Where to base yourself
- City centre and Eyre Square: walk everywhere; tours and trains on the doorstep.
- The West End (across the river around Dominick Street): the locals’ quarter for restaurants and music pubs.
- Salthill: seaside guesthouses, 20–30 minutes’ walk from the centre; good value and easier parking.
- Clifden, Roundstone or Letterfrack: for walkers and anyone who wants Connemara at dawn and dusk.
Food, drink and music
Galway takes food seriously: native oysters (in season from September to April) and rock oysters all year, mussels from Killary, Connemara lamb, and one of the country’s liveliest restaurant scenes for a city of its size. Fish and chips from McDonagh’s on Quay Street is an institution.
For traditional music, try Tigh Neachtain, Taaffes and Tig Cóilí in the Latin Quarter and The Crane Bar and Monroe’s in the West End. Sessions often start around 9.30 pm, with earlier ones at weekends. See the notes on session etiquette.
Saving money
- The Galway City Museum, the cathedral and the seafront are free, as is Connemara National Park.
- Coaches from Dublin are usually cheaper than the train, especially booked online.
- Day tours cost less than a day’s car hire and fuel for one or two people.
- Avoid race week (late July to early August), when room rates multiply.
Practicalities
Galway is one of the wetter cities in Ireland: bring a waterproof at any time of year. Parts of Connemara and the Aran Islands are Gaeltacht, so road signs may be in Irish only — Clifden is An Clochán, Inishmore Inis Mór. Fuel stations and ATMs are sparse west of Oughterard. On the islands, bring cash for bike hire and small cafés.
Sample plans
One day
Morning walking tour or a wander from Eyre Square to the Spanish Arch and the Claddagh; lunch of chowder or oysters; walk the prom to Salthill; dinner in the West End and a session.
Two days
Add a full-day tour or drive through Connemara: the Inagh Valley, Kylemore Abbey, Letterfrack and, with a car, the Sky Road at Clifden.
Three days
Take the ferry to Inishmore and cycle to Dún Aonghasa — or head south for the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher.
