Irish farmhouse cheese
Food
Sheridans Cheesemongers
The flagship of the national cheese name, founded as a 1995 Galway market stall, beside St Nicholas' Church.
Known for: Irish farmhouse cheese
Plan Your Visit
Everything you need to know before you head out: weather, what to pack, the best seasons, and useful links.
Looking for a day plan?
Half-day highlights, full-day explorer, rainy day plan, and weekend escape: all mapped out step by step.
Weather & What to Bring
Weather
Galway sits on the open Atlantic at the mouth of the River Corrib, with a temperate oceanic climate that is mild and famously wet. It is one of the rainiest cities in Ireland, with rain on roughly 230 days a year and around 1,150 mm annually. Temperatures are gentle and rarely extreme: January averages about 6°C and July about 16°C. The prevailing south-westerly winds come straight off Galway Bay, so the waterfront at the Spanish Arch and the Claddagh feels the weather first.
Packing Checklist
- ✓Waterproof jacket (essential year-round)
- ✓Layers: temperature can change quickly
- ✓Comfortable walking shoes
- ✓Camera: the views are worth it
- ✓Sunscreen: yes, even in Ireland
Bring Something Home
Local producers, markets, and makers worth a stop before you leave Galway.
Galway hampers and Irish larder goods
Food
McCambridge's of Galway
A family-run Shop Street fine-food grocer, deli and off-licence since 1925, strong on Irish larder goods and hampers.
Known for: Galway hampers and Irish larder goods
Bean-to-bar Irish chocolate
Food
Hazel Mountain Chocolate
A Burren-born bean-to-bar Irish chocolate maker with a Middle Street shop and cacao brew bar.
Known for: Bean-to-bar Irish chocolate
Hours: ~10:00-17:00 daily
Best Time to Visit
Spring
March - May
Quieter shoulder season before the summer festivals. Cuirt literature festival in late April. The Saturday market runs year-round; the river walks are at their best as the light returns.
Spring is the city to itself, before the festival machine starts up. Cuirt, the international literature festival, fills the Town Hall Theatre and Charlie Byrne's bookshop in late April, and it is small enough that you can still get into the readings. The Saturday market by St Nicholas' Church trades all year, but it is easier to move through now than in August, and the hot-food stalls do oysters and crepes without the queue. The river walk up the Corrib to the University Quadrangle is at its best as the light lengthens, and the Long Walk catches the evening sun without the summer crowd. This is the season to do the heritage properly: the City Museum is free, the Hall of the Red Earl is free, and St Nicholas' has stood on Lombard Street since 1320.
Summer
June - August
Peak season and festival season. Galway International Arts Festival 13-26 July, the Galway Races 27 July-2 August, the Film Fleadh in early July. The city is at its busiest and book everything ahead.
Summer is when Galway turns into the city it tells you it is. The Film Fleadh runs in early July, then the Galway International Arts Festival takes over for two weeks from the 13th, with the Big Top down by the docks and Druid on stage at the Town Hall. The week the Arts Festival ends, Race Week begins out at Ballybrit, and the whole centre fills with hats and crowds and the price of a bed doubles. The Corrib Princess runs three cruises a day up the river in July and August, the buskers play until late on Shop Street, and the market expands to Wednesday through Sunday. None of it works without planning: book accommodation months out for the Arts Festival and the Races, and expect the Latin Quarter to be shoulder to shoulder on a fine evening.
Autumn
September - November
Oyster Festival in late September opens native oyster season. Macnas Halloween parade in late October. The student city fills back up; the festival pace eases after September.
Autumn opens with the oysters. The Galway International Oyster and Seafood Festival, the oldest in the world, lands on the last weekend of September and marks the start of the native oyster season, which McDonagh's and the seafood bars run with for months after. The students come back and the city refills, but the festival crush of July is over and the Latin Quarter is good company again. By late October, Macnas brings its Halloween parade through the centre at night, a procession of giant puppets from the University down over the Salmon Weir Bridge to the Claddagh that is worth planning your evening around. The light goes early and the rain comes in off the bay, which is the right weather for the trad pubs: the Crane on Sea Road and Tig Coili at the top of Shop Street have sessions most nights.
Winter
December - February
The Continental Christmas Market fills Eyre Square from mid-November to New Year. The trad pubs carry the season. Quiet, wet and atmospheric between the market and the festivals.
Winter belongs to the Christmas Market and the pubs. From the middle of November the Continental Market fills Eyre Square with chalets, a big wheel and a German bier keller, and it runs to New Year's Eve. Away from the square the city is quiet and wet, which is exactly when the trad sessions are best: Tig Coili, Taaffes and Tigh Neachtain run music year-round, and a winter afternoon disappears easily into one of them. The seafood is still the thing to eat, native oysters and chowder at McDonagh's on Quay Street, and the heritage indoors carries the cold days, the Cathedral by the Salmon Weir Bridge, the City Museum at the Spanish Arch, St Nicholas' on Lombard Street. Bring a coat that means it; Galway gets rain on more than two days in three.
Quick Links for Planning
Weather Forecast
Check Met Eireann for the latest Galway forecast before you head out.
Met Eireann
Irish Rail Timetable
Plan your train journey to Galway. Check live departures, fares, and route options on the national Irish Rail network.
Irish Rail
Transport for Ireland
Plan your journey to Galway by train, bus, or car.
Transport for Ireland
Getting Here
Detailed transport options for reaching Galway by train, bus, car, taxi, or bicycle.
TravelPlan.guide