We spent our final three nights in Ireland in the lovely town of Galway. This town took me by surprise, and I fell in love with it. It boasts all of the wonderful Irish character found in Dublin (live music, great food scene, bustling locals), yet it has a certain charm and quaintness similar to the tiny Irish villages we visited along the route of our road trip. I cannot recommend enough that you make Galway a stop on your Ireland road trip. We stayed in Galway for three days, and we used one of those days to drive around the Connemara region (read about that road trip here). In this post I’m sharing what we did during our two full days spent staying in Galway. We loved every minute of our time there, so I recommend you follow this itinerary on your trip if you are looking for a mix of food (and coffee!), culture, and adventure.
First Evening
The Pie Maker
Our first stop once we arrived and settled into our hotel was The Pie Maker. I got this recommendation from the lovely Mandy over at Mandy Living Life, and she was spot on! It’s a tiny little restaurant that serves all kinds of delicious pies – both savory and sweet! We ate savory pies at several places throughout our time in the UK and Ireland, but these were our favorite. I had a spinach, feta, and walnut pie, and I think Daniel got the Beef & Galway Stout Pie. Delicious!
First Full Day
Pascal Coffee House
As always, our day needed to begin with a warm cup of coffee with a side of breakfast (?). We scouted out a coffee shop and then found ourselves in Pascal Coffee House. It was very cute and filled with locals working on their laptops and reading.
We especially loved the “hidden passageway” covered by bookcase wallpaper.
I also found their coffee menu very useful and informative!
Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop
I had read that Galway had some great bookstores, so we stopped by one of them right after our breakfast. Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop is a book lover’s paradise! It’s filled with used and new books from ground to ceiling.
They had a great Irish book section that was fun to browse through.
I thought the travel section was cute. They had a couple of suitcases filled with books of travel stories.
The Spanish Arch
The Spanish Arch is part of the original city wall in Galway that was constructed in the late 1500s. This piece of the wall was partly destroyed in the mid-1700s in a tsunami.
It was very cool to see this piece of the city’s history still standing today.
Galway City Museum
Right next to the Arch is the Galway City museum. We spent an enjoyable hour learning more about the city, but it wasn’t my favorite museum as there wasn’t too much to see and a lot of the artifacts were out for preservation or visiting other museums. The admission is free, so it’s worth checking out.
Galway Cathedral
After learning about the city’s history at the museum, we walked over to the Galway Cathedral, yet another gorgeous European church. It was built in 1965, and it is the youngest of Europe’s stone cathedrals.
The stained glass is just gorgeous!
Coffeewerk + Press
I know I’ve already highlighted a Galway coffee shop, but the second one we ran across was one of our favorites we’ve ever been to. Coffeewerk + Press is a cute three story coffee and design shop. The experience is unique – you walk in and order your coffee (from a great selection of pour overs and coffee beans), and as it’s being made, you can explore the design shop on the other floors. The barista brings you your coffee when it’s ready, and you are free to drink it in the shop while flipping through one of the gorgeous design books or magazines. We had a great time! We also loved the coffee so much that we went back for another cup right before driving to Dublin on our last day in Ireland.
Our coffee and a view
They even offer a selection of records!
Sheridan’s Cheesemongers
For dinner we decided to do a cheese board with a glass of wine. We picked up some cheese from the Sheridan’s Cheesemongers shop for lunch for our road trip the next day, and then went to the next floor to the Sheridan’s restaurant.
Our cheese selection! And my love of olives continues….
So much cheese to choose from!
Wandering Around the City
Lombard Street is picture perfect.
There were still Christmas decorations hanging up in the trees at the end of January. I loved it!
Lots of rain made the river fill up almost to the very edge.
Second Full Day
Salthill Beach
Early in the morning on our second day, we stopped at Salthill Beach to enjoy the view and the quiet for a few minutes. This beach is right outside Galway city center.
Connemara Drive & Kylemore Abbey
Click here to read about our day trip around the Connemara region and our stop at Kylemore Abbey. Galway was the perfect home base for this drive!
A Typical Irish Dinner
When we returned back to Galway after our drive, we had to decide where to have our last Irish dinner since we were leaving Ireland the next day. We decided on a typical Irish pub where we had a selection of Irish dishes to share. We even tried out black pudding which is essentially blood sausage. It sounds disgusting, but I actually thought it tasted pretty good.
Taaffes for Live Music
To end the night, we went to listen to live music, the perfect way to end our time in Ireland. On recommendation from a local, we went to a pub called Taaffes. It was so fun to hang out and listen to music with a final pint of Guinness! Here’s a video clip:
It was hard to hit the road back to Dublin the next day, but I hope we will be back to Galway in the future. Our time in Ireland was a dream!
{Click here to see all of my posts from our Ireland road trip. Our time in Ireland was part of a 2.5 month trip across Western Europe. Click here to check out all of my posts from this adventure!}
{Thanks for reading! Want to know a little more about me? I’m a CPA learning how to balance a career with frequent travel while planting roots at home in Austin, TX. When I’m not exploring my home city with my husband Daniel or cuddling with our chubby orange cat Banana, I’m probably planning, packing, traveling to, or daydreaming about our next adventure. After all, my travel mug collection is never complete. If you have wanderlust too, be sure to follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat(emilya89), or subscribe to my blog!}
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