Most of these sit in the north of the county, in or on the edge of the Burren. Doolin is the smallest and the busiest, four pubs running trad sessions most nights in summer and a pier where express ferries reach the Aran Islands in 15 to 35 minutes. Carran, higher and inland, is the only village in the high Burren, a scatter of houses around Cassidy’s pub. Corofin is the practical base for the Burren National Park, with a free shuttle to the trails from May to September.
The rest run down the west coast and along the Shannon Estuary. Kilkee curls around a horseshoe bay built for Victorian bathers, and its three Pollock Holes only work at low water, so the tide decides the day. Kilrush sends boats to Scattery Island and out to the estuary dolphins; Cappagh Pier, just outside it, holds the estuary’s only Blue Flag bathing spot. Ennistymon, north Clare’s biggest town, is built around the Cascades on the River Inagh.
East of that, Killaloe holds a bend of the Shannon below Lough Derg, its 13-arch bridge now closed to cars, and Shannon town is frank about being an airport base with a short drive to everything else. North Clare and the estuary are opposite ends of the county; pick one end and give it a night.
Tiny enough to walk in minutes, but four pubs keep trad sessions running most nights in summer and the Aran ferries leave from the pier.
Victorian resort curled around a sheltered horseshoe bay, with a Blue Flag beach, a cliff walk and three tidal Pollock Holes for swimming at low water.
The only village in the high Burren, home to Ireland's oldest perfumery, free to visit, and a 5 km loop past a church ruin and holy well.
The most practical base for the Burren National Park, thanks to a free May-to-September shuttle running from the village straight to the park trails.
North Clare's biggest town, built around the Cascades where the River Inagh drops over a limestone ridge, with trad sessions and independent shops on the main street.
17 of 17 shown — tap a pin for the place.
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Four pubs keep trad sessions running most nights through the summer, the oldest of them, Gus O'Connor's, pouring since 1832. From the pier, express ferries reach the Aran Islands in 15 to 35 minutes, and a cruise runs along the foot of the Cliffs of Moher. The village itself is tiny; the music is the reason to stay the night.
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Built for Victorian bathers who arrived by paddle-steamer and rail, Kilkee curls around a sheltered horseshoe bay on Clare's Atlantic coast. The draws are the Blue Flag beach, the three tidal Pollock Holes for swimming at low water, and the cliff walk north of town. Time your visit by the tide.
Carran, clare
Carran is the only village in the high Burren, a scatter of houses around Cassidy's pub above the region's largest turlough. It is the birthplace of Michael Cusack, co-founder of the GAA, whose family cottage is now a visitor centre, and home to the Burren Perfumery, Ireland's oldest, which is free to visit. A 5 km loop from the pub takes in a 15th-century church ruin and a holy well.
Corofin, clare
Corofin is the most practical base for walking the Burren National Park, thanks to a free May-to-September shuttle that runs from the village to the park trails. It also holds one of Ireland's largest genealogy collections, and its lakes draw kayakers and white-tailed eagles.
Ennistymon, clare
Ennistymon is north Clare's biggest town, built around the Cascades – a run of rapids where the River Inagh drops over a limestone ridge, best seen from the bridge or the Falls Hotel terrace. Percy French put the town's lost West Clare Railway into a ballad, and its main street still runs on independent shops, trad sessions and the occasional painted shopfront.
Killaloe, clare
Killaloe was Brian Boru's town, the seat of the High King when this bend of the Shannon was about as close as Ireland had to a capital. The long 13-arch bridge to Ballina is now closed to cars, so you can walk it in peace, and Lough Derg opens up just north of the town for boat trips, kayaking and lakeside walks.
Kilrush, clare
A Heritage Town with a Georgian grid laid out by the Vandeleur family, Kilrush is where boats depart for Scattery Island – six ruined churches and a 36-metre round tower – and for dolphin-watching on the Shannon Estuary. Just beyond the centre, the community-restored Vandeleur walled garden keeps a Victorian glasshouse, a beech maze and a café in the old stables.
Labasheeda, clare
Labasheeda looks out over a wide reach of the Shannon Estuary from a peninsula of holy wells, old churches and a Napoleonic-era gun battery. Its Irish name, Leaba Shíoda, means 'bed of silk'. The restored Kilkerrin Battery and the village quay – now with a new pier for anglers and swimmers – are the two things to make time for.
Lisdoonvarna, clare
Lisdoonvarna is Ireland’s last surviving Victorian spa town, on the southern edge of the Burren. Its Twin Wells still run with iron and sulphur mineral water you can taste, and the Spa Wells Heritage Centre (free, opened 2018) tells the story. Every September the town hosts Europe’s largest matchmaking festival.
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Miltown Malbay is a working West Clare town that fills to bursting each July for Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy, the largest traditional music summer school in Ireland. Away from the fiddles, it makes a handy base for the Blue Flag beaches at White Strand and Spanish Point, and for day trips to the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren.
Shannon, clare
Shannon town was built for its airport and is honest about it: a handful of attractions, no real centre, but a genuinely useful base. The Aviation Museum is the one stop worth making in town; everything else worth seeing is a short drive into Clare.
Ballyvaughan, clare
Cappagh, clare
Clarecastle, clare
Inagh, clare
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Kildysart, clare
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