Heart-pounding adventures at Ireland’s Cliffs of Moher

Heart-pounding adventures at Ireland’s Cliffs of Moher

Our cabbie said, and this is a direct quote,  y’all are f***ing bloody crazy. It is definitely   not the first time we’ve been called crazy in  our adventures and it likely won’t be the last. That’s insane. But this is the first time where the location  was deemed nuts. Cliffs of Insanity are actually  

The Cliffs of Moher. In this week’s episode of  Window Seat, we are headed to Western Ireland   from the coast to Galway to see just how  mad we are. You know them from Harry Potter,   you know them from Princess Bride, but today  you’re gonna see them up close and personal,  

All 700 magnificent feet of them crashing  into the ocean below. We are taking an   amazing date here from Dublin to the Cliffs  of Moher in this episode of Window Seat. [MUSIC] Every great crazy adventure starts  before sunrise. Alright, so here we are,  

Downtown Dublin, just a little before 7 a.m. on  a random Friday in January. We are taking a tour   today to the Cliffs of Moher and it supposedly  is truly amazing. But when we got in the cab to   come here our cabbie said and this is direct  quote y’all are f****** bloody crazy because  

The weather today is gonna be miserable. It’s  always windy out there at the cliffs he said,   but today is especially windy. There’s  been gale-force winds all night long,   expected today, too So if we don’t get blown  into the ocean, it might just be a miracle. Let’s  

See how this all plays out. The three-hour  drive is a lot, crossing the Emerald Isle,   but it does include one very interesting  stop, the Barack Obama Plaza. Yes,   that Barack Obama has a gas station named after  him just across the county line from Moneygall,  

Ireland, where his great-grandfather’s from. Who  knew the former U.S. President had Irish roots? [MUSIC] Then, caffeine in hand, it is back  to the bus. Past Lisdoonvarna,   home of the famous Irish matchmaking festival,  through Doolin Village. The slabs around the  

Cliffs of Moher Visitor Center. As we arrive  at the cliffs… we go down around here. As we   take to the path to the top of the cliffs, we’re  immediately struck by the sheer beauty of this   place and struck in the face by all the nutty  wind our cabbie was telling us about earlier.

I mean, it’s not too bad temperature-wise. It’s  just, it’s definitely windy, though. I mean,   so you’ve come out here to be ready for the wind.  I’ve been very careful with my hat, and also,   depending on what time of year you come, you  may want to have a hat that covers your ears,  

Just because that wind can get a little chilly,  just like anything else when it’s windy. It’s   a lot colder, but it’s unreal to see. I mean, I  don’t care what the weather is. I don’t care what  

The temperature is. This is unreal to see. I’m  so glad we’re here and made this choice to come. A couple of movies have been filmed here. Harry  Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. There’s a cave   in the movie that is right here at the Cliffs  of Moher. Also in the movie, Princess Bride,  

The Cliffs of Insanity are actually the Cliffs of  Moher. One other little trivia nugget he gave us   is that he said a couple times a year, tourists  fall to their deaths taking selfies from the   cliffs. So we’ll do everything we can to not make  that happen today. That danger is evident by the  

Signs that are plastered everywhere. Just a  sign obviously because we’ve been warned of   the dangers many times. If you get too close  to the edge you can fall in and or bad things   can happen to you just in general. And this is  just a picture illustrating that point. Don’t  

Worry with me I will not be getting that close  because I’m too scared of heights to do anything   that stupid. Or just I will be way back far  away from the cliffs because that’s insane. Even with the signs and the wall there  are still people even crazier than us  

Throwing caution literally into the  wind just to try and get a selfie. We’re seeing people still try to get out here,  you know, that’s been told not to do. And it’s   like with all the wind, I don’t know how you can  do that. I want to stay here on my safe side of  

The wall and get the nice pictures and not risk my  life for this little just to get that much closer. [MUSIC] And that wind does a wonder on the water  as well. On non-windy days you can actually  

Get boat tours to the base of the cliffs. But  when it kicks up it offers something a little   unexpected. They actually say that some of the  best surfing in the world is right down there   below the cliffs about 700 feet down in the  water. It looks cold and it looks miserable,  

But I guess if you had a good wetsuit they  say it is primo conditions for surfing,   especially in the winter when the waves crash  especially hard. I’m gonna take their word for   it. I’m not finding out. A little bit on the  history of the natural wonder right here. The  

Cliffs are named after a fort that once stood  on the southernmost point of the cliffed coast. The fort was demolished in 1808  to provide a lookout in case of   the French invading during the Napoleonic Wars. [MUSIC] Walking along the cliffs provides  some really breathtaking views.

It’s just, you know, I wish it was a little  lighter out, be a little clearer, be nice,   more pretty picture, more pretty view.  But this is still incredibly the way. With miles of shoreline to explore and in some  parts that shoreline appears to be getting closer  

Than it was moments earlier. But perhaps the  best view can be found from looking back from   O’Brien’s Tower. Erected back in 1835 by Sir  Cornelius O’Brien, the local landlord said he   built the observation tower for strangers visiting  the magnificent scenery of this neighborhood.  

Clearly tourism has been on the brain here for  nearly two centuries. That is forward thinking. [MUSIC] And we could spend all day enjoying this  beauty, but it is time to move on. So check   out the indoor museum and gift shop before  we get back on the bus to our next stop. [MUSIC]

Now we wish the weather was a little better  so you could see this. This is Burren,   encompassing 530 square kilometers, and  part of it included in one of six national   parks in Ireland. Look at these limestone rocks.  These things are crazy old, like dinosaurs old,  

If that tells you just how cool they are.  It’s the only place in the world where   you’ll find Mediterranean as well as alpine  and glacial plants all growing side by side. [MUSIC] After making our way around the  bay we make our way to what’s   known as the cultural heart of Ireland, Galway. [MUSIC]

This city is known for its nightlife  and museums but we’re not here for   any of that nor are we here on a  day with one of their 122 yearly   festivals. But this city of around  80,000 people definitely feels alive. You know, it’s kind of like most of these port  

Towns you get throughout Europe.  There’s a lot of restaurants,   a lot of shops. Very busy though. I don’t think  I expected to be this busy when we got here. You can start your exploration in the center  of town in the 18th century Eyre Square. And  

Walking around is pretty easy, even on a  cold, wet Irish day. I had not heard much   about Galway if anything prior to showing  up here today. I just knew we were coming   and so it’s just interesting but not so far  not a lot that we wouldn’t see anywhere else,  

But it’s all got its own local flavor so we’ll  just continue checking out see what we got. There are a number of cool streets to  wander through in the Latin Quarter   filled with shops and pubs and  restaurants. The most popular  

Part of that is Quay Street. The buildings  are quite colorful. It’s lively and even   more popular after the new Ed Sheeran  song named for a girl from this city [MUSIC] The history is palpable as you wander  around you can tell so many buildings  

Have been here for centuries, even if  their neighbors haven’t. And there is   a lot to see you can check out  the Spanish Arch Riverside Walk,   Salt Hill Promenade, Galway Cathedral, or  just stop and grab some food and a pint. Cheers.

Galway’s close to a lot of great parks and  natural beauty, so definitely worth a visit,   or a home base, if you want to  explore the western coast of Ireland. [MUSIC] Really, an adventure that’s not so crazy  after all, and well worth your time.

There are a million options to explore Ireland  if you just ditch Dublin and see what the   rest of this amazing country has to offer,  which is what we did. If we missed anything,   leave a comment below and we’ll leave links  to everything that we covered in this episode  

In the description below too. We’re back  with a brand new episode of Windows Seat   next week. In the meantime, I’m Jeremy Hubbard  in Galway City, Ireland. We’ll see you then . [MUSIC] Thanks for watching this episode of Window  Seat. Please like and share if you could,  

And if you don’t mind, do us a big favor: hit  that subscribe button. We’d really appreciate   it so we can share more of our adventures  trying to visit every country on the   planet. We’ll see you right back here next trying  to visit every country on the planet. We’ll see  

You right back here next week. In the meantime,  enjoy one of these other videos from Windows Seat. [MUSIC]

You are hugging the coast, steps away from a 700 foot drop into the ocean. If this is your kind of heart-pounding adventure, then a day trip to Cliffs of Moher. And you’re in luck! Because we’re taking you there in this episode of @windowseatworldtravel

Just a three hour bus ride from Dublin, across the rolling green countryside, you’ll find one of the most iconic and most photographed attractions in all of Ireland. Cliffs of Moher bring to life every image you’ve ever seen of this magical island, and you can’t miss coming here. Plus we’re taking you to the gas station dedicated to a United States President! And a side journey into the beautiful bohemian city of Galway. Ed Sheeran got it right – the girls here are amazing! Everyone is, in fact!

LINKS:
Cliffs of Moher tour:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Products-g1184916-d214806-Cliffs_of_Moher-Liscannor_County_Clare.html

Barack Obama Plaza:
https://www.businessinsider.com/barack-obama-plaza-ireland-themed-service-station-bizarre-2019-12

Galway:
https://www.ireland.com/en-us/destinations/county/galway/galway-city/

If you want to follow our adventures and stories, check us out on Instagram. Our official account is https://www.instagram.com/windowseatworldtravel
Jeremy can be found at https://www.instagram.com/jeremyhubbard and you can find Sean at https://www.instagram.com/seandtowle.

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