West Ireland sights for seniors

The Cliffs of Moher are set up to be a giant, modern machine to process thousands of tourists at a time. My recollection of the layout is that I believe there are parking facilities for mobilty-challenged folks, with paved, level walkways from the parking lot to the edge of the cliffs, and it's not a terribly long walk (I parked in the general lot, which was a bit further away, across a vast gravel parking lot, but nothing difficult). Once you reach the cliff edge, you could go left/right, up/down and follow that same level, paved path along the cliff for some distance if you chose to, but if all you wanted was a look out over the cliffs, I think that the facilities are well set up to make that possible, safely and with minimal demands on your mobility. If you decide to follow the paved walkway along the cliffs for a while, then you would soon have to deal with some elevation changes, and maybe some steps, but the views are pretty much the same from anywhere along there. (If you were worried about falling, don't worry, there's a barrier all along the cliff edge, and even fit youngsters you would have to work pretty hard to jump over it.)

Inishmore is very different. It has not been "remodeled and brought up to ADA compliance standards" in any way. Far from it. The major sites, like the prehistoric, clifftop fort Dún Aonghasa, are all accessed via long, rambling paths over the original, ancient, uneven stones, up and down lots of stairs, and I think it would probably be a complete nightmare for those with major mobility issues. You need good balance, knees and ankles that you can count on. There are no barriers whatsoever to keep you from slipping over the edge of the cliffs and falling to a spectacular and grisly death far below. Much of the "ground" consists of strange, rocky, very uneven surfaces, and it's easy to stumble, twist an ankle or have some other gravity-induced trauma. It's also quite hilly. These sites are, I would say, the reason to go to Inishmore -- the village and the port are OK but not really special. Unfortunately, the ancient sites are impressive and dramatic (and an easy place to meet your maker if you go over the edge), but the surfaces leading to, and at the cliff-side sites seemed unforgiving to knees and ankles that have a lot of miles on them.

I think you would be perfectly fine at the Cliffs of Moher (stick to the paved pathways), but I suspect that Inishmore's irregular, rough-hewn stone surfaces would present some real challenges.

Hope that helps.

Inishmore is one of the highlights on a trip to Western Ireland. Although hiking up to the Dun Aengus fort is a real challenge, and likely more trouble than you’d want to undertake, minivan tours in the island are easy and readily available. The tour will stop at several places of interest, where you can get out and walk even a few easy steps. It will also stop at the base of the Dun Aengus hike, where there’s a very small visitor center/museum, with some photos and descriptions of what’s up at the top of the hike, even if you don’t do the rough climb yourselves. After a short stop there, you can move on to other places on the island.

Not that you need to see this either, but there’s also a hike out to The Wormhole, a place by the shore where waves splash huge spray through an opening in the rocks. Our guide took us there, and it was a long hike that we couldn’t have found without his help. It was neat to see, but certainly didn’t make or break our stay on Inishmore. A driver can customize special places to take you that won’t involve climbs on foot, or unmanageable stairs.

We’ve been there on two trips, first by ferry, and second by air. Rough seas can delay or cancel ferries, and based on our experiences with that, flying to Inishmore on Air Aerann is definitely the way to go.

I’ll second David’s description about the Cliffs of Moher. Although some people walk along the cliffside, the site is well designed to allow you to see remarkable views without having to deal with much climbing or stairs. Enjoy!

I just returned from trip which included Cliffs of Moher and I believe I saw a golf
car like shuttle to bring mobility impaired people to the top of the cliff where there is a viewing area

I was on a Rick Steves tour in 2018 and am of a similar age and with wonky knees. Cliffs of Moher were not a problem because of the tourist center set-up as others have stated. I really wanted to see the old fort on Inishmore so I took hikiing poles which helped on the uneven grass/path going to the top of the hill where Dun Aengus located. I loved both experiences and was so proud of myself for finding a way.

Some excellent comments from the others here so I won't belabor their points.
Laurie Beth offers particularly good advice about hiking poles. We're getting up there in age too and have found that using the poles greatly increases our own mobility while saving wear and tear on older hips and knees, as well as improving balance on uneven surfaces. They really do make a world of difference. Get a pair, try them out, and see for yourself what an improvement they can make.

I went and dug out some of my photos of the strange, uneven "ground" surfaces (mostly just an unusual kind of rock) that we encountered over large parts of Inishmore and posted them (link below) since it's really unusual and written descriptions probably don't capture it well.

Anyone who is mobility-challenged should take a look at these before thinking about hiking out to Dún Aonghasa, or any of the rugged, empty (and beautiful) places along the south shore and significant other parts of the island. It's not terribly hard going if you have reasonably good knees and ankles -- and good balance -- most folks will be fine as long as they take it slowly and step carefully (hiking poles would help). But the surface is unlike anything I had ever seen before (ancient seabeds, I've read, that have been pushed up and exposed ages ago). It's an easy place to twist an ankle if you're not careful (and potentially a long way back for help...never mind the edge of the cliffs, which have no railings or other barriers).

Inishmore's Uneven Ground  (click any photo for a larger view)

Personally, after spending a most of a day playing out along the Cliffs of Inishmore, when I reached the Cliffs of Moher a few days later, they were a bit of a yawn for me -- yes, long and high and impressive, but no more so than those on Inishmore, and chock full of tour bus crowds and quite "sanitized" (safety barriers everywhere). I found the walking surfaces on Inishmore manageable but surprisingly tricky (and impressive to see), though there's nothing but your own common sense to keep you from going over the edge...all that said, I enjoyed the cliffs on Inishmore tremendously, while the much more famous Cliffs of Moher were kind of a letdown by comparison -- which surprised me. Admittedly the COM are much safer (and all-around easier)! If you can negotiate the uneven surfaces, Inishmore is a way better "cliff experience". If you have mobility challenges, respect those rocky surfaces and maybe head for COM instead.

Hope this helps!

We (mid-70s) saw the Cliffs/Moher from one of the sunset cruises out of the easily located Doolin Pier. No walking and beautiful views of the Cliffs. I don't know for certain, but suspect we saw more of the cliff faces than one would see from up top. (We stopped by and purchased tickets on the morning of the cruise; not sure it was necessary - probably depends on the season and the weather on your selected day.)

It might have been this outfit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpnYw1Ana5Q

The Cliffs of Kerry are also impressive, and very walkable if you are doing the Ring of Kerry and get as far as Portmagee. The viewing area is a short stroll (uphill, but not steep) from the parking area.

Nice overview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFwkWsu1A9g&t=59s