Keep discovering the great outdoors

We have put together a list of 7 days of activities you can enjoy during your stay.

The Connacht Hotel

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Salthill

Salthill’s main attraction every year has been its promenade and numerous sandy beaches. The promenade covers approximately 3km of coastline, overlooking Galway Bay. This is an ideal area for jogging, rollerblading or a relaxing stroll. The hills of County Clare are visible across the Bay on a clear day and benches are provided along the seafront. Blackrock diving tower is one of Galway’s most iconic locations, always a popular location during the Galway summer. Salthill has many great bars and restaurants as well as several tourist attractions like Micil Distillary which is definitely worth a visit, the Galway Atlantaquaria and the Circle of Life National Organ Donor Commemorative Garden.

Barna Woods & Merlin Woods

There’s no doubt that going for a walk has countless benefits and Galway is absolutely blessed with countless fabulous walking routes. Getting back to nature has health and wellbeing benefits which is fantastic that you can do this in beautiful surroundings. Barna Woods is very close to Galway City on the Barna Road and is popular with tourists and locals alike for walks all year round, whether its during the summer and the sunlight filters through the leaves of the majestic trees or the autumnal vibes with a cocaphony of colour as the leaves carpet the ground. Merlin Woods are on the east side of the city and are home to Merlin Castle, a community garden and a myriad of trails which are the perfect way to escape the hustle and bustle of city life.

Trad on the Prom

Taking place over the course of several months, this wow-inducing, show-stopping display of Irish dancing, trad music, and more is sure to blow you away. Featuring some of the finest performers from across the island of Ireland, Trad on the Prom is a fantastic way to spend two hours. Celebrating Ireland’s past in modern and eye-catching ways, it is a heart-pounding, energy-fizzing show that takes place in Leisureland Theatre, Salthill.

Aran Island Ferries

A daytrip to the Aran Islands is a must during a stay in Galway. The Aran Islands offer visitors a glimpse into a way of life that has long since disappeared from most of the world. Filled with traditional Irish culture, the islands offer breath-taking scenery, ecclesiastical ruins, and world-renowned stone forts.
These three rocky limestone outcrops are a bastion of traditional language, culture, music, and history on the edge of Europe. Regular music sessions, lively dances, traditional crafts, sea-going currachs, and the wonderfully warm and welcoming Atlantic spirit are inimitable parts of Aran. Aran Island Ferries provide top-class and regular trips to the Islands so check out their timetable to find the sailing that suits.

If you're a guest of The Connacht Hotel, you can avail of a discound code for Aran Island Ferries.To do so, please contact our reception desk!

Golf

“Golf can best be defined as an endless series of tragedies obscured by the occasional miracle.” This is a pretty accurate description but this has done nothing to diminish its popularity. The West of Ireland is blessed with a proliferation of great courses including the beautiful Galway Bay Golf Resort. The Christy O Connor Jnr designed links course is a golfer’s dream. If you have the clubs in the back of the car just log onto the Galway Bay Golf Resort Website, book your tee time, and enjoy the stunning views and the lovingly manicured greens.
“This is a true championship golf course with a fair test of golf to all who discover this gem. Washed on three sides by the wild Atlantic ocean and laden with pot bunkers together with natural water hazards combines to make Galway Bay one of the truly great courses of Ireland.”
Christy O’Connor Jnr.

Diamond Hill

Connemara is Irish landscape at its most dramatic. With soaring mountains, scattered loughs and an intricate coastline, this remote part of Galway is a world away from the trappings of urban life. Two mountain ranges dominate the area – the rugged Maumturks and the cluster of quartzite peaks known as the Twelve Bens. Between them, they offer up some of the most challenging and exciting hill walking in the country. Connemara National Park, near Letterfrack, is the perfect place to start exploring. Encompassing almost 3,000 hectares of mountain, bog and woodland, the Park’s visitor centre is the ideal spot to start your 7km walk up the 400m high Diamond Hill – the undisputed highlight of the Park. Gravel footpaths and wooden boardwalks ease your passage over the bog as you approach the mountains. The ridge is a narrow fin of quartzite roughly half a kilometre long, which culminates in a cairn that marks the 445m-high summit. From here, look to the sea to Inishturk, Inishbofin and Inishshark; to Tully Mountain rising over Ballynakill Harbour and along the intricate Connemara coastline.

Claddagh

Another beautiful and historic part of the city is the Claddagh. One of the oldest fishing towns in Ireland, nothing now remains of the old thatched cottages that graced Claddagh until the 1930s, when they were replaced by council houses, and yet the memory of the small Irish-speaking town's traditions and customs still lives on. Despite its close proximity to Galway City, Claddagh remained a completely separate entity for centuries because of the wall surrounding Galway that kept a very definite divide between this village and the Anglo-Norman city across the river. With their special "Hooker" boats, the fishermen were led by an elected King who was chosen from their midst annually in a huge celebration for St. John's Day on June 23. The Spanish Arch and the Long Walk are amongst the most photographed areas of the city, also featuring in the Ed Sheeran song Galway Girl which has over 480million views on Youtube alone. The Claddagh is also the home of the legendary Claddagh Ring which represents love, loyalty and friendship.

Galway Atlantaquaria

Visit the Galway Atlantaquarium and be amazed at the aquatic wonders, amazing sea life, and fascinating creatures within! A trip here, in Salthill is certainly a must for anyone, especially if you have little ones. Guests of The Connacht Hotel are welcome to a 10% discount off Galway Atlantaquaria's general admission rates until the end of 2023 when they show fob or key.

Ailwee Burren Experience

Make the most of your family holiday with The Connacht Hotel by visiting the Ailwee Burren Experience. One of the most visited toursit attracions in Ireland, this offers an authentic look at the unique landscape of the Burren, a trek inside the dark and mysterious Ailwee Caves, and a chance to get up close with some feathery friends at the bird sanctuary. Guests of the hotel can avail of discount codes for the Ailwee Burren Experience - by simply contacting our friendly reception team.

Galway Hooker Brewery Tours

Enjoy a trip to the Galway Hooker Brewery in Oranmore. You'll learn all about the famous boats that inspired the beer's name, the ingredients they use in their craft beers, and lots more. To book, simply visit the link here!

Galway City Centre

Galway is rightly famed for its, wonderful pubs, restaurants, shops and festivals but it’s the city itself which has a unique atmosphere that blends together all the best elements of its people. It’s impossible to walk through the streets without sensing it. Both an outpost facing west towards the Americas and a gateway to Europe, Galway stands at a pivotal vantage point on the West Coast of Ireland. Galway’s historic Spanish Arch, the remainder of a centuries-old bastion, is a reminder of the city’s multi-cultural, multi-lingual history and present-day character where imagination, commerce and the arts flourish.

The surrounding landscape, culture and language have attracted artists, musicians and writers for generations. In recent decades Galway has seen the rise of a burgeoning film, television and animation sector, bringing significant economic activity to the area. Galway is expanding its film audiences by building Galway’s first Art House Cinema and by supporting the development of the city’s film festivals and increasing the opportunities for film exhibitions in the region.

Galway’s overall vision is to showcase the rich heritage, tradition and legacy of film in the area, to broaden ongoing film activities and to enrich the social, economic and cultural contributions across the region and this is why it is designated as one of the UNSECO Creative Cities.