Galway is known for its festivals, music and bars, and despite having few sites to visit, it is a vibrant place where people often end up staying longer than planned. The city’s pubs are in fact the best place to get a feel for the medieval city, and this is the only city in the country where you might hear locals speaking Irish.

One of the main attractions in the city is the long, pedestrianized main drag of William, Shop, High and Quay streets, which become a boisterous, Mediterranean-style promenades during summer months, lined with tables from various eateries.

Getting there

Galway Airport is a regional hub with daily services to and from Dublin, Luton, Manchester, Edinburgh and Lorient. Airport facilities include a cafe and free WiFi. There is a bus service to the airport which leaves once a day from Galway Ceannt Station (1pm Monday to Saturday). This service departs Galway Airport at 1:40 pm. Taxis are readily available any time day or night (the fare to the city centre is about EUR 15). Car hire is also available.

Shannon International Airport is the nearest international airport to Galway city. The airport is located on the Limerick Road about 1 hour drive from Galway City. CityLink and Bus Éireann operate a daily service to/from the airport.

Bus travel is the most frequent and cheapest transport to/from Galway. There are regular services to and from Galway that link all other major cities in Ireland. The three major companies are Bus Éireann, CityLink and BusNestor. CityLink and BusNestor operate services to/from to Dublin Airport and Shannon Airport.

The train from Dublin to Galway takes about 3 hours. A return ticket vary from €25 - €40. The train departs from Heuston Station Dublin and terminates at Ceannt Station in Galway. Towns serviced on the route include Kildare, Tullamore, Athlone, Ballinasloe and Athenry.

Situated between the narrow gap between Lough Corrib and the Atlantic Ocean, the City of Galway has been of strategic importance for at least 8 centuries.  Before the twelfth century the land was dominated by Gaelic tribes until 1232 when the Anglo-Norman Richard Mór de Burgh defeated the O’Flaherty clan and established a permanent settlement.

From the 15^th Century the town was controlled by a collection of Anglo-Norman Families – dubbed by Oliver Cromwell as the “Tribes of Galway”.  Under their stewardship the city grew as an independent entity, away from Dublin and London, focused on trading with the continent.

The town remained proudly loyal to the English Crown, a loyalty that would elicit harsh treatment from Cromwell’s forces when they occupied the area in 1652.  War, famine and commercial pressures led to a steady decline in prosperity. 

Growth returned in the 1960’s with industry and tourism.  Today Galway is the fourth largest city in the Republic and boosts a reputation as being fun, vibrant and young.