Ireland
Galway
Ireland's western edge in one small city: buskers, oysters, trad sessions and the boat to the Aran Islands.
Galway is a small city on the Atlantic edge where a medieval street of buskers and pubs runs down to the Corrib, and the water arrives so fast off Connemara that it is loud under the bridges. It is Ireland's festival and trad music capital, a university town with a young population, and the jumping-off point for the Aran Islands and the west. Its size is the point: this is a city you can walk across in twenty minutes and keep bumping into the same people.
Suggested stay
2–3 days
Language
English, Irish
Currency
EUR
Timezone
UTC+1
Why you'll love Galway
The Latin Quarter one continuous lane of buskers, pubs and shopfronts running down to the river, busy from the afternoon on
Music the strongest trad scene in the country, in ordinary pubs, most nights, with no cover charge and no stage
The Atlantic a promenade to Salthill where locals still kick the wall at the far end before turning back
The gateway Connemara behind, the Burren and the cliffs south, and the Aran ferry from the doorstep
Best time to visit
Apr-Oct
13-20° days
53.274° N, 9.049° W
UTC+1 · Europe/Dublin
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Weather & when to go to Galway
Month by month: typical highs and lows, rainfall and rain days.
✓ Best Apr-Oct
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
When to avoid Galway
Galway is wet and windy for much of the year and does not pretend otherwise, with the shortest, darkest stretch from late autumn into midwinter and gales that come straight off the ocean. The late-summer festival weeks are also the least pleasant time to want a bed or a quiet pint, and prices move accordingly. Early summer is the reliable stretch here rather than high summer, which is wetter.
Top things to do in Galway
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The Latin Quarter and Shop Street
culture arts 👍 PopularThe medieval spine of the city, pedestrianised and packed with buskers who are often genuinely good, running from Eyre Square down to the Spanish Arch.
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A trad session in a back room
nightlife music ⭐ Highly recommendedGalway's sessions are the real thing: musicians in a circle, no microphones, tunes chosen on the spot. Several pubs run them nightly and nobody charges to listen.
-
Salthill promenade
scenic 👍 PopularA long seafront walk out of the city to a Victorian resort strip, with Galway Bay on one side and the Clare hills opposite, and a wall at the end you are supposed to kick.
-
The Spanish Arch and the Claddagh
historyA fragment of the old city wall on the river mouth, beside the fishing village that gave the world the Claddagh ring, now a row of neat houses across the water.
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Galway oysters and seafood
food 👍 PopularThe bay's native oysters have their own long-running festival, and the city eats well from the Atlantic generally, with chowder in every pub and a serious restaurant scene for its size.
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Galway Cathedral
culture artsA vast 1960s dome and limestone pile on the river island, built on the site of the old city gaol, and much better inside than its exterior suggests.
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The Corrib walk to Menlo
nature wildlifeA riverside path leads out of the city past weirs and rowing clubs to a ruined castle on the bank, and gets you into countryside within half an hour on foot.
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Ferry to the Aran Islands
scenic ⭐ Highly recommendedBoats run from the bay to three limestone islands where Irish is the daily language, stone walls divide fields the size of rooms, and a fort sits on a cliff edge.
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Festival season
culture artsThe city runs on festivals - arts, film, oysters, racing - and during them the whole place tilts, with street theatre in the squares and every bed taken for miles.
Best areas to stay in Galway
$ Budget $$ Mid-range $$$ Premium
Latin Quarter & city centre
First-time visitors $$Medieval lanes, pubs and buskers
Explore hotels in Latin Quarter & city centre →
The West End
Local & lively $$Across the river, local bars and food
Explore hotels in The West End →
Salthill
By the sea $Seafront, promenade and quieter nights
Explore hotels in Salthill →
Eyre Square
Most convenient $$Transport hub, hotels, central and busy
Explore hotels in Eyre Square →
Live nightly prices from Booking.com, Agoda and others, centred on Galway
Getting to & around Galway
Getting there
Train or coach from Dublin in about two and a half hours; the nearest airport is Shannon
Train
Galway Ceannt station
Direct trains from Dublin Heuston take around two and a half hours and stop beside Eyre Square in the middle of the city
Coach
Galway coach station
Frequent express coaches from Dublin city and directly from Dublin airport, plus services from Shannon airport in about an hour and a half
Coach
Eyre Square
Buses along the western seaboard from Cork, Limerick and Sligo all terminate in the centre
Getting around
Walking
The centre is tiny and flat, and you can cross the whole of it in about twenty minutes
Free
Bus
City routes run out to Salthill, the university and the suburbs, and are the way to the ferry ports for the islands
TBC
Hire car
Not needed in the city and awkward to park, but the obvious way to do Connemara and the Burren afterwards
TBC
Ferry
Boats to the Aran Islands leave from Rossaveel, west of the city, with a connecting coach from the centre
TBC
Taxi
Ranks at Eyre Square and the bridge, useful late at night and out to Salthill
TBC
Day trips from Galway
Cliffs of Moher and the Burren
Full daySea cliffs & limestone
Two hundred metres of sheer cliff above the Atlantic, and behind them a grey limestone pavement full of Arctic and Mediterranean flowers growing side by side.
Getting there
bus | car | tour | ferry
1 hr 30 min by coach or car south
Aran Islands
Full dayLimestone islands
Stone-walled fields, an Iron Age fort on a cliff edge and Irish spoken as an everyday language, best covered by hired bicycle.
Getting there
ferry | bus | flight
1 hr by coach and ferry
Connemara
Full dayBog, mountains & coast
Quartzite peaks over blanket bog, a Victorian abbey beneath them and a coast road of white beaches and Irish-speaking villages.
Getting there
bus | car | tour
1 hr 30 min by coach or car northwest
Kylemore and Killary
Full dayAbbey & fjord
A neo-Gothic house reflected in a lake below the mountains, and Ireland's only fjord cutting inland beyond it.
Getting there
car | tour | bus
1 hr 45 min by car or tour
Inishbofin
1-2 daysOffshore island
A small island off the Connemara coast with looped walks, seals, a handful of pubs and almost no day-trip traffic.
Getting there
car | ferry | bus
1 hr 30 min by car then ferry
A little history of Galway
Galway grew from a Norman fortification at the mouth of the Corrib into a walled merchant city run by fourteen families, the so-called tribes, who traded wine and salt with Spain and France and governed the place almost as an independent republic. That trade is why a Spanish Arch still stands on the river and why the city faced outward long before Dublin mattered to it.
Cromwellian and Williamite sieges in the 17th century broke the merchant order, and the Famine hit the west harder than anywhere, emptying Connemara and the islands and sending generations through this port to Boston and New York. The city stayed small and poor into the 20th century. The university, the arts festivals and a young population turned it around, and it served as a European Capital of Culture in 2020.
The Normans fortify the settlement at the mouth of the Corrib
Galway is granted the right to elect its own mayor, and the merchant tribes take control
Cromwellian forces take the city after a long siege, ending the merchant era
The Famine devastates Connemara and the islands, driving emigration through the port
Queen's College, now the university, is founded and slowly reshapes the city
Galway serves as a European Capital of Culture
Know before you go
Payment
Cards everywhere
English
Everywhere
Wifi
Reliable
Power
Type G
230 V, 50 Hz
Dialing
+353
FAQs about Galway
▸ How many days do you need in Galway?
Two nights suits the city itself, which is small. Most people use it as a base for three or four and spend the days out at the cliffs, the Burren, Connemara or the islands.
▸ Is Galway the best place for trad music?
It has the strongest concentration in the country, and sessions run most nights in several pubs without a cover charge. Doolin, further south, has a rival claim, but Galway wins on sheer choice.
▸ Do you need a car in Galway?
Not for the city, and not for the standard day trips, which all have coach tours. A car pays off if you want Connemara at your own pace, which is the best reason to be here.
▸ Aran Islands or the Cliffs of Moher?
The cliffs are the bigger sight and the shorter day; the islands are the better experience if you have the time, and Inis Mor's own cliff fort rivals them. Some boat trips manage to combine the two.
▸ Is it always raining?
Often, and the Atlantic weather changes hourly rather than daily. Early summer is the driest, brightest stretch in the west, and locals plan around showers rather than waiting them out.
More in Ireland
Connemara (Clifden)
Bog, quartzite peaks and white beaches on Ireland's western edge, with an abbey reflected in a lake below the mountains.
✓ best May-JunCork
Ireland's contrary second city, built on a river island around a Victorian food market.
✓ best May-SepDublin
A Georgian capital of doorways, libraries and pub sessions, small enough to cross on foot.
✓ best May-Oct