Cliffs of Moher & Doolin · Backpacking
ON A BUDGET
Sleep in Doolin, walk to the cliffs, and skip the car park fee entirely.
Doolin village
Three clusters of houses with hostels, pubs and the Aran ferry pier between them; Lisdoonvarna, ten minutes inland, is cheaper again.
What a day costs
About €50–80 a day, roughly $55–90: dorm €22–38, pub food and supermarket lunch €20–30, cliff entry and buses €12–20.
Getting around cheap
Bus Éireann's coastal route links Galway, Doolin, the Cliffs and Ennis a few times daily. Timetables thin out from October — check before relying on the last one.
Free by day
The coastal path from Doolin to the cliffs, around eight kilometres and free at that end, plus Poulnabrone dolmen and the Burren's limestone pavement.
Where travellers meet
Gus O'Connor's and McGann's run traditional music every evening in season, and the hostel kitchens sort out lifts and ferry plans beforehand.