Top 10 Things to Do in Galway

Sharing is caring!

Subscribe to Love Ireland on YouTube for a new guide to Ireland every week.

Galway rewards a little planning. This countdown brings together the city, Connemara and the Aran Islands, with a practical mistake to avoid at each stop. The order is editorial, informed by published visitor figures and official operators. Information checked October 14, 2026; confirm current hours, weather and transport before visiting.

10. Eyre Square

Number ten: get your bearings in Eyre Square. This familiar green space is officially John F. Kennedy Memorial Park. Kennedy spoke here in June nineteen sixty-three, a connection that gives an American visitor a reason to pause before heading into the streets.

The council’s architecture trails show two different Galways: the grander buildings around the square, and the smaller streets inside the old town walls. Look up at the buildings before you head out. The mistake is making this your whole city visit.

Use the square as your starting point, then walk into the older center. Galway gets more interesting as the streets narrow.

9. Galway Cathedral

Number nine: step inside Galway Cathedral. That great stone building looks much older than it is. It was dedicated in nineteen sixty-five. Come to see the building: the scale of the interior, the stonework, and the light.

You don’t have to share its faith to appreciate the care that went into it. There is no admission charge; the cathedral suggests a three-euro donation. Its usual opening hours are approximate, and holidays can change them.

The mistake is walking in for sightseeing during Mass. Unless you’re joining the service, come back afterward. And free entry doesn’t mean free parking. The cathedral’s own car park charges by the hour.

8. Spanish Arch, Long Walk and Claddagh

Number eight: follow the waterfront from Spanish Arch to the Long Walk, then look across toward the Claddagh. These are connected places, so give them one unhurried walk. The arch is a surviving piece of Galway’s old defenses. The Long Walk brings the houses and the river into the same view.

Across the Corrib, the Claddagh was once an Irish-speaking fishing village with an elected king. Here is the catch: don’t expect to find that old village preserved. Its thatched houses were demolished and replaced. The museum’s old pictures help you understand what changed.

Look at today’s neighborhood with that history in mind. A familiar postcard becomes a place where families worked and lived.

7. Galway City Museum

Number seven: Galway City Museum, beside Spanish Arch. This is a rare stop where the price is simple: admission is free, and you don’t need to book. Inside, look for the Galway hooker boat and the museum’s oldest-known Claddagh ring, dating to around seventeen hundred.

The boat tells you how this coast worked. The ring makes a familiar symbol feel close enough to hold. The mistake is saving the museum for Monday, or assuming winter Sundays work like summer ones. Normal hours are Tuesday through Saturday, ten to five; Sunday opening runs only from Easter to mid-September.

Galleries close fifteen minutes before the building. Check temporary notices before you go.

6. Salthill Promenade

Number six: walk Salthill Promenade. The city opens onto Galway Bay here. Across the water are the hills of the Burren, in County Clare. Fáilte Ireland describes roughly three kilometers of coast between Claddagh Quay and Blackrock: about two miles.

That is enough room to settle into the view instead of chasing the next sight. You can sit on a bench, watch the bay, and turn back whenever you’ve had enough. The mistake is treating that distance as a round trip. Leave energy for the return, or shorten the walk.

Blackrock’s diving tower is a landmark to admire; walking the promenade is free.

5. Killary Fjord

Number five: take a boat through Killary Fjord. Mountains rise on either side of the water, and the view changes as the boat moves toward the Atlantic. The operator’s sightseeing cruise lasts ninety minutes, so you can see this landscape without adding another hill climb.

It leaves from Nancy’s Point, west of Leenane, on the southern shore. Put the actual pier into your directions. The mistake is assuming the cruise runs all winter. The published timetable covers April through October. Check your date and reserve your sailing before building the day around it.

The fjord is still a landscape in winter; the boat timetable is a different matter.

4. Clifden and the Sky Road

Number four: Clifden and the Sky Road. A loop of about ten miles can give you an entire Atlantic landscape: stone walls, green slopes, small islands, and open water. Tourism Ireland suggests around an hour for the route, beginning and ending in Clifden. Give yourself room to stop as well.

Here is the mistake: taking the wrong branch for the high view. The official route advice says to follow the upper road, then return toward Clifden on the N fifty-nine. Keep your attention on the road and stop only where you can park safely.

The scenery is free. A view this good deserves more than a glance through the windshield.

3. Latin Quarter and Quay Street

Number three: spend time in the Latin Quarter, especially Quay Street. This is Galway at street level: shop doors, food, people passing close together, and traditional music. But there is something older behind the busy fronts.

Off Quay Street on Druid Lane is the Hall of the Red Earl, a medieval hall uncovered in nineteen ninety-seven. Its archaeological remains are free to visit when open. Check access before making the detour. The mistake is rushing through for one photograph.

Leave time to look down a side lane, or ask when the music starts. The place rewards attention more than speed.

2. Diamond Hill, Connemara National Park

Number two: Diamond Hill in Connemara National Park. The entrance near Letterfrack leads from the visitor center into bogland and up toward a wide mountain view. The park, visitor center and parking are free. Published figures counted more than a quarter of a million visits to the park in twenty twenty-four.

The mistake is reading the upper trail’s ninety-minute time as the whole outing. The park gives about two and a half hours for the climb and return from the visitor center. The lower walk takes about an hour if you want a gentler choice.

The visitor center currently closes Mondays and Tuesdays, except bank holiday Mondays. Choose for your legs and the weather. Orange and red weather warnings close the park.

1. Inis Mór and Dún Aonghasa

Number one: Inis Mór and Dún Aonghasa, on the Aran Islands. The fort is over three thousand years old. Its stone walls meet that open Atlantic cliff from our first picture. The mistake is treating this as a quick city side trip.

Rossaveel’s passenger ferry runs year-round, about forty minutes to Inis Mór; city-dock departures are seasonal. Book your ferry ahead. Rossaveel parking is eight euros for twenty-four hours; drivers should be ready to board thirty minutes before departure. Aer Arann Islands also flies from Connemara Airport in eight to ten minutes, with free passenger parking. That is flying time, not your whole journey.

At the fort, allow an hour to an hour and a half, including the rough walk from the visitor center. Bring strong shoes and stay back from the unfenced edge. The adult entry price is five euros; it closes December twenty-fourth through thirtieth. Give this trip a day of its own, and check the weather and your return. Galway is worth that time.

Next week: Top 10 Things to Do in Cork. Subscribe to Love Ireland so you get the next one. In the meantime, see our other countdowns: Top 10 Castles in Ireland You Can Go Inside and Top 10 Places to Visit in Ireland (2027).

Subscribe to Love Ireland on YouTube for a new guide to Ireland every week.

Official sources

• Fáilte Ireland visitor numbers dashboard
• Galway City Council: Eyre Square planning & design report (PDF)
• Galway City Council: architectural heritage trails
• Galway Cathedral – About
• Galway Cathedral – Visitor information
• Irish Walled Towns Network: Galway’s hidden fortifications map & guide (PDF)
• Galway City Museum: The Claddagh exhibition
• Galway City Museum – official site
• Galway City Museum: the Claddagh ring
• Galway City Museum: the Galway hooker exhibition
• Discover Ireland: Salthill Promenade
• Galway City Council: Salthill public space planning
• Killary Fjord Boat Tours – official site
• Killary Fjord: cruise times & prices
• Discover Ireland: the Sky Road
• Tourism Ireland: the Sky Road
• The Latin Quarter, Galway – About
• Latin Quarter walkabout guide (PDF)
• Heritage Council: Galway Conservation, Management & Interpretation Plan (PDF)
• Connemara National Park – official site
• Connemara National Park: contact & opening hours
• Heritage Ireland: Dún Aonghasa
• Aran Island Ferries: Rossaveel travel FAQ
• Aran Island Ferries: Galway city departures
• Aer Arann Islands – flight booking
• Fáilte Ireland 2024 visitor survey (dashboard)

Picture and map credits

Real photographs and footage, cropped for the edit; no AI pictures. Licensed Love Ireland photographs are used under the studio’s commercial license.

• Christopher Hilton — Salthill Promenade, Galway Bay and 1930s concrete – geograph.org.uk – 1969039.jpg — CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped.
• louise price — Gulls at Spanish Arch, Galway – geograph.org.uk – 2027013.jpg — CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped.
• Florentchevallier — Wild Atlantic Way Sky Road sign.jpg — CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped.
• Dieglop — County Galway – Dun Aengus – 20210622154030.jpg — CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped.
• Dieglop — County Galway – Dun Aengus – 20210622140157.jpg — CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped.
• Dieglop — County Galway – Dun Aengus – 20210622151757.jpg — CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped.
• Dieglop — County Galway – Dun Aengus – 20210622153550.jpg — CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped.
• Joseph Mischyshyn — Galway – 1 Quay Street – Thomas Dillon Claddagh Gold Museum – geograph.org.uk – 3026434.jpg — CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped.
• Joseph Mischyshyn — Galway – 1 Quay Street – Claddagh Gold Sign – geograph.org.uk – 3026438.jpg — CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped.
• Joseph Mischyshyn — Galway – 3 Quay Street – Wooden Heart Toy Shop – geograph.org.uk – 3026446.jpg — CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped.
• Joseph Mischyshyn — Galway – 11 Quay Street – The Quays Pub – geograph.org.uk – 3026707.jpg — CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped.
• Joseph Mischyshyn — Galway – Quay Street, The Halls – Fat Freddy’s – geograph.org.uk – 3026734.jpg — CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped.
• Joseph Mischyshyn — Galway – Quay Street – Claddagh ^ Celtic Jewellery ^ Para Vida – geograph.org.uk – 3026742.jpg — CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped.
• Joseph Mischyshyn — Galway – Galway City Museum – geograph.org.uk – 3027030.jpg — CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped.
• 瑞丽江的河水 — Galway City Museum, 2022-05-15.jpg — CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped.
• Sharon Hahn Darlin — Eyre Square, Galway, Ireland 15 May 2022.jpg — CC BY 2.0; cropped.
• P L Chadwick  — The road to Dún Aengus, Cill Mhuirbhigh (Kilmurvy), Inishmór (Árainn), Aran Islands, Co. Galway – geograph.org.uk – 3634238.jpg — CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped.
• Enda O Flaherty — Blackrock Diving Board – geograph.org.uk – 4235370.jpg — CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped.
• Ian Capper — Galway City Museum – geograph.org.uk – 4312084.jpg — CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped.
• Robert LeRoy Knudsen — President John F. Kennedy and Mayor of Galway, Alderman Patrick D. Ryan.jpg — Public domain; cropped.
• Graham Horn — Diomond Hill from Connemara National Park Visitor Centre – geograph.org.uk – 964963.jpg — CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped.
• Gareth James — Eyre Square, Galway – geograph.org.uk – 5348528.jpg — CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped.
• Dieglop — County Galway – Dun Aengus – 20210423115939.jpg — CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped.
• Dieglop — County Galway – Dun Aengus – 20210423102309.jpg — CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped.
• Graham Horn — Rós an Mhil (Rossaveel) – geograph.org.uk – 1291106.jpg — CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped.
• Fried Marek — Dun Aengus on Inishmore.jpg — CC BY 4.0; cropped.
• Matthew Chadwick — Rossaveel Harbour – geograph.org.uk – 6306685.jpg — CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped.
• N Chadwick — Galway City Museum – geograph.org.uk – 6428827.jpg — CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped.
• Martin Dawes — Galway City Museum within the Citadel walls – geograph.org.uk – 6462172.jpg — CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped.
• N Chadwick — Aran Islands Ferry, Rossaveel – geograph.org.uk – 6736080.jpg — CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped.
• N Chadwick — Platform, Rossaveel Harbour – geograph.org.uk – 6736121.jpg — CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped.
• Jeff Buck — Approaching Dún Aonghasa on Inishmore – geograph.org.uk – 6742033.jpg — CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped.
• Herbert Ortner — Aer Arann EI-CUW Connemara Airport.jpg — CC BY 3.0; cropped.
• Ingo Mehling — Dun Aengus.jpg — CC BY-SA 3.0; cropped.
• Ian Hawfinch — Quay Street, Galway – geograph.org.uk – 7210375.jpg — CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped.
• A.-K. D. — Blue plaque for Hall of the Red Earl.jpg — CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped.
• A.-K. D. — Hall of the Red Earl.jpg — CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped.
• Doug Snider — JFK Bust, Eyre Square,Galway.jpg — Public domain; cropped.
• Marathon — Quay Street, Galway – geograph.org.uk – 7583763.jpg — CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped.
• Marathon — Looking towards The Long Walk in Galway – geograph.org.uk – 7612758.jpg — CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped.
• Marathon — Information board about The Spanish Arch, Galway – geograph.org.uk – 7612785.jpg — CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped.
• Marathon — Tourist train in Eyre Square, Galway – geograph.org.uk – 7612846.jpg — CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped.
• Qwertzu111111 — WLE IRL 2025; Sky Road, Connemara; June 2025 Republic of Ireland photographs (01).jpg — CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped.
• Qwertzu111111 — WLE IRL 2025; Sky Road, Connemara; June 2025 Republic of Ireland photographs (2).jpg — CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped.
• Shane.Halloran at English Wikipedia — Galway City Museum Entrance.jpg — Public domain; cropped.
• Colin Park — Foreshore and Killary Harbour at Leenaun – geograph.org.uk – 7930795.jpg — CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped.
• JoachimKohler-HB — ‘Connemara Lady’ of Killary Fjord Boat Tours (2014).jpg — CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped.
• paddy (Patrick-Emil Zörner) — Galway 2011-12-26 41.JPG — CC BY-SA 3.0; cropped.
• Professor Chaosheng Zhang — CityCentre Eyre Square.jpg — CC BY 4.0; cropped.
• Berthold Werner — Ireland Galway Cathedral BW 2025-09-10 17-37-06.jpg — CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped.
• Berthold Werner — Ireland Galway Cathedral BW 2025-09-10 18-38-28.jpg — CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped.
• Michael Deligan — Diamond Hill 3.jpg — CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped.
• Michael Deligan — Diamond Hill 1.jpg — CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped.
• Michael Deligan — Dawn at Salthill Promenade 2.jpg — CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped.
• Michael Deligan — Dawn at Salthill Promenade.jpg — CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped.
• Ciara Ní Riain — Blackrock Diving Tower with wildflowers Salthill Galway.jpg — CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped.
• Michael Deligan — Blackrock Diving Tower 2.jpg — CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped.
• Michael Deligan — Blackrock Diving Tower.jpg — CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped.
• Michael Deligan — Blackrock Diving Tower 3.jpg — CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped.
• Michael Deligan — Blackrock Diving Tower 4.jpg — CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped.
• Miguel Mendez from Malahide, Ireland — Galway Cathedral (6915131428).jpg — CC BY 2.0; cropped.
• Miguel Mendez from Malahide, Ireland — Galway Cathedral (6915116802).jpg — CC BY 2.0; cropped.
• calflier001 — INVERIN AIRPORT CONNEMARA IRELAND JULY 2013 (9219078230).jpg — CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped.
• calflier001 — SPANISH ARCH GALWAY IRELAND JULY 2013 (9200974997).jpg — CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped.
• calflier001 — AER ARRAN ISLANDS BN2B ISLANDER EI-BCE AT INVERIN AIRPORT CONNEMARA IRELAND JULY 2013 (9198251155).jpg — CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped.
• Bananenfalter — Galway the long walk.jpg — CC0; cropped.
• Wolfgang Glock — Galway – Spanish Arch.JPG — CC BY-SA 3.0; cropped.
• Kingaarog — Panorama Salthill, Galway.jpg — CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped.
• Superbass — 2016-08-08-Panorama Sky Road Clifden-.jpg — CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped.
• Superbass — 2016-08-08-Sky Road, Connemara-6812.jpg — CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped.
• Robert Linsdell — River Corrib and The Long Walk, Galway.jpg — CC BY 2.0; cropped.
• Lobster1 — Boats moored and aground at the Claddagh – panoramio.jpg — CC BY-SA 3.0; cropped.
• Patrice78500 — Inis Mor – Dun Aengus.JPG — Public domain; cropped.
• Bob Linsdell — Galway Cathedral, Galway – panoramio (2).jpg — CC BY 3.0; cropped.
• Bob Linsdell — Galway Cathedral, Galway – panoramio (8).jpg — CC BY 3.0; cropped.
• Bob Linsdell — Galway Cathedral, Galway – panoramio (10).jpg — CC BY 3.0; cropped.
• Bob Linsdell — Galway Cathedral, Galway – panoramio (12).jpg — CC BY 3.0; cropped.
• Bob Linsdell — The Browne Doorway, Eyre Square, Galway – panoramio (1).jpg — CC BY 3.0; cropped.
• Lisa Harbin — Group walking up to Dún Aonghasa (6024260414).jpg — CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped.
• Lisa Harbin — From the Sky Road (6047966976).jpg — CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped.
• Lisa Harbin — On the bottom half of the Sky Road (6047415627).jpg — CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped.
• Thomas Somme thomas_somme — Diamond Hill, Ireland (Unsplash).jpg — CC0; cropped.
• IG: Lorenz.12 — Dun Aengus 2017 – Inis Mor, Ireland.jpg — CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped.
• Robert Linsdell from St. Andrews, Canada — River Corrib and The Long Walk, Galway (506189) (26398533696).jpg — CC BY 2.0; cropped.
• Robert Linsdell from St. Andrews, Canada — River Corrib and The Long Walk, Galway (506190) (26398528006).jpg — CC BY 2.0; cropped.
• Robert Linsdell from St. Andrews, Canada — River Corrib and The Long Walk, Galway (506190b) (26450125290).jpg — CC BY 2.0; cropped.
• Robert Linsdell from St. Andrews, Canada — Eyre Square, Galway (506260) (26294603020).jpg — CC BY 2.0; cropped.
• Robert Linsdell from St. Andrews, Canada — Salthill Prom, Galway Bay, Galway (506269) (26003507293).jpg — CC BY 2.0; cropped.
• JoachimKohlerBremen — Boarding “Connemara Lady” at Killary Harbour (2014).jpg — CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped.
• JoachimKohler-HB — Killary Harbour (2014).jpg — CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped.
• Alvaroadlf — Spanish Arch & The Long Walk – Galway.jpg — CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped.
• Sonse — Cliffs at Dún Aonghasa • Dun Aengus (41412010234).jpg — CC BY 2.0; cropped.
• Sonse — Way to Dún Aonghasa • Dun Aengus (27262045747).jpg — CC BY 2.0; cropped.
• Sonse — Cliffs at Dún Aonghasa • Dun Aengus (41231272755).jpg — CC BY 2.0; cropped.
• Sonse — Dún Aonghasa • Dun Aengus Inishmore (41231626385).jpg — CC BY 2.0; cropped.
• Sonse — Killary Fjord (42121841771).jpg — CC BY 2.0; cropped.
• MstrSinister — Diamond Hill Szczyt. Marzec 2019.jpg — CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped.
• No machine-readable author provided. El Comandante assumed (based on copyright claims). — Quay Street.JPG — Public domain; cropped.
• Andrew Wilkinson — Diamond Hill.jpg — CC BY-SA 2.0; cropped.
• Allie_Caulfield — Diamond Hill looking West.jpg — CC BY 2.0; cropped.
• Allie_Caulfield — Connemara, Letterfrack, Diamond Hill Summit.jpg — CC BY 2.0; cropped.
• Allie_Caulfield — Connemara, Letterfrack, Diamond Hill Summit II.jpg — CC BY 2.0; cropped.
• Allie_Caulfield — Connemara, Letterfrack, Diamond Hill Walk.jpg — CC BY 2.0; cropped.
• Jonas_Fehre (on Pixabay pre-January 2019 photo) — Diamond Hill Path.jpg — CC0; cropped.
• Valdro — County Galway – Dun Aengus – 20110717110137.jpg — CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped.
• Sheila1988 — Galway museum item.jpg — CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped.
• Karie Kuiper — Connemara National Park Diamond Hill.jpg — CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped.
• Eoin Gardiner — The Tribes of Galway, Eyre Square.jpg — CC BY 2.0; cropped.
• Bea y Fredi — Eyre Square.jpg — CC BY 2.0; cropped.
• William Gevorg Urban — bustling-day-on-historic-cobblestone-street-38687767 — Pexels License; cropped.
• Hassan Ehsan — vibrant-street-crowds-in-a-festive-city-39138764 — Pexels License; cropped.
• Mayara Llave — the-river-in-galway-ireland-5579250 — Pexels License; cropped.
• Andrew Mulleady — the-killary-harbour-in-connemara-8310718 — Pexels License; cropped.

Maps: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL); Republic of Ireland county boundaries © Tailte Éireann, CC BY 4.0; Northern Ireland boundaries © OSNI, Open Government Licence.

Music: “Relaxing Piano Music” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Narration uses an AI voice.

Featured photograph: Dún Aonghasa, Inis Mór, County Galway. MNStudio / Love Ireland licensed photo library; cropped.

Tours & experiences you might love

Dublin LGBTQ Pride Historical and Cultural Walking Tour

From $27 · Selling fast

Book now →

Authentic Dublin private tour by van Top guide Éamonn up to 8 PAX

From $549 · Selling fast

Book now →

Private Tour of Ring of Kerry & Valentia Island

From $1,090 · Selling fast

Book now →

Dunmore East Sea Safari to Hook Lighthouse

From $80 · Selling fast

Book now →

Powered by Viator. Some links are affiliate links — we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Secure Your Dream Irish Experience Before It’s Gone!

Planning a trip to Ireland? Don’t let sold-out tours or packed attractions spoil your journey. Iconic experiences like visiting the Cliffs of Moher, exploring the Rock of Cashel, or enjoying a guided walk through Ireland’s ancient past often sell out quickly—especially during peak travel seasons.

Booking in advance guarantees your place and ensures you can fully immerse yourself in the rich culture and breathtaking scenery without stress or disappointment. You’ll also free up time to explore Ireland’s hidden gems and savour those authentic moments that make your trip truly special.

Make the most of your journey—start planning today and secure those must-do experiences before they’re gone!

Sharing is caring!