Cliff walking at Howth – Ireland

Howth is a lovely fishing village which is very near from the Dublin city. And the communication between this town and Dublin makes easier with the direct dart lines. This town is famous for its easy cliff walking across the shoreline. It is a nice place to get lost into the nature and making a day trip. Howth is just 35 minutes of dart distance from the Dublin.

I first heard about this place from one of my colleagues. Being so near from the city center this place allured me more to visit. During this particular month we use to have a slight long day time. So instead of starting very early, I decided to start after the lunchtime. I took a dart (commuter Irish rail) from the O’connel station. It has a frequent dart service for the Howth.

The journey for Howth is not that much boring. After crossing the station ‘Bayside’ it starts to be more scenic, specially on the left side of the train. And after crossing the station ‘Sutton’ you’ll pray that the journey never ends. Cause on left side you’ll find the ocean. During the high tide it is much more beautiful than the low tide. So make sure you are during high tide, and you are on the left side of the train.

Beside the station there is a small jetty (it is called jetty right?) that has lot of yachts. I think this is a part of a yachting club. There is a walkway beside that place. Lot of local people and the tourists use to have a walk on there. You’ll find lot of seagulls are flying around. You can feed them. It is a nice experience. I watched other doing that. I didn’t have any popcorns or crisps with me. I’ll go there again and that time I’ll keep few of those things on my bag. And don’t forget you to do the same if you like to feed birds.

This jetty area is basically for the family gathering place. Parents with kids or someone with pets love to have a stroll on the footpath. They usually do not go further from there. The cliff walking route is slightly further from that place. After exploring this lovely area I started walking toward the starting point of the cliff walking route. It is just around 7-10 minutes of walking distance from there.

Yachts at the harbour of the Howth.

After passing few houses on the street I found the starting signboard for the route. Similar to other tourists spot this place is not that much crowded. And most of the tourists here are either local people or from Europe, very few are American. I have never done cliff walking before. In fact I have never heard anything about cliff walking too. In my country Bangladesh we have a huge sea beach. But we do not have any cliffs.

This area is noisy because of the small waves.

It was too much windy and the breeze was heavily strong. I have just recovered from my vertigo problem at last week. So I was a bit careful to go near the edge of the cliff. And the good thing was the wind was coming from the ocean. That means it was pushing us towards the ground. The wind was chilling and had to put my hands inside my pocket. But I loved that weather and the moment.

The cliffs are not that much high, and the roads are easy to walk. In every turns you’ll see the water crashing over the small boulder like rocks. And on the other side you’ll see highland with grasses are being waved by the wind. During my walk I have given a pause on several times and had a seat to watch the orchestra of the nature.

I am not sure what is the blooming season for the Gorse flower (Ulex europaeus). The cliff walking path at Howth was mostly covered with those lovely yellow flowers. And they were having a mild fragrance. In some places the land was totally covered with yellow for massive blooming of the flowers. It reminded me the yellow mustard field in my country Bangladesh.

Small hills at the far is the starting point for the Howth cliff walking route.

At the end of the trail there is a light house available. That place is not accessible for the public viewing. But you can view that from the far. In fact after crossing a certain distance you’ll see the lighthouse. The more you progress the more the lighthouse becomes clearer to you. I have taken few of the snaps of the light house from far. It would have been great if I could go inside that one!

Near the lighthouse area (or u can say before) you’ll see a small cave like thing directly at the bottom of the cliff. You can say it is a passage between the cliff through which the ocean water uses to flow. It was too much windy and I couldn’t reach at the edge of the cliff to see that passage clearly. It was really hard to stand at the edge just for a fraction of a second. By the way, that passage is not accessible from the top of the cliff. May be you can go there using a boat, not sure!

Some nice rocks at the far island.

Also there is a small secret beach at the bottom of the cliff too. There is a small trail through which you can reach towards that small stony beach. I have gone a bit downwards, but as I was alone and also no one was there, that’s why I didn’t dare to go further. But it should be a lovely nice place. Would have been a nice place to get closer to the ocean and the nature from there.

A bit further, the rocks.

From the end of the trail you can go to a nearby bus stoppage and take a bus to take you directly to the Dublin city. But I had my return dart ticket with me. So I decided to walk through the same train and return back to the dart station. Near the station I found few seafood restaurant, but didn’t go inside as it was almost dark and had to return home quickly. I leaved that seafood for some other days!

Actual distance from where the photo was taken.

How to go to Howth:

If you like public transport then Dart is the best option. You can take the Dart from O’connel rail station. You can buy a ticket from the counter (Tips: round trip will be cheaper). Also you can pay using your leap card. There is another stoppage named ‘Tara’ which is at the other side of the Liffey river. You can take the dart from that station too. It should be around 35-40 minutes of journey.

Where to stay near Howth:

It is a short day trip from the Dublin city center. You don’t need to stay at Howth for this. Besides I didn’t see too many options to stay near the Howth village. But still you can have a look on this link for a list of Hotels near Howth. If you wish to stay at the Dublin city then here you can find a list of Hotels near Dublin city.

List of Hotels from Dublin