Cliffs of Moher walkway

carrick76

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/cliffs-of-moher-walkway-opens-despite-legal-row-234187.html

Has anybody walked this yet?

Is it very challenging or just a flat walk?

Where is the best place to start/finish for parking etc?

BarryD

Here's a low res map of the route. You can see the official start/ finish points on this. Going from Liscannor to Doolin, a total ascent of approx. 250 metres over 18 kilometres. I'd guess it's handy enough with plenty of surfaced trail, the warnings re experienced walkers probably refers to concern over the adjacent cliffs - love the photo in that Examiner article!

duckysauce

Anyone know if there is a bus etc to take you back to the start?? looks nice.

acorn

If you don't mind a slightly longer walk, 20km approx, you can park in Liscannor and avail of the bus Eireann service which goes from Liscannor to Doolin at 11.10am Monday - Saturday. Journey takes 30 mins. Then walk back to your car. Route is signed all the way.
Convenient lunch stop half way at Cliffs of Moher visitor centre :-)

Enjoy :-)

duckysauce

acorn wrote: »

If you don't mind a slightly longer walk, 20km approx, you can park in Liscannor and avail of the bus Eireann service which goes from Liscannor to Doolin at 11.10am Monday - Saturday. Journey takes 30 mins. Then walk back to your car. Route is signed all the way.
Convenient lunch stop half way at Cliffs of Moher visitor centre :-)

Enjoy :-)

cheers

relaxed

I did it last October from Doolin. You can also take a detour down the side of one of the cliffs and then walk along a stoney beach ending up at the foot of O'Briens tower.

I would class this piece as a light scramble, similar to the type of challenges you might meet on Carrauntoohill, there is a reasonably worn path down.

BriangC

At the foot of the Tower. Damn thats 500 feet down! Sounds great.

Would this detour down the cliff be dependant on tides? You wouldn't want to get caught out

Where about on the route http://www.activeme.ie/guides/walks/cliffs-of-moher-coastal-walking-route-clare/ do you take the detour or is it obvious?

relaxed

BriangC wrote: »

At the foot of the Tower. Damn thats 500 feet down! Sounds great.

Would this detour down the cliff be dependant on tides? You wouldn't want to get caught out

Where about on the route http://www.activeme.ie/guides/walks/cliffs-of-moher-coastal-walking-route-clare/ do you take the detour or is it obvious?

If you look at the picture in the link below which was taken from O'briens tower you will see the grass embankment slightly top left of the picture sweeping down to sea level, once you get near it the path was obvious the time I was there.

http://www.google.ie/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&q=cliffs+of+moher&oq=cliffs+of+moher&gs_l=img.12..0l10.2143.6476.0.7366.15.9.0.6.6.0.471.1380.0j4j1j0j1.6.0...0.0...1ac.1.18.img.WXXaAzw2G-4&biw=1024&bih=672&sei=Wg7QUeWVEYavO7_fgIAF#biv=i%7C9%3Bd%7Cojs_OVldpMVhmM%3A

I only got about half way down as it was getting dark, so I am not 100% about the tide situation and walking along the beach, so I guess the time to go is when the tide is going out!

RATM

Do you still have to pay the €6 entrance fee for the Cliffs when you do this walk ? Was down there about 8 weeks back and they have gone from charging €6 per car to €6 per person, would be great to find a way to do it for free again, I think we already pay enough in taxes for the OPW to run this place without Clare County Council coming in for a second dip :mad:

BarryD

I believe you're right, that's the way it has gone at the Cliffs of Moher and you'll pay a further €2 to access O'Brien's Tower and I heard this week that a local landowner is also benefiting from the situation by charging another €1 or €2 to walk to the top of an adjacent hill. Leaving aside the rights and wrongs of above, as far as I know you do not need to pay these charges to walk the route described above as long as you access it from either end. ie. don't start at the Cliffs of Moher site. You're just passing through on foot in this case, obviously if you want to visit O'Brien's Tower, interpretative centre etc., you might pay a few bob.
However if you're walking these sort of routes, you should make a point of buying an ice cream, coffee or lunch stuff, pint locally. That's their raison d'etre - to help bring a few bob into local rural economies.

RATM

BarryD wrote: »

I believe you're right, that's the way it has gone at the Cliffs of Moher and you'll pay a further €2 to access O'Brien's Tower and I heard this week that a local landowner is also benefiting from the situation by charging another €1 or €2 to walk to the top of an adjacent hill. Leaving aside the rights and wrongs of above, as far as I know you do not need to pay these charges to walk the route described above as long as you access it from either end. ie. don't start at the Cliffs of Moher site. You're just passing through on foot in this case, obviously if you want to visit O'Brien's Tower, interpretative centre etc., you might pay a few bob.
However if you're walking these sort of routes, you should make a point of buying an ice cream, coffee or lunch stuff, pint locally. That's their raison d'etre - to help bring a few bob into local rural economies.

My god it is getting truly daft down there. It reminds me when I trekked a part of the Great Wall of China- every time we got to one of the sentry towers there was some enterprising local with a ladder charging tourists a dollar to use it so they could continue on their trek. It is funny the first time but by the time you've paid the eighth guy you end up leaving the place pissed off, the scalpers have left a bad taste in your mouth.

Anyway good to know that you can now trek in and out of the Cliffs without having to pay but is there anywhere down the road at either trail head to park your car ?

BarryD

See map above - parking at Doolin, Moher Sports Field and Liscannor etc.

nomdeboardie

RATM wrote: »

Do you still have to pay the €6 entrance fee for the Cliffs when you do this walk ? Was down there about 8 weeks back and they have gone from charging €6 per car to €6 per person, would be great to find a way to do it for free again, I think we already pay enough in taxes for the OPW to run this place without Clare County Council coming in for a second dip :mad:

I wonder what happens if a person arrives there by bicycle

BarryD wrote: »

... and I heard this week that a local landowner is also benefiting from the situation by charging another €1 or €2 to walk to the top of an adjacent hill. ...

:mad:
Wonder if they get a farm subsidy...

BarryD

Who knows? Some would call it a bit of enterprise etc. I was recently at a beach where the public car parking was full and a local farmer had opened up their field gate and was charging €2 for parking in their field - kinda similar. I have sympathy for landowners at 'honeypot' areas like the Cliffs of Moher or Glendalough etc., these type of areas come under intense visitor pressure.
What I have more reservations about is the practice by local authorities to use venues like above as cash cows. You used to be able park at the Cliffs of Moher freely and enjoy the Cliffs. Likewise one could park freely at the upper car park in Glendalough for many years - pay parking came in there initially at weekends and public holidays, now it seems to be everyday. I was there midweek last February, there was one other car in the place and a poor Polish chap stuck there, collecting the few €. At least you can enjoy both these places freely, provided you walk in, which never does anyone any harm anyways.