Clifden and the Sky Road, Connemara's Atlantic edge

Nobody tells you how much smaller Clifden feels than you expect. After an hour and a bit driving west from Galway, through bog and granite and the…

Kylemore Abbey, Connemara: the history and how to visit

Kylemore Abbey is a Victorian castle in Connemara that a wealthy Manchester doctor built in the 1860s because he loved his wife and apparently had…

Salthill and the Prom: Galway's seaside walk

Walk the two kilometres of the Salthill Promenade on any morning and you'll see the same cast. Swimmers pulling themselves out of Galway Bay with…

Galway on foot: Shop Street to the Spanish Arch

The medieval street network at the heart of Galway is probably the most walkable stretch of any Irish city. Everything worth seeing on a first visit…

Galway food scene, oysters to Michelin

Galway has had a Michelin star longer than most provincial Irish cities and a market culture older than the country. The food scene here is small but…

How to do the Galway Races without losing your shirt

The Galway Races is a seven-day horse racing festival at Ballybrit Racecourse, on the north edge of the city, every year in late July and early…

Galway trad music pubs, where locals actually go

Galway has a trad music scene that runs every night of the week most of the year. The trick is knowing which pubs play for the room and which play…

Day trips from Galway you should not skip

Galway is a great city in itself, but the reason most people choose it as a base is because the rest of the west of Ireland is a short drive away…

Why Galway gets called Ireland's cultural capital

If you ask a hundred Irish people which is their favourite city, Dublin will get the most votes because it is the biggest. Galway will come second…