourself about the arithmetic. The cliffs are on the Atlantic coast of County Clare, on the other side of the island, and the booking pages show where the time goes. The 12-hour tour lists three hours on the coach each way. The Atlantic Edge tour lists coach legs of 2 hours, 105 minutes, 75 minutes and 75 minutes. Against that, you get between 80 minutes and 2 hours at the cliffs. Reviewers of the most-booked tour say the same from the other side: the guide is lively, and some would have liked a longer stop in Galway.
It is worth it if the cliffs are the reason you came to Ireland’s west and you have no night to spare. A coach tour is the straightforward way to see them in one day from Dublin. It is a poor choice for anyone who tires on a bus, for small children (according to the operator, the most-booked tour is not recommended for children under 8), and for anyone who hopes to walk the full cliff path: two hours leaves time for the viewpoints and a stretch of the path, not for a long walk.
If you can add a night, the arithmetic changes. Driving yourself and sleeping near the cliffs or in Galway turns one 13-hour day into two shorter ones. You can compare rental cars for Dublin; remember that Ireland drives on the left.
The most-booked tour: 28,000 reviews and a fixed shape
This is the tour to measure the others against. It meets outside the Hugh Lane gallery on Parnell Square, makes a 15-minute breakfast and comfort stop on the way out, then gives you two hours at the cliffs with the Visitor Experience entry included. It drives through the Burren and passes Dunguaire Castle before two hours in Galway, with an optional short walking tour led by the guide. Drop-off is at Aston Quay in Temple Bar between 7:30 pm and 8:30 pm.
Two things to plan. There is no dedicated lunch stop, so the operator recommends a packed lunch; sandwiches and snacks are sold at the rest stops. And hotel pickup is not included, so allow time to reach the meeting point; the operator recommends walking, public transport or a taxi, because all-day parking in the centre is hard to find and expensive.
See dates and prices for the Cliffs of Moher, Burren and Galway day tour
The Atlantic Edge tour: for the exhibition and an easier start
This one costs €3 less, has two pickup points (33 College Green and the Hotel Riu Plaza The Gresham) and adds premium access to the Atlantic Edge visitor experience, a virtual-reality view of life on the cliff edge above and below the waterline. Galway gets a 20-minute guided walk and then free time, and the return leg has extracts from Riverdance on the coach. Lunch and drinks are not included. If you value a pickup near the centre and that exhibition, it is the better value; its 6,429 reviews are fewer than the leader’s, but the 4.7 average is close.
Check availability for the Cliffs of Moher and Atlantic Edge tour
The 12-hour tour: the cheapest, with lunch in a pub
At €68.25 it undercuts the rest and is an hour shorter. The price of that is time: 80 minutes at the cliffs, 45 minutes for lunch at O’Donohue’s pub in Fanore, 15 minutes in the Burren and one hour in Galway. It leaves from the Molly Malone statue. Lunch is a stop, not part of the price, and tips are not included either. Choose it if you would rather lose time in Galway than an hour on the bus, and if you are comfortable with a fast day.
See dates for the 12-hour Cliffs of Moher tour with entry
In Spanish, Italian or Portuguese
The tour in Spanish and English (€69) has a guide and driver and entry to the Visitors Centre and O’Brien’s Tower. Its first coach leg is listed at four hours with a break, and its order changes with the season: Galway first from April to September, the cliffs first from October to March. Starting at the Arlington Hotel on Bachelors Walk, it suits groups who want Spanish commentary at a price close to the cheapest English-language tour. The tour in Italian, Spanish or Portuguese costs €89 and has two start points. On weekdays the Portuguese version uses an audio guide on the Spanish-language bus; at weekends there is a Portuguese-speaking guide, so check the day before booking.
What none of them include, and who should skip them
Food and drinks are excluded on all five. The most-booked tour and a Paddywagon day with Galway first (€75, 4.3 stars from 360 reviews) also leave hotel pickup out. The most-booked tour and the 12-hour tour list people with mobility impairments as not suitable, and the Spanish and Paddywagon tours list wheelchair users. Weather at the cliffs changes quickly: a reviewer of the 12-hour tour suggests a raincoat rather than an umbrella, because of the wind and because the only shelter is the shop. For other days out from the capital, see Giant’s Causeway from Dublin, Glendalough and the Wicklow Mountains and the full list of day trips from Dublin.
Which one
Book the Cliffs of Moher, Burren and Galway day tour unless one of three things applies. Take the Atlantic Edge tour if you want a central pickup and the exhibition. Take the 12-hour tour if price and an earlier return matter most. Take the Spanish or Italian tour if the commentary language is the point. And if 13 hours on a bus sounds like too much, the honest answer is a night in the west rather than a different tour.
