This month’s theme of the blog has been to transport yourself out of winter and into warmer days.  Next on that list — summertime in Southern Ireland.

In fact, there’s nothing quite like posting about your previous international travel, the day you depart for a new one.  I’m wheels up for Mexico when you’re reading this but I still had to share!  In reality, I realized I owed you this long overdue blog post when I shared this cute Instagram post for Valentine’s Day.

Alas, I give you, the Ultimate Irish Roadtrip’s conclusion — the Cliffs of Moher.

Something I’ve learned about myself while traveling… it is very important to me that one of the things I’m most looking forward to should be towards the end of a trip.  If not, it’s hard to compare some other smaller sight-seeing things to that one epic vista.

The challenging part about the Cliffs of Moher is the weather.  Irish weather is notably unpredictable at best.  In fact, friends of ours had visited the cliffs and he even proposed there (!!).  The challenge?  You could hardly see them because it was pouring down rain.

Hello, it’s Ireland, that’s to be expected.

So when I created our itinerary, I decided that my solution to this problem would be to give ourselves two opportunities to see the cliffs… once at sunset and once at sunrise before we had to head back to Dublin to catch our flights.  That meant finding a place to stay that was very local.

What I didn’t know is that this Airbnb would be one of the best decisions!

Located just a few miles from one of the trailheads to the cliffs, the owner of our property gave us incredible tips to get to the southern-most entrance.  This was a few kilometers away from the main entrance full of tourists and buses full of visitors.

As a result? Our experience was epically empty.  In fact — aside from just a few sweet hikers, it was a challenge to have someone take our iPhone photo.

If you’re tracking, that’s a win in our book.

Because… the grandeur of this space is just so significant.  It makes you realize how small you are.  We had the most amazing time just sitting and talking.  We watched the waves roll in beneath us and the birds fly through looking like little more than specks.  It was inherently calm and peaceful… and we 11/10 recommend it.

Sometimes you put these big attractions on your travel “bucket lists” and wonder if they’re worth it.  Well, I can officially confirm that the Cliffs of Moher belong on your bucket list.

… and that there’s little more beautiful than watching the sun set over an Irish sea.

 

After taking it all in, we hiked back to find our car along the moonlit path and called it for the night.  The next morning, I decided to sleep in and rest before a long travel day.  Morgan on the other hand decided to go for a little run.. casually..

He ended up running a half marathon along the cliffs.  Who is this man I married!? ;)

Happy Thursday and Happy Leap Year!