How long would you budget for teh Cliffs of Moher?

Three hours.

We may have screwed up by paying for parking and then paying again inside for the exhibit and movie when it might have been all for the price of parking.

Check, or maybe somebody is smarter than we were.

We did the exact route in May. We spent about an hour just wandering around. Did not do the movie. I believe the parking ticket was around 8euros. We lost the first one with the wind and had to buy another one. The drive from Galway is long. It took us the whole day and also cut time off by using the Ferry. So if you want to spend more time at the Cliffs than you may want to break the trip up. We were told that the Cliffs were not as big an event as most people thought and I agree. I am glad that we did not Budget tons of time toward the Cliffs and spent it doing other things. Wish I could remember the exact name of the Ferry that was closer to Dingle but we really enjoyed it. The reason I don't remember it was it was a last minute suggestion some one gave me the day before we left and turned out to be great. You may want to ask on the Helpline about that ferry. Beautiful sights and easy to get on, leaves every hour and cuts a couple hours off your drive.

The last time I checked the website, everything was included for the price of the parking. That might change seasonally, but I don't know.

The ferry referred to above runs from Killimer to Tarbert - or the other way (can't remember which town is on which side of the river).

The exhibit is not included in the price of parking. Neither is O'Brien's Tower. The exhibit isn't much more than the parking, can't remember exactly how much. The tower is 1 euro.

I'd budget 3 hours for the cliffs. The Burren can take a while to drive through, those roads are pretty twisty.

Just checked the website again, and this is what it says:

"TICKETS INCLUDE CLIFFS OF MOHER FACILITIES CHARGE INCLUDING PARKING & ENTRY TO THE ATLANTIC EDGE EXHIBITION"

The tower may be extra, but apparently the Atlantic Edge IS included in the overall price. There is also a discount for booking online at: www.cliffsofmoher.ie

We drove from Dingle to Galway, stopping at the Cliffs of Moher on the way. Definitely take the ferry to take time off of the trip. We did not do everything you plan to do at the Cliffs, but we didn't leave Dingle until about 11:00 a.m. and we were in Galway before dinner.

Curse the Irish and their confusing websites. :)

I must be reading a different part of the website than you, Nancy. The information I found says that the 8 euro parking fee includes entrance to the public areas of the visitor's center. Admission to the Atlantic Edge is 5 euro.

I did get the price to get into the tower wrong, it's 2 euro/adult.

Our suggestion would be to save at least as much time for the Burren as you plan for the Cliffs of Moher.

This is from Cliffs of Moher website........

Prices
Facilities Admission per vehicle 2010

•Car/Campervan: €8.00

•Motorcycle: €2.00 (Designated Motorcycle parking with helmet & tank bag drop)

The Facilities admission includes entry to all public areas of the visitor centre building, all external areas of the visitor zone including the cliff pathways and platforms, unlimited vehicle parking and provision of first aid facilities and safety onsite. The admission also contributes toward the visitor management and conservation provided at the Cliffs of Moher.

Atlantic Edge Exhibition Ticket Prices 2010

•Adult: €4.95
•Family(2+4): €13.95
•Couple (2Adults): €8.95
•Student/Senior/Concession: €3.95
•Child(4-16): €2.95
•Child(under 4): Free

My wife and I did a 1 hour cruise out of Doolin. It was a nice view of the cliffs. It would probably add another 3 hours to the time to see it from the top. The amount of time you spend on the top will depend if you hike very far along the rim.

I thought the Cliffs were far more interesting than the Burren. Unless you're into the plant life, it eventually just looks like of lot of barren limestone.

The roads in the Burren were the worst I came across in Ireland.

The portion of the website that I posted was copied from the "book tickets online" section. Perhaps there is a different price structure booking that way? What I posted was a direct copy from the website.

How awesome are you guys?!?! Thanks so much for all the information!

Are you guys sure it's not a deal of 'if you drive and park, you get the whole mess for one price' and 'if you come on the bus you pay a different price to see the stuff'? I think that's where we dorked up by paying twice.

See? That's what I was thinking, Ed. But the last time I was there was during the construction of the Atlantic Edge, so there was no charge other than parking. And I really wouldn't bother with the tower at all.

I don't think so. We paid to park and for the Atlantic Edge, you do it all at the same ticket kiosk. Or maybe we dorked up, too.

Maureen, if you read the paragraph that Robin posted, the ticket for the exhibition includes "unlimited vehicle parking". I think the "all public areas of the visitor center building" means the exhibit itself (and, as it says, all external pathways, etc., with the exception of the tower). (The non-public areas would be things like offices.) Tickets just to the exhibit are 4.95 euro for an adult.

Okay, now we'll get a debate going on the public areas of the exhibit. I'm thinking that includes the bathroom, gift shop, and cafe. If I'm wrong, they owe me 15 euro!

true statement about spending as much time on the burren as the cliffs. i had a huge focus to see the cliffs. it was almost why i went to ireland. however, the depth of the burren exceeds the power of the cliffs. three hours for each is probably right. you need to stop many times and enjoy the unusual landscape of the burren. take your time, it is a moonscape on earth.

Sorry (sort of) to dredge this topic up again, but I just received an email from customer service at the Cliffs of Moher, answering the question of the fees once and for all! And actually, next month the price is changing a bit. Starting in September, the price will be 6 euros per adult, 4 euros for seniors, students, and disabled visitors. Children under 16 are free. And to quote the email "These prices include the Atlantic Edge Exhibition, parking/facilities charge and access to the cliffs. It does not include O'Brien's tower due to capacity regulations, and the tower entrance is 2 euros per adult, 1 euro per child."

So it does look like Ed paid twice.

We stayed a night at a B&B in Doolin. Which ended up being a good idea, because the day we got there, fog was pretty much all anyone could see. We didn't even park the first day. We hung out in Doolin, a very quaint little town, where it was a day to unwind and not do much. (We'd been traveling for 5 weeks already, so we didn't mind a low key day)

If you do decide to stay there, in one of the B&B's or hostels there, you can catch a good night of music at Gus O'Connors Pub (GREAT Food too). We made our reservation to stay there and thought, wow, we're going to be bored... but we hung out, grabbed some grub and checked out the music. It was a few guys sitting around the table with instruments, with a random person from the bar singing on occasion, lots of regulars that live there go also, so people end up singing with whomever is singing. We were able to catch a one-legged older guy that was Awesome to watch. His songs sounded good and told funny stories that put a smile on everyone's face. So yeah, if you need a day to unwind, Doolin is a cool place I'd suggest for a night. On top of that, the next day we went out to the Cliffs, there was no fog in site and we were able to see what we'd been there to see in the first place. There's also a ferry that you can take from Doolin out to the islands (i forget the name of) too.