Alternatives to the Cliffs of Moher: quieter Atlantic cliffs and peninsulas in Ireland

The Cliffs of Moher run for about 14 kilometres along the north Clare coast and reach 214 metres at their highest point. In 2024 the Cliffs of Moher Experience counted 1,495,069 visitors, and in 2025 just over 1.5 million, nearly half from abroad. Fáilte Ireland counted about 1.17 million overnight tourists in the whole of County Clare in 2024 (361,000 from overseas, 810,000 from Ireland), so the cliffs get more visitors than the county gets tourists. With the coastal path south to Hag's Head and Liscannor closed for safety, a visit now mostly means the 3.5 km of paths either side of the visitor centre.

The Ring of Kerry is the same story on a bigger scale. Kerry had 665,000 overseas visitors and 1.4 million domestic ones in 2024. The Ring is a 179 km loop that starts and ends in Killarney, where the Muckross House gardens alone had 779,846 visitors that year. The roads are narrow enough that tour coaches all drive it anticlockwise, so they don't have to pass each other.

What most people want from either is a high cliff over open Atlantic, and the west coast has plenty. Four of the five places below have a full profile on this site, with a tourist-density score out of 10 (lower means quieter). The fifth, Sliabh Liag in Donegal, we haven't written up yet, but it's the first name people mention when you ask for bigger cliffs. None of these places is empty in August. They are just much less full.

Loop Head — where the Clare cliffs carry on

Loop Head is the peninsula at the south-west corner of Clare, with the Atlantic on one side and the Shannon Estuary on the other. At one point barely a mile of land keeps it from being an island. In Kilkee a 4 km loop walk starts at the Diamond Rocks café and runs out along the cliff top, with the Pollock Holes, rock pools you can swim in at low tide, below. Further west are the Bridges of Ross, and at the tip Loop Head Lighthouse, built in 1854. You can climb it in season and even sleep in the keeper's house. From Carrigaholt, boats go out to the estuary's bottlenose dolphins; a 2018 survey for the National Parks and Wildlife Service estimated about 140 of them. Loop Head scores 2. Kilkee fills up with families in August, but the lighthouse end stays quiet. Read the Loop Head profile →

Scattery Island — a monastery in the estuary

Scattery has the lowest score on this list, 1.5. It lies about two kilometres off Kilrush. St Senan founded a monastery here in the sixth century, and its churches, holy well and round tower still stand. The tower is about 36 metres high, one of the tallest in Ireland. There's also a Napoleonic-era artillery battery, and the last islanders left in 1978. The Scattery Island Tours boat leaves Kilrush Marina from May to September (the 2026 season opened on 21 May). The crossing takes about half an hour, and you get roughly two and a half hours ashore, with OPW guides at the pier. Weather and tides can cancel sailings, and there's no café, so bring food. Kilrush is on the bus from Ennis, so this is the easiest car-free trip here. Read the Scattery Island profile →

The Burren — inland from the same cliffs

The Cliffs of Moher sit in the same UNESCO Global Geopark as the Burren, so this is a way to stay in the area and leave the cliff top to everyone else. Burren National Park covers 1,500 hectares of bare limestone, and 23 of Ireland's 27 orchid species grow there. Start at the information point in Corofin. From May to September a free shuttle runs from there to the trailhead, and the marked routes up Mullaghmore take two and a half to three and a half hours. The Burren Food Trail, an EDEN winner in 2015, links producers such as St Tola goat cheese, the Burren Smokehouse and Flaggy Shore Oysters. It isn't empty: Poulnabrone portal tomb gets around 200,000 visitors a year, and the Burren's score of 3 is the highest of the places profiled here. Read the Burren Food Trail profile →

Sliabh Liag — higher cliffs, not on the site yet

For bigger cliffs, go to south-west Donegal. Fáilte Ireland describes the sea cliffs at Sliabh Liag (Slieve League) as the second highest in Ireland, at around 600 metres, nearly three times the height of Moher. There's a visitor centre about 4 km below the viewing point and a shuttle bus up from July to September, so don't expect it to yourself on a summer afternoon. Donegal has had no railway since 1960. Expressway 64 runs from Galway via Sligo to Donegal town, and TFI Local Link 293 continues to Killybegs, Kilcar and Carrick about seven times a day. From Carrick you still have to get up to the cliffs, so for most people a car or a day tour is the realistic option. We don't have a profile yet; when we write one, this is where it will start.

Sheep's Head — instead of the Ring of Kerry

Sheep's Head is the narrow peninsula between Bantry Bay and Dunmanus Bay in West Cork, with three villages: Durrus, Ahakista and Kilcrohane. You walk it rather than drive round it. The Sheep's Head Way is an 88 km loop of about six days on old farm tracks, mass paths and cliff top, and the peninsula was named a European Destination of Excellence in 2009. With half a day, do the Lighthouse Loop at the tip: 3.7 km, about two hours. The score is 1.8. Take the train to Cork, about two and a half hours from Dublin, then Bus Éireann 236 to Bantry, about two hours, five times a day Monday to Saturday and fewer on Sundays. TFI Local Link 232 runs on from Bantry to the three villages. Read the Sheep's Head profile →

So, where to go

For Clare, base yourself in Ennis, which has trains from Limerick and Galway (from Dublin, change at Limerick). Bus Éireann 336 runs to Kilrush and Kilkee, 333 to Corofin and along the coast to Kilkee, and 350 links Galway, the Burren villages, Doolin and Ennis. Past Kilkee, towards the lighthouse, you need a car or a bike. The Killimer–Tarbert ferry crosses the Shannon to Kerry in 20 minutes all year.

The Cliffs of Moher are still worth seeing. Go early or late in the day, or outside the summer, and spend the rest of the trip somewhere on this list.

Questions, answered

What is the best alternative to the Cliffs of Moher?

For cliffs in the same county, Loop Head: the Kilkee cliff walk and the lighthouse at the tip. For sheer height, Sliabh Liag in Donegal, nearly three times as high but much harder to reach without a car.

Can I see Atlantic cliffs without a car?

Yes, in Clare. Take the train to Ennis and Bus Éireann 336 or 333 to Kilkee; the cliff walk starts in town. Kilrush, for the Scattery boat, is on the 336 too. For the lighthouse end of Loop Head, or for Sliabh Liag, a car or a tour is the honest answer.

What is a good alternative to the Ring of Kerry?

Sheep's Head in West Cork. It's built around a walking route, not a road circuit. Do the two-hour loop at the tip, or the full 88 km in about six days.

Is Sliabh Liag higher than the Cliffs of Moher?

Yes. The cliffs at Sliabh Liag rise to around 600 metres, against 214 metres at the highest point of the Cliffs of Moher.