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Coastal village in County Clare, Ireland
Photo: Suzanne Mischyshyn, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Doolin (Dúlainn) is a small community in County Clare on the west coast of Ireland, with a population of about 300. The main attraction is the Cliffs of Moher, and it's also an access point for reaching the Aran Islands and The Burren. Doolin pubs have a lively trad music scene.
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They rent touring bikes, they don't have off-road models.
This 16th-century tower house is nowadays a private holiday home and not open to the public, but there are great views from the single-track lane that runs by it. Don't try to park along there.
Poll an Eidhneáin
Show cave with a remarkable stalactite 7.2 m long, one of the longest in the world. And actually that's all there is, the cave is otherwise undecorated. 125 steps down, and 125 steps to get back up. 50-minute tours start on the hour with the last at 4PM.
The cliffs stretch away north and south for several km, but here they reach 214 m above the sea. There are three main viewing areas, free if you can get here without a car (see "Get around"). The charge covers parking, use of the visitor centre and viewing from O'Brien's Tower, built in 1835 as an observation tower for tourists. Views take in the Aran Islands, Galway Bay, Maum Turk Mountains and the Twelve Bens to the north in Connemara, and Loop Head to the south. The cliffs were built 320 million years ago by the silt of a river delta, compacted into beds of shale and sandstone. Watch for puffins, hawks, gulls, guillemots, shags, ravens and choughs. Cheaper admission in the morning, but you need the westering sun to light up the cliff face.
Good pub with food, sure to warm you up after a breezy day on the cliffs or at sea. It's gotten onto the tourist circuit but still a decent honest place. Trad music every night.
Pub with trad music, it's the food that draws admiring reviews.
Grand little place with live music most nights and good home cooked food.
Site with 50 pitches near village centre, open all year.
Scenic well-run site open mid-March to mid-October.
Clean hostel with 3 small dorms, private rooms and camping in back garden. Dogs, musicians and other reprobates permitted but no hen or stag parties.
Small but clean rooms with en suite bathrooms. Friendly, colourful host.
Clean welcoming B&B.
Well-kept B&B in renovated 1850 cottage.
Self-catering lodges with great views towards the Atlantic. Meals may be available.
Wonderful bungalow hotel, spacious and well-designed, great dining. It was built in the 1840s to replace the dilapidated original castle from the 15th / 16th century.
Splendid upscale hotel in an 18th-century mansion with excellent dining. Open Apr-Sept. No children under 11 or dogs.
Smoked salmon, mackerel and the like.
The main road is N67, which branches off M18 at Ennis and loops north through Ennistymon. The turn off to Doolin is 5 km south of Lisdoonvarna while N67 continues through Ballyvaughan and Kinvarra to Galway.
Read in the guideDoolin is a straggly but small place. It's 7 km to Lisdoonvarna or to the Cliffs of Moher.
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Shannon · International · SNN
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