Aran Islands and the Cliffs of Moher in One Day: Which Combined Tour?
4 min read
For most visitors, book the Aran Islands and Cliffs of Moher tour and cruise: €90 per person, 10.5 hours, 4.8 stars from 3,914 reviews, with a guided bus, the ferry to Inisheer, a cruise below the cliffs and an hour on top. If you want the bigger island and no coach, the Aran Islands cruise and Cliffs of Moher boat tour sails from Galway and gives 4.5 hours on Inis Mór. Both are boat days: the Doolin boats run from March to November, the Galway City sailing from late March to early October.
How the hours are spent
| Tour | Total | From | Rating | Island | Cliffs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aran Islands and Cliffs of Moher Tour & Cruise | 10.5 hours | €90 | 4.8 (3,914) | Inisheer, by ferry from Doolin | Cruise, then 1 hour at the top |
| Aran Islands & Cliffs of Moher Full-Day Trip | 10 hours | €84 | 4.8 (1,377) | Inisheer, 2 hours | Cruise of 1 hour, then 1 hour at the top |
| Aran Islands Cruise & Cliffs of Moher Boat Tour | 8.5 hours | €60 | 4.6 (2,010) | Inis Mór, 4.5 hours | Cruise of 15 minutes, no clifftop |
The shape of each day is different. The two bus tours drive south through the Burren to Doolin, take the ferry to the island and come back by sea along the base of the cliffs, which the booking page for the first describes as rising 214 metres and stretching 8 kilometres. After that you get an hour at the clifftop. You see the cliffs from below and above, but the island gets only part of the day: the Full-Day Trip lists two hours on Inisheer.
The docks sailing is the reverse. You spend most of the day on one island, the largest, and the cliffs are a short cruise at the end. You will not stand on the clifftop.
Which suits whom
Take the bus-and-ferry trip if you want both views of the cliffs and a guide who talks on the drive. The 10-hour trip leaves at 9 am and returns at 7 pm; the 10.5-hour tour leaves at 9 am and returns at about 7:30 pm. The shorter one lists wheelchair users as not suitable.
Take the sailing if the island is the point. Its booking page lists an audio guide for exploring Inis Mór, and the sea stack An Branán Mór and a sea cave used in a Harry Potter film on the return cruise.
Neither gives you everything. If the cliffs matter most, see Cliffs of Moher from Galway; if the islands matter most, see Aran Islands from Galway.
Season and sea
The boats are the weak point of this kind of day. The Doolin Ferry page says its services run from March to November, seven days a week, weather permitting. The sailing from Galway City is seasonal too: Aran Island Ferries lists departures from 26 March to 3 October 2027. The Full-Day Trip page says its cliffs cruise is subject to weather conditions. Rough seas can disrupt a boat day, so look at the dates in the booking calendar before you plan around one, particularly outside the March to November season that the Doolin Ferry names.
If you only want the water view, the Doolin Cliffs of Moher boat tour is €30 and takes 50 minutes with a commentary. It departs from Doolin Pier, where parking is pay and display. The page asks passengers with wheelchairs to contact the operator in advance, because the harbours are not accessible and depend on the tide.
All the boat options are on the Aran Islands tours from Galway and Cliffs of Moher tours from Galway pages.
