Shannon Airport is one of the best-positioned airports in Ireland for west-coast exploration. Within two hours of the terminal, you have access to some of the country's most celebrated destinations - the Cliffs of Moher, Galway City, the Burren, Connemara, and the Wild Atlantic Way coast. If this is your first time in Ireland and you are flying into Shannon, here are the day trips that our customers choose most - and why.
1. The Cliffs of Moher (About 1 Hour 15 Minutes)
The Cliffs of Moher are the most requested day trip we operate. They are about 1 Hour 15 Minutes from Shannon Airport, they are genuinely extraordinary, and they reward even a single visit enormously. The cliffs stretch for 14 kilometres along the County Clare coast, rising up to 214 metres above the Atlantic. On a clear day, you can see the Aran Islands. On a dramatic day, the surf below is something that photographs cannot convey.
For first-time visitors, we recommend arriving late morning when the tour coaches have thinned out. A private tour gives you the flexibility to spend as long as you want at the cliff path viewpoints.
2. Galway City (Just Over 1 Hour)
Galway is one of Ireland's most compelling cities - small enough to be manageable, large enough to have genuine personality. The Latin Quarter, the Spanish Arch, the weekly market on Saturdays, the pubs with traditional music most nights of the week. It takes less than 90 minutes to walk the entire city centre, which makes it an ideal day trip.
The drive from Shannon Airport to Galway takes just over an hour on the M18 motorway. If you are heading there for a longer stay:
3. The Burren (45 Minutes to 1 Hour)
The Burren is a limestone karst landscape unlike anything else in Ireland - covering over 250 square kilometres of County Clare. In spring and early summer, wildflowers grow in the cracks in the limestone. Ancient dolmens, medieval abbeys, and Iron Age forts sit alongside the road. The Burren works particularly well as an add-on to a Cliffs of Moher day - the cliff road through the Burren is one of the most scenic drives in Ireland.
4. Connemara (2.5 Hours - Worth a Full Day)
Connemara requires a full day to do properly. The landscape - Connemara National Park, Kylemore Abbey, the Sky Road west of Clifden, the Atlantic coast toward Renvyle - is the Ireland that most first-time visitors are imagining before they arrive. For those based in Galway, Connemara is a natural second-day option.
5. Adare Village (30 Minutes)
Adare is the village that photographers use on Irish tourism brochures - thatched cottages, medieval ruins, manicured hedgerows, and the Adare Manor estate at its edge. Only 30 minutes from Shannon Airport and works well as an add-on to any day tour heading south.
How to Do These Day Trips Without a Hire Car
The most common question we get from US visitors is whether they need to hire a car to see the west of Ireland. The honest answer: not if you book private tours with Shannon Transfers. Our Mercedes V-Class picks you up from Shannon Airport or your hotel, takes you to your destination, waits if needed, and returns you afterward. Fixed price, agreed in advance, no left-hand driving, no sat-nav, no unfamiliar roads after a long flight.
All the day trips above are available as private tours or transfers.
Planning your Ireland itinerary from Shannon Airport? Shannon Transfers operates private day tours to all the destinations above - and more. Fixed price, fully accompanied, private Mercedes V-Class. Plan My Tour Call: +353 61 951 195
