Ireland: Day 5 - Boat ride to Skellig Michael and Little Skellig

Here is a summary of what is spent on Day 5.

23/9 Day 5: 2.5 hour boat ride to Skellig islands - Skellig Michael and Little Skellig. Boat left 12.15pm and we arrived back at 2.30pm. Drove to Kerry Cliffs. Walked up to Bray Tower.

Costs
(1) Boat ticket from The Skellig Experience Visitor Centre, to Skellig islands EUR65 per person

(2) Ticket to Kerry Cliff EUR5 per person

(3) Parking fee at Bray Head EUR2 for 2 hours

Food
(1) Breakfast at The Seafood Restaurant - Mini Irish (bacon, sausage, egg, baked beans and bread) with tea EUR11

(2) Lunch at Fisherman Bar - Seafood plate (crab meat, prawns, squid rings, fried fish, bread, salad and fries) EUR34, fried brie cheese EUR11,50, alcohol-free cider EUR6
(3) Coffee from a stall at Kerry Cliffs - EUR3,50

(4) Dinner at The Moorings - Linguine seafood EUR24,50, ginger ale 125ml EUR2,60

The Story

23092026: Today, we will be doing the boat ride around Skellig Islands. We were sad that we could not do the Landing Tour on Skellig Michael. Weather was perfect today. Sunny and no wind so I did not understand why the landing tour is cancelled.  Of course, the staff at The Skellig Experience Visitor Centre explained to us (when we visited the centre later) that the waves were crashing every 8 seconds on the landing platform and the waves were as high as 3 metres while the platform is 2,5 metres high. So, it is not possible to land. 

We drove to Portmagee village. Parked at the public parking space which is free. The parking space has limited spots but I don't think that it is a problem unless it is summer where I guess many tourists will be here. There is also a public toilet in the public parking lot but it is locked at night.

From the parking place, one can see the bridge across to Valentia Island. 

Then, we had breakfast at The Seafood Restaurant. It was the only place that was opened at 7.30am!

I had a relatively small breakfast because I do not want to throw up on the boat. Breakfast included tea. Getting coffee costs extra. After breakfast, I had my seasick pills. Thank goodness for them!

After breakfast, we walked for a bit until the end of the road in Portmagee village because it was still early after breakfast and we had to wait for The Skellig Experience Visitor Centre to open at 10am. We wanted to confirm our spots for the boat ride today since the plans were changed verbally on the phone yesterday.

Ireland: Day 4 - Cliffs of Moher, drive from Galway to Portmagee

Here is a summary of what is spent on Day 4.

22/9 Day 4: Drive from Galway to Portmagee. Stop at Cliffs of Moher and Limericks. Arrived Portmagee at 5.30pm.

Costs
(1) Petrol 16,32liter, EUR1,998 per liter - EUR32,61

(2) Ticket to Cliffs of Moher - EUR8 per person

(3) Parking ticket at Harveys Quay, Limericks - EUR6,60 (EUR3,30 per hour)

(4) Cerave sunscreen 177ml from D Sullivan pharmacy, Limericks - EUR15

(5) A packet of Butter cookie with chocolate biscuits from Dunnes Store - EUR1,49

Accommodation
(1) Room at Skellig Port Accomodation, Portmagee, 2 nights (from Booking.com) - A room with own toilet EUR134,14 for 2 persons, EUR67,07 per person

Food
(1) Lunch at Flannery Bar, Limericks - Fish and chips EUR16,95

(2) Dinner at The Moorings, Portmagee - Seafood chowder with 2 slices of brown bread and butter EUR19, alcohol-free cider EUR5,60

The Story

22092026: Today, we continue our drive to Portmagee. I planned this stop as we will take the boat to Skellig Michael island tomorrow and Portmagee is the closest village to the harbour. We could have taken accommodation in towns a bit further but I did not want to worry ourselves about the time to drive in the morning. Well, this was 4 months ago when I booked the hotel in Portmagee. This evening, when we arrived at Portmagee, we were informed by our hostess that all boats to land at Skellig Michael were cancelled by the port authorities due to the high waves. So, we could have stayed a bit further because we chose another activity to go around the Skelligs instead which started a bit later. Anyway, today's activity is the drive and on the way, we will stop at Cliffs of Moher, one of the recommended places of visit in the west coast. 

Breakfast at our Airbnb, just like yesterday. Checked out and pumped the car. Petrol is quite expensive in Ireland - almost EUR2 per liter. Started the drive towards Cliffs of Moher. This attraction is about 1,5 hours drive from Galway. There are many travel agencies in Galway that provide tours to Cliffs of Moher. One can buy the tickets online for Cliffs of Moher but I did not do that as I was unsure what time we will arrive. Also, there are different prices for different times. From 8am-10.59am, the ticket is EUR8, then 11am-3.59pm is EUR12, and it drops back to EUR8 from 4pm-7pm. I did not want to hurry our drive just in case there are nice stops along the way or if anything were to happen so I will buy the tickets when I get there.

Along the way, we stopped by at a random scenic stop. We were, after all, on the Wild Atlantic Way. Many vehicles just continued the drive. 

About 30 minutes before arriving at Cliffs of Moher, I told my boyfriend to purchase the tickets online. I can't do it as I was driving. It was about 9am and we could still get the EUR8 tickets. He succeeded and we got the EUR8 ticket per person compared to EUR15 per person to purchase the ticket at the counter.  Plus, we were so lucky with the weather. So sunny! And there were not many tourists yet. It is a large parking lot and there are ample of spaces. 

Some tourist buses were here already. It was 9.50am.

The souvenir shops are purposely designed and built under the hills to not ruin the greenery and scenery.

Ireland: Day 3 - Inis Mor island

Here is a summary of what is spent on Day 3.

21/9 Day 3: Took the 9.30am bus from Victoria Place bus stop in Galway town to Rossaveel harbour (arrived at 10.30am). Took the boat with Aran Island Ferries to Inis Mor island (arrived 11.10am). Rented a bicycle on the island. Cycled to Dun Aonghasa and Black Fort. Took a dip in the North Atlantic Ocean. Took the return boat 5pm and return bus 5.45pm. Aran Island Ferries operates both bus and boat.   

Costs
(1) Bus and boat return ticket with Aran Island Ferries - EUR44

(2) Rented bicycle with Aran Bike Hire on Inis Mor - EUR20

(3) Ticket to enter Dún Aonghasa on Inis Mor - EUR5

(4) Bus ticket from Galway center to the stop near our accommodation - EUR1,90

Food
(1) Lunch from Spar supermarket, Inis Mor - Panini gourmet wrap (tomato and cheese) EUR5,95

(2) Dinner at Murty Rabbitt's - Traditional lamb Irish stew EUR18,50, alcohol-free cider EUR6

The Story

21092026: Today, we will take the bus to a harbour and from there, a ferry to explore Inis Mor island. There are 3 islands (Inis Mor, Inis Meáin and Inis Oírr) that one can choose from. I chose the biggest island, Inis Mor, as there are recommended places to visit and one can rent a bicycle to explore the island. On the ferry, we saw some tourists who brought luggages to stay on the island. There are accommodations on the island. But I think a day is sufficient for me although I can consider to stay here if it was summer. One can choose to drive to the harbour too but we did not since it might be difficult to find parking (which was not, there is a huge parking space) or difficult to navigate the roads and tiring for us after the ferry trip. The second reasoning is more valid. I am glad we took the bus. Also, since it is the same operator for bus and ferry, the ferry waited for us when the bus was slightly delayed.

The day begun with breakfast at the accommodation. We had toasted bread, muesli with milk and instant coffee. Very convenient for us as our accommodation is located in a housing area and about 45 minutes walk from town. Also, I had my motion sickness pill after breakfast. 

We walked into town. It is about 35 minutes walk to Victoria Place bus stop where a bus will pick us up and bring us to Rossaveel harbour. Nice to see how the houses are here. No elevated wooden deck like in Sweden. Houses are similar to the ones in Malaysia. Lots of weeds in some gardens and some gardens are very nicely trimmed and pruned. Thanks to the rain, the greenery here is soothing to the eyes. 

I don't know if the boat is abandoned. Very low tide now.

We were early. Reached Eyre Square at 8.45am. The bus is scheduled for departure at 9.30am. Saw some sculptures and got me interested to take pictures next to them. This is the statue of Pádraic Ó Conaire, pioneer of modern Irish literature.

The Wanderer. No special meaning to the sculpture. The artist is famous for hyperrealistic sculptures of anonymous people in normal size or bigger than usual size.