Galway & Connemara
Rising sheer from the wild Atlantic on Ireland's west coast, the Cliffs of Moher are the country's most breathtaking natural wonder, a nine-mile wall of rock soaring up to 700 feet above the crashing sea. There is nothing quite like standing at the edge with the wind in your face and the ocean stretched out below.
From the cliff path and O'Brien's Tower the views stretch to the Aran Islands and the hills of Connemara, while seabirds, puffins among them, wheel below and the waves thunder against the base. The cliffs are the jewel of the Wild Atlantic Way and sit beside the otherworldly Burren, a vast limestone karst landscape of bare grey rock laced with rare wildflowers and ancient stone tombs.
A boat trip reveals the cliffs from sea level, where their full height is humbling, and sunset sets the whole coast aglow in gold. This is Ireland at its most elemental and beautiful, the kind of place that stays with you long after you have left.
