The Cliffs of Moher and the national park of Burren are the most visited nature attractions in Ireland, and that's for a reason. But how do you get around rural west Ireland if the idea of driving on the left terrifies you, or if renting a car is out of the question? We hopped on a bus of Galway Tour Company that took us to the Cliffs of Moher tour from Galway. Here's everything you need to know!

Galway Tour Company offers many different varieties of their tours to go and check out this magnificent piece of cliff, but we took the Cliffs of Moher and The Burren one, since it was offered with a discount by our hostel. The price is 30€ for adults, 25€ for students and seniors, and 20€ for children. In 8 hours you get bused around the coast with a very, very talkative tour guide who might make you sing if you're late from the bus. Be prepared.

Important: since we're in Ireland, make sure to dress properly! The weather gets infernal at the cliffs, so make sure to have good shoes, preferably boots since the pathways are muddy, and a good coat. If you're visiting outside of the summer season, save your ears and take a beanie with you. And hold it tight.

Our first stop was by the Dunguaire Castle close to Kinvarra. The castle originates from the 16th century and got its name from the Dun of King Guaire, the king of Connaght. Our 15 minutes was spent by admiring the impressively low tide (seen in the photo below!) and trying to circle around the castle like a hoard of lemmings. Back to the bus we go.

The barren landscape of the Burren is astonishing. Our enthusiastic tour guide Gary was able to tell us that all of this used to be under water millions of years ago, thus all the limestone.

Now that you guys are in Ireland, you better get used to these seemingly impossible gaelic names! The second stop was Poulnabrone Dolmen, one of the 174 portal tombs in Ireland. It dates back to the Neolithic period, approximately between 4200 BC and 2900 BC. So damn old.

This is the closest you can get: as you can see, it's circled with a rope fence. Some time ago a group of idiots decided it'd be funny to try and move this prehistoric tomb, so now there's a 24/7 surveillance. This surveillance is a guy sitting in a car next to the tomb.

It was so windy we survived outside for a solid 5 minutes. Again, please dress well. The land is so barren the few trees are all grown crooked due to the never-ending gust.

Our third stop, Kilfenora, is an adorable little village in the heart of the Burren. The reason for stopping here is their famous celtic crosses, dating all the way back to the 12th century. The cathedral around it is pretty much destroyed, but it's still possible to explore the cemetery and admire the graves.

What is this? A door for leprachauns?

We stopped for lunch after noon in the village of Doolin. It's the tiniest thing. We had a solid 45 minutes to eat, but after the waitress screwed up my order at least two times, in my case it meant more like 15. Reminds me again why these tour buses are really not my way of travelling, but sadly the options to get around in here are quite limited.

Finally! The admission fee to the cliffs is included in the price of the tour, but please take this into account in case you decide to arrive by car: visiting the cliffs is not free. There's a visitor centre with a cafe and a museum where you can gather your strength before facing the gusts of the cliffs. Check out their website: Cliffs of Moher

The cliffs stretch for 8 kilometres and are 214 metres at their highest point. It's easily one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. We were lucky to have a good weather during our visit, but our very own enthusiastic Gary told us it's not always the case - sometimes the fog gets so thick you can't see a thing. Make sure to check the weather forecast in advance or you'll end up paying to see the tip of your nose!

Now, the wind. It can easily get as fast as 120km/h, and hear this from someone who's been there: it can sweep you off your feet. It can rock the bus from side to side. So as you approach the cliffs, please for the love of God don't get on the wrong side of the fence! Here's how it all looks like around the cliffs:

You can walk along the cliffs as far as you like, but Galway Tour Company allows you 1,5 hours on the location. Our sensitive asses survived a solid 20 minutes outside, and after the excruciatingly strong wind caught my bag and broke the strap, we headed inside and devoured warm beverages for the rest of the time.

This is how it looks to the opposite direction from the cliffs:

This area was beyond the maintenance of the Cliffs of Moher visitor centre. People actually jumped the fence and posed for pictures a metre away from the edge. I personally preferred to squeeze the stone fence so hard my hands turned white. Fear of heights? Yes. Fear of dying? Hell yes.

As seen in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince!

Our last stop was by the Coast Road to have a view of the Aran Islands on the horizon. The drop in itself isn't as impressive after seeing the cliffs of Moher, but 8 metres is enough for me to not get too close to the edge. The barren soil gets unstable, so watch where you walk. Our 10 minutes in here passed fast taking Instagram-worthy photos of us staring at the horizon.

The bus took us back to Galway bus station at 6pm. Crazy wind, crazy tour guide, crazy landscapes and one absolutely gorgeous Ireland. There's something about the barren land and the winds of the Atlantic Ocean that create quite a magical atmosphere on the west coast of the island.

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